1. Darcy

Chapter 1

Darcy

T he last bit of daylight was leaving. I either had to find shelter somewhere or get to the portal and head back to the human realm. Everyone knew that it wasn't safe to stay out in the open in the monster realm once darkness fell. Especially for someone like me, who had spent the last few years learning how to adapt to the human side. My best friend, Rafe, still spent a lot of time over here, but I didn't. This place had never felt like my home, and even though I faced judgement from some, I always felt better in the human world. Maybe things weren't perfect, but I belonged there.

Lately, though, it had been hard to be my typical cheery self. I'd tried to hide it, but Rafe had seen through me, and so had his boyfriend, Kennedy. It was why I needed to get away tonight. Kennedy's graduation party had been great, and I'd been thrilled that part of it had been in the monster realm. But seeing even my grumpiest friend find a mate and fall in love was sometimes too much to bear.

Don't get me wrong, I was so happy for him. I'd been the one who'd signed him up for the Monster Match dating app to begin with. It didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Darkness fell suddenly and was absolute. Luckily, being a reptile had its perks and I could still manage. I wouldn't call it night vision necessarily, but I did adjust to the darkness quickly and could sense objects and predators. I just had to get to the human military base, where there was artificial light, and through the portal back home. If only I knew which direction it was in.

I kept walking, but it wasn't long before the cold that descended with the darkness became too much. Downside of being a reptile, I guessed. I really needed to find somewhere to hunker down if I couldn't find the portal. This was what I got for leaving on my own to sulk.

Something flickered from up ahead. What was that? I squinted, trying to see better. Whatever it was, it was bright. Unnaturally so. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't a flickering light, but more of a pulsing one. It was so bright it almost lit up the darkness of the night sky.

What was this thing? The light shined a bright yellow and covered a large area, over seven feet tall and about five feet wide. There was a deep humming sound surrounding me, that I was pretty sure was coming from this . . . light thing. It almost looked like a portal, but it was nothing like any I'd seen before.

"Turn around, Darcy," I said out loud, like that would make me listen to my own brain any better. "Nothing good will come of this. Just keep walking. Find shelter and then go home tomorrow morning. Do not go closer to the pulsing yellow light."

Like I knew it would, my pep talk did nothing. What could I say? I'd always been too curious for my own good. But how could I just ignore this? It clearly wasn't natural, but it had to be here for a reason. Since I was the only being in sight, it was up to me to examine it.

Yup, that was what I was going with, and I was going to stick with it. I took another step.

The closer I got, the more obvious the humming coming from the light became. That only solidified my idea that this was a portal of some sort, since all the ones connecting the monster realm with the human one hummed too. But this wasn't one of ours. It was totally different. So where did this lead to?

It was like a magnet. At some point, I wasn't walking of my own free will but being drawn there by some force I couldn't see. No matter how hard I tried, my feet kept moving until all distance was gone and I was just inches from the portal. I reached my hand out with a plan to carefully touch it and see what happened. But as soon as my claws brushed the light, I was paralyzed. The light shifted, twirling and twisting as it wrapped around my wrist. I tried to pull free, but it was no use. Even with my extra strength, I was powerless against it.

It kept twisting higher and higher until my arm was completely consumed. Then my shoulder, chest, other shoulder, other arm. The light broke off into two now, half wrapping around my neck and then face, the rest going down my body until I was completely covered.

I couldn't see anything but a blinding white light. I couldn't hear anything but the humming. There was nothing I could do now but wait.

The portals to back home felt like walking through a doorway. A windy one, but they were still passed through almost as easily. This one felt like how all the human movies portrayed them as. I was twisting and turning, and even with my better balance, I couldn't seem to stand upright or get purchase. My stomach heaved. If I didn't get through this soon, I'd be sick.

Then, the light started to retract slowly, starting from my feet, then legs, then torso, until all of it was behind me. From the start, this had been a physical force, and that didn't change at all when the light literally pushed my back. Suddenly, I was tumbling again, but this time I wasn't in midair. I was falling to the ground.

It took me way longer than I was proud of to get my bearings. But to be fair, I'd been literally tossed out of a strange portal that had likely put me into a new dimension.

I finally managed to push myself up to all fours, and my inner eyelids blinked, clearing my vision. I was in a field of some kind. No, not a field, a garden. A vegetable one, it looked like.

Was I in the human world? Hope filled me as I finally felt steady enough to climb to my feet. Maybe I'd be able to find my way home after all.

"What in the goddess's name are you doing in my garden? You're crushing my tomatoes!"

I looked up at the sound. A young man, who looked very human and very pissed, was sprinting toward me. He must have come from the cozy looking cabin I could see a short distance away.

"Get out of there!" he snapped again, and I realized I was still crushing his vegetables.

"Oh sorry!" I tried to do as little damage as possible, but I was right smack in the middle of the garden, so it wasn't easy, and by the time I got out, I'd probably ruined even more.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to destroy your garden. As soon as I find my way back home, I can repay you. I-I don't really know what happened or where I am but—"

"Oh goddess, what the fuck are you? This cannot be happening."

I looked back up at the man, at the shock, fear, and disgust in his face, and my stomach rolled. Back home, even humans who hated us, knew us. They might be disgusted, but they wouldn't be surprised to see me. It wouldn't be a shock. Even if I didn't land in one of the monster sanctuary cities, the humans would still be aware of my existence. This one, though, looked like he was about to pass out. Then, just as I started to plead my case and let this human know I meant no harm, he held his hands out in front of him and they started to glow with a pale-green light, directed right at me.

Oh shit. I wasn't home, was I?