He ignores my words. “You will put the ring on, you will—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Did you say ring?”
“You will put it on. You will do as you’re told. And as far as that pet goes? I don’t want to see it. And if it shits on my floors—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” And then it hits me. “Pia, you mean?” Can he see her?
“—you will clean it up immediately,” he continues like I’m not even talking. “If I see one speck of bird shit on anything I will—”
“Where is she?”
“—punish you,” he finishes.
I look up. Then at the door. “Where is she?” I throw my flannel down—my nose bleed under control now—and start walking for the door. Tomas is still pounding on it, still spewing threats at the beast. But when I try to open it up, it doesn’t budge.
“You do not walk away from me, girl. You are mine. I command you. And I’m in the process of commanding you to listen to me explain your role here.”
I turn, flip him off, and say, “Fuck you. Where is she? Pia?” I call, shouting up at the ceiling, even though it’s pretty clear she’s not in here. “Pia!” I shout it.
“She’s out there.”
I look over my shoulder at the beast and he’s pointing at the door. “Open the door right now so I can go find her.”
“You need to find the ring and put it on. Then you can find your pet.”
“She’s not a pet, you idiot. She’s me. And I already have the ring.” I walk over to my flannel, pull the ring out of my pocket, and hold it up in the light. “It’s right here. But I’m not putting it on. It’s got creepy writing on it.”
“It’s the charm that lets you leave.”
“What?” I blink at him. “Did you just say leave?”
“Yes.” My hope builds. “Temporarily,” he adds. “For a few hours at a time so you can run errands for me.”
I snort. Like, literally snort. “Run errands for you?”
“Put it on.”
“No. I’m not putting it on. This ring feels like a trap. Like once I put it on, that seals the deal. I’ve seen enough movies to understand how it works. You need to bind me here somehow and this ring is how you do that.”
“You will put it on.”
“I will not.”
“Trust me.” And for the first time since we met, the beast smiles at me. But it’s not a friendly smile, it’s a snarky one. And it comes with fangs. It would be easy to forget what this thing is if you’re only looking at his face. I mean, the shock of the horns has worn off and I’m not looking at his lower half ever again until he learns what pants are. But when he smiles, he shows me his teeth. They are the teeth of a beast and this smile says, I’ve got you. There is no way out now. “You will put that ring on,” he continues. “You will need to leave the sanctuary. We will run out of food in a matter of days. Grant’s weekly grocery trip is tomorrow.”
“Grocery trip? The fuck?”
“Put it on,” he snarls again.
I’m not going to put it on, but before I can object again, the door bursts open and Tomas comes tumbling through.
“Get out!” the beast immediately roars. “You are not allowed to break through my magic!”
Tomas gets to his feet, dusts off his hands, and then points to the beast. “Fuck you, Pell. In case you haven’t noticed, things have changed around here with the new girl. Looks like you’re losing control. Maybe there was a limit on the number of caretakers you were allotted? Or maybe the gods are just bored with you and have decided to hand things over to someone else.”
“Someone like you?”
“Yeah. Someone like me. Someone who can get shit done.”
The monster—Pell—scoffs.
“Come on,” Tomas says. He extends his hand to me. “Come with me. I’ll show you around.”
I hesitate. And I don’t really know why I do it because Tomas has a certain look to him. A look that says, I’ve seen things. I know things. I can do things. And I don’t know what that whole conversation was really about, but I’m pretty sure about one thing and one thing only.
Tomas is not the one in charge here. Has never been the one in charge here.
So even though I want to go with him—I would feel safer with him—I can’t.
Because this is a moment that will decide things and I need to think this through.
If I leave with Tomas, we will be split clearly into two camps. And I have a feeling that eventually Tomas will end up on the losing side. He’s big, and muscular, and he’s strong-willed and loud, but he’s up against a beast. A monster who is nearly seven feet tall. A monster who can freeze me in place and slam heavy wooden doors with the wave of his finger. A monster who just explained that we are cursed and our curses are tied together.