Home for Horny Monsters - Book Five

Temptation

The flames fully engulfed the barn, sending the structure crumbling to the ground. Mike had pulled himself further from the fire, the throbbing in his knee blooming into full-blown agony. Abella walked behind him with her wings outstretched to protect him from the heat and burning embers while carrying Dana. After being thrown out of the barn, she had injured her last remaining limb and had been trying to roll away from the fire.

Bigfoot came charging around the barn so fast that he slid sideways across the snow. "Velvet is gone!" he cried as he came to a stop. "Leeds did something to her, she went after him!"

Mike tried to stand but fell down with a groan. "Why didn't you go after her?"

"She's way faster than I am and can jump along the treetops. Without knowing where she's going, I can't exactly cut her off." He turned his eyes on Abella. "But you. You could track her, right?"

Abella frowned, then looked down at Mike.

"You realize Leeds is trying to separate us, yes?" she asked.

Mike let out a grunt, then nodded. There was no doubt that this was all according to Leeds' plan, but they couldn't just leave Velvet to whatever fate he had in store for her.

"And you still want me to go?" Abella looked uncertain.

"We need to regroup. If you can catch her now, you can bring her back. We need to find Quetzalli, Yuki and that damn owl. Something went wrong, and until we know what, we're going to be stuck here while he picks us off." He fixed Abella with a hard stare, trying his best to hold back tears of pain. "He's planning to kill us one at a time. I think Velvet is his first target."

Bigfoot roared, his body expanding as he slammed a fist into a nearby tree. The trunk cracked, the impact causing the branches to shed their snow.

"I will make him suffer," he declared. "Even if it takes me the rest of my days!"

"I'll be safe with this guy," Mike continued. "We're stronger together than apart. Please." His eyes now shimmered with tears as he tried to shift his leg. "Bring her back for me."

She responded by spreading her wings and taking to the sky. He watched her go with a tight feeling in his chest, followed by a chill. Leeds had outplayed them again, and he wouldn't feel good until they were all together.

"We need to find the others." He laid both of his legs out and frowned. His injured knee was swollen, but he was able to bend it a little. It was probably just a sprain, which was preferable to pretty much anything else knee-related.

Dana grunted. She had finally got one of her arms twisted back into place and was flexing her fingers.

"Fucker couldn't bite me, so used his tongue to crush me against the roof of his mouth." She grabbed onto her other arm and twisted it. There was a loud crunch and a bone popped through the skin. "Can someone help me with this?"

Mike gagged, then turned away.

"I can help." Bigfoot knelt down and, with directions from Dana, helped get her bones realigned so that her rapid healing could take over. The luster faded from her hair and her skin paled until she nearly matched the snow, but she was back on her feet. Her eyes were still rimmed with red as she pulled out her sword.

"The good vibes are officially gone," she growled. "Gonna have to straddle the line between apathy and rage, I guess."

A gray figure descended from above. It was Emery, his hands fidgeting as he darted around.

"Emery. We need you." Mike let Dana help him up. The pure agony in his knee had faded to tolerable levels, allowing him to put a bit of weight on it. "With Abella gone, you're our eyes in the sky. We need to find Yuki, Quetzalli and the owl." He looked over his shoulder at the forest, then pointed. "Last I saw the owl, she was headed that way."