The Cries of Monsters

THE CRIES OF MONSTERS HER CURSED PROTECTORS BOOK 2 MIA HARTSON Copyright Copyright © Suzette Hartman 2023 All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. www.miahartson.com Contents DEDICATION 1. CHAPTER 1 2. CHAPTER 2 3. CHAPTER 3 4. CHAPTER 4 5. CHAPTER 5 6. CHAPTER 6 7. CHAPTER 7 8. CHAPTER 8 9. CHAPTER 9 10. CHAPTER 10 11. CHAPTER 11 12. CHAPTER 12 13. CHAPTER 13 14. CHAPTER 14 15. CHAPTER 15 16. CHAPTER 16 17. CHAPTER 17 18. CHAPTER 18 19. CHAPTER 19 20. CHAPTER 20 21. CHAPTER 21 22. CHAPTER 22 23. CHAPTER 23 24. CHAPTER 24 25. CHAPTER 25 26. CHAPTER 26 27. CHAPTER 27 28. CHAPTER 28 29. CHAPTER 29 30. CHAPTER 30 LET'S BE FRIENDS! GO BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN ABOUT THE AUTHOR DEDICATION For you, dear reader. I hope this book makes your mind whirl, your cheeks ache (from laughing, I mean), and your heart race. Mia x CHAPTER 1 ~ Locke ~ I flew high over the city, my wings cutting through the frigid air as I soared over sprawling mansions and cobbled streets filled with monsters who were only just beginning their night. Lanterns around the city burned steadily, the thousands of small blue fires resembling a smattering of stars, but I didn’t see the beauty of it. I never did anymore. Katakin was a place ruled by power and greed, and for me, it was the hell that never ended. I wondered then whether Raine would appreciate the sight, and my lips unwillingly twitched upward into a half smile. I look forward to it, asshole. The last words she said to me repeated in my mind, accompanied by the image of her face, her pink lips pursed and her amber-eyes brimming with hatred. I had a feeling she’d see Katakin much as she saw me. She would tell herself that she despised everything about the city, but deep down she’d be enthralled by it. Captivated by its darkness and beauty like a moth drawn to a flame. I didn’t doubt parts of her loathed us monsters, but it wasn’t all hate. Her being with Kade was proof of that. My thoughts went to the delicious moans I heard coming from Kade’s bedroom while I’d been trying to read in the common room. It was obvious what they were up to and as my mind conjured images of the two of them together, my pants had become tight. Kade and I had shared a few females in the past, mostly so we could keep one another in check, and the urge to join them had made it impossible to focus on the words on the page in front of me. Fuck. Just thinking about it again had me grinding my teeth. My thoughts then went to my father who had visited my personal rooms not too long ago, and the fury I’d been trying to contain reignited. I knew Warrick’s fucking games. He hadn’t just gone out of his curiosity to see Raine. He’d visited my rooms to remind me that I couldn’t keep any secrets from him, and he could take everything from me if he wanted, including the spirited little human. I’d told him Raine was a shifter newblood, and I could only assume he believed it. But for how long? If Warrick figured out she was still human, he’d drag her to his lab, where he’d pull her apart if it meant finding out more about the curse that tormented us. The vampire had the power of the Taratun council behind him, and if he put forward the case that he needed her, the council would order me to hand her over. But I wasn’t going to let him fucking have her. And I suspected my brothers wouldn’t either. Red flashed before my eyes as I thought of Warrick trying to take Raine away, and I flapped my wings harder, breathing in deep through my nose and hoping in vain that the chill air would cool my temper. It’s why I was out there. When Warrick had left our rooms, I knew I had to get out of the mountain before my anger made me do something stupid. The moment Warrick’s coal-black eyes had landed on Raine, the urge I had to kill him had been unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Rage made my body shake, and it had taken all my willpower to stop myself from launching forward and twisting my father’s head from his body. If it were any other female, I don’t think I would have felt such outrage. I’d wanted to kill my father more than once, but never that badly. The bond between Raine and me made the need to protect her so strong that it was a constant battle for me not to pull her to me and hide her away, but I couldn’t blame the bond entirely. There was something about her from the moment I’d seen her in that clearing on the island. Those amber eyes burned to my soul, and that body screamed for me to touch her. I tried to focus on the cold wind that traveled from my cheeks through my limbs and to the tips of my wings. It was a pleasant sensation that usually worked to loosen my muscles, but this time it did nothing to douse my rage. Angling my body, I curved around one of the gray stone guard towers that rose into the sky, when a voice sounded in my head. Locke. You need to see this, said a gruff voice, and