Free Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs Page B

how to proceed.”
    The gods . Like the ones in action movies and old myths. She said it like they were real, like they were sitting around somewhere deciding people’s fates. And, as crazy as it sounded, I somehow knew she was telling me the truth.
    â€œSome wished to see that realm sealed completely,” she continued, “though doing so would have caused the death of every creature inside.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with that?” Didn’t seem like such a bad plan to me, considering the kind of nasty beasts I’d seen prowling the streets. “The monsters are bad. Why shouldn’t they die?”
    Slowly shaking her head, she said, “Things are not that simple.” She let out a small sigh. “Others thought the gateway should be thrown open, allowing monsters of all varieties to walk free among humans.”
    What morons thought that was a good idea?
    â€œTo appease all sides, the gods left a gap.” Ursula smiled at me. “A tiny and ever-moving window that allows but a single monster at a time to leave their realm. The gods knew there would always be one of our kind on hand to defend the opening.”
    I sighed with relief. That was somewhat reassuring. One at a time seemed a lot more manageable than all at once. For the first time, I believed that I could actually do this, I could actually be the huntress. For the last four years, Ursula has been right. The rules have remained in effect, and I’ve never seen more than one creature per night. Ever.
    Until tonight.
    â€œSomething’s out of whack.” First Ursula takes off out of cell phone range without leaving a note. Now two monsters are prowling the same club at the same time. “Something is definitely—”
    â€œGretchen!”
    For the love of Medusa. I’d forgotten number three on my list of out-of-the-ordinary. Nick. The boy who won’t leave me alone.
    At least this one doesn’t have anything to do with myth.
    My first instinct is to ignore him. Any normal male would read that as a neon sign saying Go away! , but Nick has proven himself incapable of common male normalcy. If I ignore him and get on with my fight, he’ll probably follow me out into the courtyard and wind up getting himself killed.
    I need to throw him off the scent once and for all so I can go about my business in peace. Direct orders don’t seem to work. Instead, I try for disdain.
    â€œWhat do you want?”
    â€œNice to see you too,” he teases, unfazed by my verbal venom. “Funny running into you here. I didn’t know you—”
    â€œYeah, it’s a riot.” I jab my fists to my hips. “Look, I was just—”
    â€œCan I get you a drink?”
    My brain screams. Nothing works with this boy.
    â€œAre you deficient?” I ask, throwing off all pretense of any kind and being as straightforward as I can without telling him my secret. “What about me has ever said, ‘Yes, please keep hitting on me’?”
    A slow, suggestive smile spreads across his frustrating lips.
    â€œYour mouth may not say that,” he says, stepping close. “But your eyes . . . well, they’re saying something else altogether.”
    I roll those eyes behind my sunglasses, resisting the urge to knock him out with a solid punch to the left temple and be done with him. “You can’t even see my eyes.”
    â€œCan’t I?”
    â€œNo, you—” Then it hits me like a thunderbolt. My eyes .
    I am such an idiot. I can’t believe I haven’t thought to use my hypno powers on him. That only proves the boy messes with my brain. He needs to be gone, now, before something terrible happens.
    In a heartbeat, I flick my shades up, stare deep into Nick’s dark gaze, and say, “You have somewhere else to be.”
    His brows fall and he gets a blank look on his face. Success! Finally he’ll be out from underfoot. What good is having