Monsterland Mayhem (Fairy Tales With A Monstrous Twist)

6. Craze

6

CRAZE

The little rabbit stares up at me, her blue eyes a swirl of confusion and exhaustion. It’s been a chaotic day for her, and unfortunately, that sense of chaos will only continue.

She’s in Monsterland now. Nothing will ever be the same for her again.

I step over another fudge bomb while waiting for Ailsa to make her choice. She seems to have a knack for picking the most dangerous paths imaginable, first by heading straight toward the Tweedle brothers instead of running away from them.

And then by bolting straight into a Gum Tree that landed her in the Hot Chocolate Fields.

Our goal with the elixir was to allow her presence to finally be known, and now it was my job to parade her around just enough for word to spread of her true nature. But not too much to where she ended up hurt or taken by one of the Silver King’s minions.

A tightrope, honestly. One I’m used to skating along. However, this little rabbit seems to have a propensity for hopping off on her own trails.

Hence, I’m carrying her now so she doesn’t actually create a chocolate mudslide.

The poor thing is already barely dressed. Hot fudge against her skin would be… bad. Very, very bad.

“Fine,” she says, drawing my gaze to her mouth. “I’ll play your game. Now it’s my turn to ask you something.”

I pause mid-step to arch a brow at her. Technically, she just answered my question, which did in fact make it her turn.

“That’s the second time you used my words against me,” I muse, noting the first time being her running earlier after I said I would address her inquiry if she agreed to do what I requested first. Which was to run, and run she did. “You’re very clever.”

I like that trait.

It’ll suit her well here.

“Ask away, Ailsa,” I say, careful not to call her rabbit or anything else. Apparently, she doesn’t like endearments or nicknames. That’s a shame, as I have several brewing for her in my mind, each one suited to my varying moods.

Little rabbit for playtime.

Gorgeous or beautiful for moments of affection.

Pet for sex.

Maybe if I seduce her properly, she’ll allow me to use that last one. Sweetheart and princess would do as well. My queen . Mmm, the names are truly endless.

“Why are you helping me?” she asks as I resume walking again.

“Because you’re the key to everything,” I tell her. “And I wanted an opportunity to get to know you.”

“Why? And what do you mean by ‘key to everything’?”

“That’s two more questions,” I point out. “Tell me your favorite fruit, and I’ll answer one of them for you.”

She blinks at me. “My favorite fruit?”

“Yes, Ailsa. What’s your favorite fruit?”

Her confusion is cute. I like that it’s distracting her from everything else and keeping her attention on me while I focus on safely escaping this field. If she had any idea where she landed, she would probably have frozen in fear.

Instead, she’s just staring at me with a look I’m very familiar with—the one that says she thinks I’m insane.

Welcome to the party, little rabbit , I muse, waiting for her response.

“Cherries,” she finally blurts out. “My favorite fruit… it’s cherries. Although, I’ve only ever had them once. So I guess… I guess I also really like pears. Specifically the ones that grew back near Baroness Clarice’s estate.”

Baroness , I nearly echo aloud but instead just snort inside.

Ailsa is going to think my world is strange, but honestly, I find hers even more bizarre. The disparity of wealth, the favoring of magical talents, the belittling of pure humans… None of it makes any sense to me.

Humans are rare.

Just like Omegas.

They should be cherished. Protected. Respected .

Alas, that’s a conversation for another day, perhaps. Because I now owe my little rabbit an answer.

“You asked why I want to get to know you,” I say slowly, mostly to give her an opportunity to protest and rephrase. When she doesn’t, I add, “I want to know my potential mate.”

“Potential…” Her eyes widen. “ What ?”

I smirk, not at all surprised by her response. “Is that another question? Because you’ll need to tell me your favorite flower for me to answer.”

“Are you serious?” she sputters.

“I believe I answered that question before,” I drawl.

“I don’t…” She shakes her head. “Okay, whatever. Sunflowers. The kind found out in the meadows. They’re yellow and they smell nice.”

Sunshine flowers , I note, aware that they’re not exactly the same in this realm as in her home, but close enough. Sunshine would also be a good nickname for my little rabbit. Her long white-blonde hair definitely reminds me of the sun.

Alas, nicknames are not allowed.

Not yet, anyway.

“What do you mean by potential mate ?” she demands.

I don’t answer her right away, the edge of the field requiring my complete focus as I navigate us toward a path clear of electric vines.

Definitely don’t want to touch any of those dangerous writhing ropes dangling from the nearby cacti.

Ailsa really did take us off course down here, but once we cross through this fiery desert, we’ll be back on track to reach the caves by nightfall.

Then the fun will begin.

“What…?” Ailsa’s unfinished question has me glancing at her. She’s no longer looking at me, but at the currents buzzing between the vines. “Are those… electrical lines?”

“Sort of,” I tell her. “But not quite. They’re alive. And they like to zap.”

One of them stirs as we near it, the mouth along the end of a rope opening in a hiss that has Ailsa wrapping her arms more tightly around my neck.

“Yeah, they’re not friendly,” I mutter, avoiding the now-slithering ropelike creature. “Most of the fiery desert is like this, but we need to go through it to reach the mushrooms on the other side.”

She swallows. “I… I don’t want to be here. This is all a mistake. I’m… I’m just a human.”

“You’re not,” I promise her. “You’re an Omega. Krolic found you two years ago. We’ve just been waiting for you to take that elixir so that everyone else would know, too.”

She’s shaking her head before I finish. “I can’t be an Omega.”

“Why not?” I ask as we duck under a red rock arch to officially enter the desert.

“Because I’m human .”

“Humans can be Omegas,” I tell her. “That’s why the Crimson King’s edict applied to all beings. It’s about the soul, not the species classification.”

That’ll become evident as she learns more about Monsterland.

I’m an Alpha, as are Catum and Krolic. But we’re all different species.

“Crimson King?” Her nose scrunches. “You mean the Silver King?”

“No, I definitely meant Crimson,” I mutter as I maneuver us around a particularly large cactus. It’s the size of a small house and probably has a spiker inside it. If it comes out to bother us, I’ll be forced to set Ailsa down and waste another card. Both actions would displease me immensely.

“The Silver King issued the edict.”

“No, the Crimson King issued it while masquerading as the Silver King,” I correct her. “It’s a common misconception. One that you’re going to help clear up someday soon.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” I murmur as the hairs along the back of my neck dance in warning.

Fucking hell, I sigh.

“Now really isn’t a good time for me,” I inform the spiker attempting to sneak up on us from behind.

Ailsa frowns.

I don’t give her a chance to question me, just gently lower her feet to the ground and say, “Stay right here, please.”

Then I spin around to handle the spiker.

Nope.

Scratch that.

Spikers— plural .

My cards fall into my hands, my fingers automatically shuffling. “I don’t suppose you three like magic tricks?” I offer. “Because I have some up my sleeves that you might find entertaining.”

Or, well, I’ll find it entertaining, anyway.

They snort, their piglike noses flat and large on their otherwise small heads.

One of them drags a hoofed foot across the ground as another flexes the spikes decorating his arms.

“I guess that’s a no,” I drawl. “All right, then.”

I release one card and watch as it slices right through one of the spiker’s chests.

“See, this is the problem with Alpha, Beta, and Omega distinctions,” I tell Ailsa conversationally. “In our world, it doesn’t matter what monster type you are, you’ll end up falling into one of three categories. And compatibility is about category, not species.”

I throw another card, stopping the second spiker.

“So, as an Omega, human or not, you’re capable of being claimed by any Alpha in Monsterland. Which is why”—I flick a third and final card, this one lodging in the spiker’s thick neck—“you’re being hunted now.”

I turn to face my potential mate and narrow my gaze when I find the space vacant.

Of course she ran.

I scour the desert to see her not even twenty yards away and running straight for the Mushroom Jungle.

“You’re a bad little rabbit,” I singsong after her, my voice easily carrying on the wind. “Better be careful, Ailsa darling, or you might awaken my inner predator.”

An inner predator that likes to chase , I think, taking off after her.

“Run to your heart’s content,” I tell her. “Because when I catch you—and I will catch you, Ailsa—I’m going to teach you a little lesson on proper manners.”