Chapter 55: Monster

Monster starves, scuttling from a dark corner toward the scent of chocolate. She must feed. Two demons huddle in an

alleyway, a bottle between them. They scatter, screaming in fear as Monster leaps on them, letting them go.

She doesn't want to hurt them. They are irrelevant. The bottle of nectar is almost empty, but there is enough-just

enough-to send thrills of fire through her veins. The darkness swallows it, demands more, more, always more.

She goes in search of a larger source. Stomps through an underground nectar den, ripping apart furniture, sending demons

scattering, tossed, broken dolls of flesh and bone while she crouches behind the counter of the run-down bar and opens

the tap to the barrel of nectar, swallowing as much as she can as it coats her in the thick fluid.

More.

Monster stumbles into the street, hurt turning her with a roar toward a group of demons attacking her with magic. She