Radley's Home for Horny Monsters by Annabelle Hawthorne (chromebook ebook reader TXT) 📕

it. Like Tink.” Abella used the edge of her wing to wipe away Emily’s tears, the leathery stone surprisingly soft. Emily could only look at the gargoyle through her own tears, a parade of regrets marching through her mind.

“Okay. I’ll do a good job. Just like Tink did.”

MIKE STARED AT THE ceiling, contemplating what had just transpired. He could remember the cold rage, the helplessness, all of it, Emily’s tears down her face, soaking her blouse. “What happened next?” he asked.

“Tink recovered, but as hard as her little head is, the injury did something to her brain. She’s just as smart as she ever was, but something happens between her brain and her mouth. It was almost a decade before she could string any words together in a sentence. Because of this, Emily almost never left the house again. She figured that, unless it was an emergency, she would take care of the occupants of this place. Garrett was a mistake. Anyone who comes inside of this home becomes a part of this place in one way or another. It’s why he was able to walk in without any trouble.”

Mike remembered the blood on Garrett’s arm. “Well, some trouble.”

Naia nodded. “I’m no fighter. Many of us aren’t. That’s your job. You are our bridge to the outside world. If that bridge should fail, it can spell our doom. We fight if we must, but that was never what this place was about. It is meant to be a home, not a keep. That goes double for our caretaker.”

Mike leaned his head back and looked into Naia’s bright eyes. “Emily made her mistakes. I know I’m going to make a ton, too. But I swear I will do my best to keep this house safe, for all of us.”

Naia leaned forward and gently touched her lips to Mike’s. “Consider that an oath, lover.” She kissed him again, her lips soft.

Mike caressed her cheek and basked in the silence of the house.

The doorbell rang. Mike swore to himself and got out of the water. “If Tink ordered pizza again...” He stopped himself, a thin smile on his lips. “Well. If she did, I hope she picked something better than pineapple this time.”

ELIZABETH SAT IN THE old, wooden chair in the library. The chair was uncomfortable, and creaked every time she shifted.The tome she perused on the table was old, likely to fall apart at the slightest provocation. She turned its pages slowly and copied the letters within. Simply snapping pictures of this magical tome would never work, the resulting image always blank. Every time she finished copying a page by hand, the ink on the old page would disappear, its magic released. She slowly transcribed the ancient tome into a leather-bound book, arcane symbols swirling above her writing surface as they infused the new page with magic. The world around her was still, the result of a spell of silence.

Sarah stormed into the library, throwing a book of her own at the floor. It was odd to see her daughter behaving in such a manner, doubly so to see her rant but not hear it. Elizabeth finished transcribing her current page and set her quill down. Stoppering the vial of human blood she had been writing with, she snapped her fingers, breaking the spell.

“-and to top it all off, some asshole hacked our website and my profile picture is a giant dick!” Sarah kicked the book, launching it across the room. It bounced off the wall and tumbled wildly, coming to a rest only a foot away from Sarah. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“The spells in that book are worth millions,” Elizabeth chastised her. Knowledge dating back millennia had been lovingly transferred to its pages eight decades ago. “It is not a thing for you to treat so lightly.”

“Oh, fuck it. We’ve had the knowledge in this book memorized for centuries.” Sarah aimed another kick at the book, but it shot across the room and landed gently in Elizabeth’s hands.

“Not everyone in the Society has memorized them. It would do you good to remember that just because you are my daughter does not mean you will be protected from the others. The Society is a democracy now, and I am beholden to the consequences of a group vote.”

“Ha. Only fools would dare to challenge my magic.” To make her point, Sarah scorched the floor with a small blast of lightning, causing Elizabeth’s ears to ring. Elizabeth sighed, then stood from her chair.

“And only fools throw tantrums such as yours. Now tell me what has you so riled up, my child.” Elizabeth found the spot for the book and slid it into the gap where it belonged. The whole bookshelf gave off a blue glow, the result of a powerful spell that would neutralize anyone curious enough to take the book without permission.

Sarah lifted her shirt, revealing the skin just below her breasts. A dark stain, like soot, was smeared across her belly in roughly the shape of a fish. “My fire elemental was destroyed, and now I can’t wear a bikini for a year!”

“We can make you a new fire elemental,” Elizabeth muttered, examining the mark. Sarah had trapped the elemental beneath her skin, a magical tattoo that was freed at her whim. Elizabeth had borrowed it from her in an effort to get it to ride into the Radley house with Mike, to kill him if he turned down their offer. Upon its demise, it had left behind a third-degree burn on Sarah’s stomach. Already the flesh was peeling off, the soft muscle tissue visible beneath. “Daryl can fix this for you.”

“He can fix my skin, but he can’t get me my elemental back.” Sarah dropped her shirt and threw herself into one of the chairs, then crossed her long legs. “It’s the principle of the thing. I summoned that creature over a century ago. It was like a pet, and there’s no way that idiot could have done