Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

Author:Vanessa Len [Len, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: A&U Children’s
Published: 2021-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Nick’s hands shot out before Joan could react, clamping around both her wrists. Joan’s heart pounded painfully. She heard the catch of her own breath. He looked just the same as he had two nights ago—the night she’d kissed him; the night her family had been murdered. His dark eyes were the same: serious and earnest. Just like when he’d asked her to stay with him.

‘Do you remember what I told you the last time I saw you?’ he said.

He’d told her he’d kill her if she ever stole time again. A shot of fear went through her. She tested the underside of the table with her knee. It didn’t budge, even when she increased the pressure. She glanced at the neighbouring table. It was bolted down. She couldn’t kick the table over.

Nick looked casually out the window. People were walking past them, dressed for work, in the loose suits of this time. Joan followed his eyes from the window to the security camera above them, to another camera on the other side of the room. ‘Next time,’ he said, still soft, ‘I’ll make sure we’re alone.’

‘How can you be here?’ Joan whispered. But there was only one way. And like a storm hitting, her shock and fear at seeing him gave way to pure fury. ‘You’re a monster too? After all you did, you’re—’

‘No!’ Nick’s jaw tightened. ‘I’m human.’

‘You liar!’ Joan said. He was too good at lying. Everything he said was clear-eyed and true. ‘Only monsters can travel!’

‘Only monsters and me. And I travel in a different way. I don’t steal time.’

‘How, then?’

He didn’t answer, and Joan shook her head in contempt. She thought about how she’d left Aaron and Ruth back at the market and couldn’t believe how cavalier she’d been. If Nick’s people found them, they’d be helpless.

Or maybe they were already dead. Maybe everyone at the inn and the market . . . Joan wrenched at her hands. Nick’s grip tightened.

‘Sorry,’ he said. He didn’t sound sorry. ‘I can’t let you touch me.’

It was unbearable to be this close to him, to look at his familiar face, his serious eyes. Joan had looked at him so much at the house. She imagined what they must seem like to anyone glancing at them from the outside—a boy holding his girlfriend’s hands at lunch. A few days ago, she’d have wanted that so much. Now they both knew that if he loosened his grip, she’d fly for his neck—cameras or not.

One question had been burning in her mind since that night. ‘Did you know they were my family before you had them killed?’

‘No.’ Nick’s eyes were still clear.

Joan made herself keep going. ‘Would you have killed them if you’d known?’

Nick didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes.’

It hurt like a physical wound. ‘We were friends. You and me. We were—’ Her voice broke. He’d kissed her. She’d never kissed anyone before. ‘Why did you have to kill them? Why did you have to?’ She could hardly recognise her own voice. The worst of it was that she felt it still—the pull toward him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.