The Creature Below - Omnibus

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Excerpt from Part Three: "No Escape"

Kneeling there naked, Becky Tillis flipped the knife open and gazed at the blade as it gleamed in a single beam of sunlight. Let him find me here, she thought, naked and dead. It'd be no different than when I actually breathed... Slowly, she brought the knife's point down to her chest, between her breasts, right to the point just below the sternum. It was a shame, really, to do such a thing. Summer, she thought, had just arrived and the days would be warmer. She couldn't bear being married a minute longer to the monster that was worse than the so-called monsters he hunted.

Becky took a deep breath and closed her eyes as a warm breeze wafted past. She summoned up the courage to do the deed and started to press the blade into her skin when she heard a man's pleasant, yet amused, voice speak out. "You know, there's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world of yours. It would be a pity to damage yours."

Gasping and dropping the knife, Becky looked in the direction of the voice to see one hunk of a man leaning casually up against a tree off to her left. He was very muscular and wore nothing but what looked like native hunting leathers and boots. His brilliant green eyes seemed to dance as he took her in. "Wh-Who are you?" she asked, actually relieved that it was someone that was not her husband or one of his lackeys.

"My apologies, my lady," he said with a half-bow, "I am Guardian Kalen."

"That's kind of an unusual name."

"Indeed it is, if I were human." Kalen said. "You humans are a fascinating lot. I've been able to study you more thanks to the help of one of my close friends."

"Another human?" Becky asked. According to Raymond, she should be scared of anything non-human that was talking to her. But they couldn't all be bad, could they? This... person... had her dead to rights and could've done anything to her at this point. Instead, he was just talking. That had to say something, didn't it? "What are you?"

"I am what you would call a Fae of the Summer." Kalen said, with another half-bow. "I've been watching you for some time now, Rebecca Stapleton, and I find you interesting. You stay in a place of darkness with a male that you do not care for out of honor and propriety out of love for your family. It's really quite entertaining when one thinks of it. It is a lot like your operas made out of soap."

"You mean a Soap Opera?"

Kalen smiled. "Yes, precisely! My friend has been showing me, along with a lot of other Fae, your entertainment programs. I particularly like the Office Box at Home. It's where I got that lovely little opening quote from to say to you."

Becky frowned. "You mean HBO?" She thought back to what Kalen had told her at first and groaned. "Wonderful, I'm kneeling her naked in the woods with a fairy that likes The Princess Bride." She buried her face into her hands. "Oh my God, can my life get any more pathetic?" Becky then paused as she thought more about what he'd said and she looked up at him. "Why'd you call me by my maiden name?"

"Because you are not formally mated, my maiden." Kalen said. "You cannot change the identity that you associate yourself with if you are not formally joined."

COMING SOON: The Emergence War Trilogy.