Monster - A. Lee Martinez [84]
Chester stuck his head into the room. “Something is going on in here.”
“Something is going on out here,” said Monster.
Liz sucked in a deep breath and spit a fireball. Monster ducked, avoiding getting his head blown off. Standing over him, her cheeks bulged as she prepared to spit again. Monster flared, throwing off her aim. The fireball exploded a few inches to his left, singeing his arm.
“Stop being a jerk.” She covered her eyes. “You’re just making this harder on both of us.”
Monster crawled across the floor, keeping his head down as Liz spit a barrage of flame in the direction of his glow.
“Can’t we talk about this?” he asked. “I can change.”
“Gary said you’d try to talk me out of it, but that I have to be strong. For my sake.”
He crawled in a serpentine pattern, thwarting her attempts to draw a bead as flames burst all around him. His throat tightened. It was a miracle she hadn’t blasted him yet.
Liz’s burning hand seized his ankle. The heat scorched his socks and blistered his skin. His concentration broke, along with his glow.
“You don’t have to do this!” he said. “I’ll release you from our contract, if you really want it so bad.”
“Oh, I know I don’t have to do it,” she said with a grin.
“But I want to do it. Gary agrees that it’ll be good for my self-esteem.”
Monster kicked wildly with his free leg. His foot caught her square in the face, and she fell back, letting him go. He scrambled away, but a fireball exploded in the carpet ahead of him, stopping his flight. He rolled over onto his back. He searched around for something to defend himself with. His hands fell in potting soil and smoldering carpet scraps.
“You don’t want to do this, baby,” he said. “This is a mistake.”
Liz sighed. “Maybe we had some good times. But things change. If you were being honest with yourself, you’d realize that this is best for the both of us.” She shrugged. “Okay, maybe not you, but I have to do this. For me. If you really cared, you’d stop making this so difficult. It’s not like I don’t feel bad about this. But I think it’s the only way to be sure I’ve moved past our relationship. That way, when Gary and I start our contract, it’ll be—”
“Wait a minute. A contract with Gary? He’s not a demon?” Liz winced. “Uh… well, no.”
“I thought you worked with him.”
“I do. He works in the mail room. He’s human.” She shrugged. “Affirmative action.”
“You’re not going back to the Pits!”
“Sure, I am,” she said. “For a few days at least, until Gary and I hammer out the details.”
Monster sat up. “So living with me isn’t worse than the Pits.”
“Don’t be absurd. Of course not.”
“So if it wasn’t for”—he scowled as he spat out the name—“if it wasn’t for Gary, you wouldn’t be breaking up with me,” he said. “Admit it.”
“Okay, I admit it. Does that make you feel better?”
He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Their relationship had its low points, but he’d gotten used to having her around.
“This is it?” he asked. “This is how it ends? Just like that?”
“I guess so. You know, Monster, I don’t want you to think this is all about you. You’re not such a bad guy. A bit of a loser—”
“Well, you can be a bit of a bitch.”
The tips of her long black hair turned bright red. He edged toward the stone. If it truly was the most powerful object in the universe, maybe it would save his ass again. It’d already done it once.
Liz cooled. “I’ll give you that, Monster, because there’s no point in fighting at this stage.”
Chester opened the bedroom door and dared to stick his head into the room. “Are you through with your… talk? Because there’s something you probably want to see going on in here.”
“In a minute,” said Monster. “Listen, Liz. There’s nobody to blame here. We had a few laughs, had some good times. But I think you’re right. It’s time to call it quits. If you want to end it and move in with this new asshole—”
“Gary. His name is Gary.”
“Sorry.” He held up his hands. “If you want to move in with… Gary, then go right ahead. That’s cool with me. And I’m happy for you and… Gary. Really, I am.”
She smiled. “Thanks,