All Chapters of My Monster: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

DANIKA It's impossible. Hera has to be lying. Why would Tyler's mum be a part of the cult? What does she stand to gain? A cure for Tyler? I glance at Kaziel, waiting for him to tell me she's lying. But the look on his face sends my heart ripping in half. I feel like I'm going to throw up. I can't breathe. Trembling, I shoot to my feet, storming towards the door. Kaziel calls my name, but I'm too caught up in my own emotions to stop. I shove the door open and storm down the hall. The building's cold fluorescent lights blur as my eyes sting. I push past the security doors and out into the night. Then the tears start flowing. God, I feel pathetic like this. I pat my chest, taking small breaths to calm myself, but it is futile. "Danika." Kaziel's voice is closer now, laced with worry. "No...just...no." I spin around, tears already slipping down my cheeks. "Don't...don't try to calm me right now." Kaziel freezes a few steps away, his hands half-raised. "What if she was af

KAZIEL I glare at Callen, aware that he's doing this on purpose. If there's the slightest chance that Dani isn't completely out, he's trying to take it. He looks away, wincing. "I'm just—" I cut him off, my jaw clenched. "I'm aware of your concerns. I'll handle it," I snap. I'm in pain, and I'm exhausted, the last thing I need is to be pissed off. "Are you sure you can take another round? You really don't look so good. Your heart rate is too high," Callen says, and I nearly roll my eyes. Even if I was half dead or paralyzed, I wouldn't let Danika be in pain. Not if I can help it. Besides, I promised to never let her suffer. Every day since she passed out, she's been having a painful episode, even in her sleep. Her sanctum core keeps reacting with her vessel core, causing her an overwhelming amount of pain. It sucks that I can't exactly fix it. But what I can do is extract her pain and bear it for her. It's the bare minimum. Callen flashes his light in my eyes, and it s

DANIKA Dad opens what looks like a folder, placing it on his lap. Papers spill out, including photographs, sketches, symbols, and old notes. There are stuff that look too dark to have been inside our home. He picks up the first page with shaking fingers."She started the moment you turned eight."My stomach drops.He turns a page towards me. It looks like a medical chart, but it also looks wrong. There are energy readings, weird symbols, and curves that look like sound waves on graphs."She called it your core signature," Dad says. "She logged every fever, every nightmare, every time you said you 'felt weird' or had headaches or saw lights. I didn't understand what it meant then."He wipes his face with both hands, ashamed."She wasn't caring for you, Danika. She was tracking you."A coldness seeps into my bones, and Kaziel's grip on my hand tightens. Dad pulls out another sheet, filled with Ember's handwriting."She wrote... that you were 'ripening.' That your power would stabili

DANIKA "Are you alright, Dani?" Cora asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I flash her a smile. I hope she can't tell it's fake. I can't stop thinking about what happened yesterday and how Kaziel simply shut down. He went out that evening, telling me he had a meeting to attend. He hasn't returned or picked up my calls. Sure, he gave me one-word replies on text, but that made me even more nervous.Cora places a hand on my thigh, a worried look on her face. "Do you want to talk about it?"I lower my head, fiddling with the hem of my pink sweater. It's Kaziel's personal life. I'm not sure it's okay to talk about it with her. But thinking about it is making me tear up. I can't shake off Kaziel's expression out of my head. I can still see how broken he looked yesterday."I'm sorry," I sniffle, wiping at my tears, but they keep coming. And it only makes me more upset, causing me to cry harder.Cora hands me some tissues, rubbing my back to comfort me."I'm really sorry," I keep ap

KAZIEL "Kaz, baby...stop, stop, slow down—you're shaking...Kira, help him!""I'm trying!" Kira snarls. "The spell isn't just a block, it's a trap. It's fighting back."Dani cups my face again, forcing my head up so I can see her. Her eyes—blue and gold—glow with worry and love."Kaziel," she whispers, "come back to me. Right now. You hear me? Come back."Her voice is an anchor, and I cling to it because...Gods...Vanya didn't just deceive me. She tried to break me."Dove," I choke, shuddering. "She...she wanted my core. I think...I think she's always been a member of the cult."Dani pulls me against her chest, shaking."That wasn't a memory block," Kira says. "That was a cage."My vision blurs suddenly. There's no warning. It only feels like my mind is being dragged underwater by something cold and merciless."Kaz—Kaziel?!" Dani's voice is distant and muffled, like she's calling to me from another world.Kira curses behind me. "Something's forcing its way through. This isn't volu