Some Kind of Monster

by Albany Walker

  The muffled noises of the guys downstairs filter up to me. As much as I’m enjoying Grim’s company, I already miss the others, too. “Want to go see what Gunnar dug up?”

  Grim plants a soft kiss on my lips and gives me a small nod, motioning for me to go. The reaper cloak dissolves, and he’s standing in front of me in the same loose pants and soft shirt from earlier. I run a hand over my side, confirming my robe is still in place, before heading downstairs to find the others.

  Gunnar’s expression is set in his usual scowl when I enter the kitchen, and the counter is littered with various ingredients for some meal. His jerky movements and the way he keeps slamming shit around makes it hard to ignore the tangible anger permeating the room.

  I scoot onto a stool and plant my elbows on the island, dropping my cheeks into my palms. Calix steps out of the pantry, giving me an exaggerated eyeroll when he spies me. It’s clear he knows Gunnar is in a mood too.

  “How’d the calls go?” I ask them both, but I direct my gaze at Gunnar.

  “Like shit,” Gunnar barks, almost before I can even finish voicing the question. I widen my eyes, a little surprised at his tone. I watch his back as he lowers his head and takes a few deep breaths. “I need to head to Savannah,” he announces in a more subdued voice. He turns to face me, and the frown he wears is so heavy it makes the scar through his lips pucker.

  “Savannah.” I tap my fingers on the counter, looking up at the ceiling as I contemplate what I should pack.

  Calix saunters over and takes the stool next to me. His knee brushes against my leg as he sits. I pull my thoughts from my closet and what I should pack and give him a smile. “I’ve never been to Savannah, have you guys?” I make sure to include Gunnar too.

  Calix shrugs. “A few times.” Gunnar just grunts and crosses his arms over his chest.

  “It’s supposed to be one of the most haunted cities in America, right?” I bite my bottom lip and widen my eyes. “How long should I pack for, a week?” I add without letting either of them answer my first question.

  Gunnar’s stance softens, and he peers at me with the most puppy dog expression a hulking man like him could ever manage. “You’ll come with me?”

  “Of course I’m coming with you. Aren’t we all?” I scoff, and look over at Calix, wondering if I made a mistake in my assumption.

  “I go where you go,” Calix tells me, and I grin at his response.

  “I’ve never been on a road trip.”

  “Road trip?” Gunnar snarls.

  I narrow my eyes and turn up my chin a little. “Yes, a road trip.” Grim saunters into the room in the middle of our conversation. He moves like he’s made of smoke and sin.

  “We could just go… Death can get you two there,” Gunnar implores.

  “But I’ve never been on a road trip.” I sound disappointed, even to my own ears.

  Grim reaches for me, sliding his hand over my back and kneading the nape of my neck. His hard eyes land on Gunnar, and he drops a kiss to the side of my head. “Whatever you want, Omnia,” he soothes.

  Gunnar scowls but agrees. “I’ll get us a car.”

  Chapter 4

  Calix pushes the last of my new suitcases into the trunk. I probably won’t need all four, but you never know. Gunnar brought them home when he fetched the black SUV a few hours ago.

  “We should probably get going,” Gunnar says, looking down at a watch on his wrist. I glance around, noting the moon is high in the sky. If Aeson was coming tonight, she would probably already be here. I just hate leaving without talking to her first. Knowing what I’m thinking, Gunnar bumps my shoulder with his arm. We can leave a message in the house for her or call the clan line,” he suggests.

  “I’ll write her a quick note and leave your numbers too,” I agree, peering up at him, noticing his scars are barely visible in the moonlight.

  Gunnar nods toward the back of the SUV. “We should be done by the time you get back.”

  I jog back to the house just as Grim is opening the door to come out, and he holds it open for me. “I’ll be right back,” I call over my shoulder, already heading to the stairs so I can leave the note in my room. It only takes a moment to jot down all the guys’ numbers, remind her she already has mine, and tell her to call me. Considering she’s only a few inches tall, it’s not hard to understand why she doesn’t carry a phone.

  I take one last look around my room before hopping down the stairs to meet the guys outside.

  “Ready?” Calix asks as soon as I’m out the door.

  I’m so eager I damn near bounce my ass to the SUV. Gunnar slides into the driver’s seat, leaving the rest of us to decide where to sit. “Shotgun!” I shout, when both guys just look at me.

  “I don’t require a weapon,” Grim states.

  Calix snorts and rolls his eyes. “Shotgun means she’s calling the front passenger seat,” he clarifies.

  “Why would weapon choice determine where you sit?” Grim takes a few steps and opens the front door, motioning for me to enter.

  “It’s just something people say, because the person in the passenger seat would carry the… never mind,” Calix mumbles, giving up trying to explain the outdated idiom to Grim.

  The rear doors slam as the guys get in. Grim is behind me, and I feel his knees press into the seat. I instantly feel bad for making him sit back there, since he’s so much taller than me. When I turn around, I see both Grim and Calix maneuvering to get comfortable. “Maybe we should just have Grim carry us there?”

  “Second thoughts?” Gunnar sounds hesitantly eager.

  I bite my bottom lip, considering. Calix leans forward, wrapping his fingers around Gunnar’s seat. “No, we’re driving,” he insists with a slight edge to his voice. I glance back at Grim. He’s settling into the seat, his knees spread wide, but he doesn’t look too uncomfortable. “It’s just a couple of days,” Calix adds more persuasively.

  “You sure?” I bounce my gaze between the two men behind me.

  Calix leans back and gives me any easy grin. “Positive, there’s plenty of room back here.” He rubs the space between himself and Grim in invitation, understanding the reason for my change of heart. “In case you get tired of the grump,” Calix teases in an exaggerated whisper.

  Gunnar growls, and the engine of the SUV roars to life as I let out a carefree giggle. Gunnar hits the gas and kicks up a flurry of pebbles from the driveway as he makes a quick turn to get us out to the main road.

  The house is all shut up and dark as we pass by, and a quick stab of longing hits me. I’ve rarely been away from my home. Although I’ve always yearned for adventure, I never really thought about not coming home at the end of the day and seeing Dare in the pantry or having Bloody Mary for a cup of tea. I trace my fingers over the window, watching my refuge disappear into the darkness. I really hope none of my baddies think I’m abandoning them.

  I take control of the radio, plugging my phone into the system a few moments after we get onto the highway. The guys have all been fairly quiet so far. “Any requests?” I peer around the cab, including all three of them in my inquiry. Gunnar shrugs one shoulder, keeping his eyes on the road.

  “I can’t believe I don’t know what kind of music you like,” Calix mutters to himself while shaking his head.

  “I like everything… well, almost everything. Depends on my mood.”

  “What are you in the mood for, Dami?” Calix makes it sound filthy and I love it.

  With a grin, I answer, “You know me, I like a little of everything. Can’t seem to make myself choose.”

  Calix chuckles and lowers his chin a bit. It changes the planes of his face and makes his hazel eyes seem much more predatory. I contemplate climbing over the center console and onto his lap, but I think better of it. We just got on the road, and knowing Gunnar, he’ll have a dad crisis and threaten to turn the car around.

  I peer at him from the corner of my eye and giggle at the thought. I wonder if I would get a spanking. He turns his head
and gives me an accusatory glare, almost like he knows what I’m thinking. I bite my lip and return to fiddling with the radio. Being in the car with these three for hours is going to wreak havoc on my hormones.

  Scrolling through my music, one of my favorite songs catches my eye. As soon as I hit play, the quick tempo of drums fills the air and my body is already swaying to the beat. Once the guitar starts, I close my eyes and let the music consume me. I’ve often wondered if any of the members of this band are baddies, since so many of their songs reference monsters.

  The song ends fairly abruptly, leaving the car in silence. The sound of a snicker starts slowly, but within three seconds, more snorts of reserved laughter fill the interior of the SUV, and it’s not just coming from one of them.

  “That was adorable,” Calix comments, then he really starts laughing. Gunnar gives up trying to hold in his sniggering and chuckles along with Calix.

  “What’s so funny? That’s one of my favorite songs,” I snap defensively. Gunnar peeks at me from the corner of his eye and smooths out his face, controlling his features.

  “I just…” Calix can’t finish before he erupts into another round of laughter, his head thrown back, and he has his hand over his abdomen. I spin so I can glare at him.

  “What?” I demand again.

  Calix wipes the corner of his eye and finally takes a look at my face. He sobers, but his grin isn’t fully squelched. “Don’t be mad. I said you’re adorable.” He gives me those fucking puppy dog eyes he’s perfected. I narrow my gaze on him. He looks around like one of the other guys might help him. When he comes up empty, he says, “It’s just, you’re so beautiful, everything about you is perfect, but your singing…” He twists his mouth just a little, not saying anything else.

  “What about my singing?” Gunnar clears his throat loudly, but no one else makes a sound. “Well?” I prompt.

  Calix’s eyes widen the slightest bit, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob when he swallows. He takes another breath then wets his bottom lip. “Uh, it’s nothing.” He’s trying to dismiss me, but I’m not letting this go.

  “You were cracking up over nothing?” My tone is disbelieving.

  “I could just tell you loved the song so much,” Calix replies, backpedaling, but he already mentioned my singing.

  “I believe he was talking about how off key you were,” Grim interjects, as placid as ever. He was the only one who didn’t laugh.

  A frown pulls at my lips, Calix and Gunnar were laughing at me. An ugly feeling takes root in my stomach, and I flip around in my seat and face forward. I love singing. I’ve never thought about whether or not I was good or bad at it. No one has ever been around long enough to hear me sing.

  “Dami…” Calix’s voice is pleading, and he’s no longer fighting off his laughter.

  I jerk my shoulder up in what I’m hoping is a shrug. “It’s fine.” I force myself to smile, even though it’s one of the last things I want to do, but it’s more important not to let them know something so trivial could hurt my feelings so much. Leaning forward, I hit the button for shuffle, no longer interested in the radio. Another song comes on, this one is a little more subdued, and no one sings along.

  Calix tries to engage me in conversation several times before just giving up when I keep my answers to single syllables. I’m not ignoring him, but I don’t want to chat either. The long journey ahead suddenly doesn’t seem to hold nearly as much fun as I’d hoped.

  My butt hurts after the third hour, and I’m bored. City after city passes by without any differences between them other than the fast food restaurants they offer.

  “We should just blink,” I state, interrupting Calix and Grim’s conversation.

  “What? Why?” Gunnar moves his right hand from the steering wheel and places it on my thigh, giving me a gentle squeeze.

  “There’s no point in wasting this much time driving when we can get there like this.” I snap my fingers. Calix stays quiet this time, not insisting on driving because I wanted to. “We could find long-term parking near an airport and come back for the car on the way home,” I suggest, proving I’ve been thinking about this for a while.

  I hear Calix let out a heavy sigh and wonder if I overreacted to him laughing at me. That nasty feeling settles in my stomach again when I think about it. Nope, still don’t like being laughed at.

  “If we get there faster, we will have a better chance of figuring out who killed the Kelpie. We can always drive back,” I propose, and taste the lie on my tongue. I won’t want to drive then either. I have no clue why I thought this would be so fun.

  “You up for it, Loverboy?” I ask Grim, trying to sound more cheerful.

  “Whatever you want, Omnia. Always.”

  I catch Calix scowling at Grim from the corner of my eye. “Let’s see if we can find someplace to park,” I say, making it official. I’m over this road trip. Am I being a little bit of a brat? Probably, but at least I own that shit. “Looks like Boise would be the closest, but we would have to backtrack a little,” I tell Gunnar after looking over my map.

  “If you’re sure.” He eyes me, then adds, “I’m not really worried about where we park the car. I can make arrangements to have it taken care of.”

  I readjust myself in my seat and nod. “Yeah, I’m sure. My ass hurts.” Calix chuckles, but quickly cuts himself off. I feel a small stab of guilt that he feels like he can’t laugh, so I make an effort to look over my shoulder and give him a grin. He examines my face, and his lips thin at whatever he sees.

  “Sorry,” he mumbles, taking his eyes off mine to look out the window at his side. He’s pouting too. Aren’t we a pair?

  “We’ll stop when we hit the next city.” Gunnar lets out a small sigh, which sounds a lot like relief. Insisting we drive was really rather selfish anyway. Who cares that I’ve never been on a road trip? This isn’t some fucking vacation. We’re going so we can stop a witch from killing the Charmed.

  “Do you know the Marshall House?” Grim leans between the two front seats, speaking to Gunnar, and I feel his long fingers brush against my arm before he scoots up even more and wraps his forearm over my chest. “Meet us there.” In the next second, I’m in Grim’s arms and we’re standing on a dark empty street.

  “In a hurry to get out of the car? You’ll have to go get Calix,” I remind him.

  “He can find his way,” Grim offers, looking around as he laces his fingers through mine and tugs me along with him.

  “He can’t travel like you.”

  Grim halts. “He has means, Damiana. He will just have to shift.”

  “Oh, he did mention he could travel faster when he shifted.” I look down at the sidewalk. It feels like Grim is punishing Calix because he upset me, and I don’t know how I feel about it. Well, I guess I do. I’m just conflicted about my feelings.

  “It won’t take them long to find a place for the vehicle before they follow us,” Grim tells me, as he resumes walking up the street. He takes us around a corner to a mostly deserted road, but there are several buildings all lit up, showcasing a wide street lined with trees and flowerpots.

  “Wait, are we in the right place?” I look around, noticing the hotel Grim is leading us toward. The front façade looks like something I would expect to see in New Orleans. Rows of long windows are bracketed by green plantation shutters, and scrolled wrought iron balconies overlook the street.

  “This is the place,” Grim confirms.

  The building is illuminated so brightly, I want to shield my eyes, but I squint instead. The interior lighting is a little more subdued, and I suppose humans think the light chases away the things that live in the dark.

  The woman behind the wooden desk has a stiff smile and a furrowed brow. “Welcome to Marshall House, how may I help you?” Her eyes start to scan Grim, but it’s like she realizes what she’s doing, and she jerks her gaze back up to his face. Her smile becomes even more brittle.

  “We’re waiting for our companions,” Grim informs her,
while turning away from the woman.

  “I can check you in while you wait.” She taps a few buttons on a keyboard.

  Grim ignores her, so I say, “We need a suite, something with at least two beds.”

  The woman winces slightly. “Unfortunately, we only have a handful of suites and none of them are available. I have a superior queen vacant, or we have a few kings left, but none with a balcony.”

  I turn to face Grim. “Can you imagine all of us sleeping on a queen-sized bed?” I snort at the thought. “Kitten would be downright furious.”

  “We’ll take the king,” I tell her, then add, “Looks like I’ll be sleeping on top of someone.” I chuckle a bit. It’s not like it’s a hardship.

  “Uhm…” The woman stammers, and when I look back in her direction, her cheeks are flushed red. “How many will be in the room? We have guidelines for occupancy.”

  “Just four,” I reply. “Three men are enough, even for me.”

  “Four? Oh, I’m sorry, there is a two-guest maximum for the kings. I can get you two rooms.” Her voice goes a little higher.

  “We’ll take the one king,” Grim tells her, his voice soft but firm.

  The woman nods her head quickly. “Of course, sir. I’ll just need identification and a credit card to put on file.” She doesn’t meet our eyes anymore.

  Grim looks down at me. “I will need to procure documents.”

  Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I pull my phone from my back pocket and slide open the spot that holds my essentials. “Don’t worry about it. I like being your sugar momma, Loverboy.” I let my eyes rake over Grim. “We can work off your debt,” I purr, sounding purposely suggestive.

  Not surprisingly, Grim’s face remains placid, but his eyes warm enough to let me know he’s not completely unaffected by my flirting. The clacking of the keyboard grows louder though, and the woman lowers her head as if she’s trying to hide. This is kind of fun. I wonder what she will think when Calix and Gunnar show up.

  With key in hand, we head over to a small sitting area off to the side of the lobby. I like that the place seems original, or it could just be a good reproduction, but the wide staircase and wooden accents feel genuine.