Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High Book 2)

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2021 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-0-3695-0308-4

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Audrey Bobak

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  MONSTERS’ GIFT

  Crude Hill High, 2

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2021

  Prologue

  Caleb

  I’d never felt like this.

  The pain was unreal.

  As I climbed into the car where my friends were, none of us spoke. What was the point in speaking? We’d just put our woman on a private jet with a whole new life mapped out. One that only our fathers knew about.

  Gael stared out the window. River had the tip of the blade he’d stolen from Emily pressing into his thigh. From this angle, I knew he was pushing it in, slowly sinking it into his flesh. The tension of his jaw was a clear indicator.

  Vadik’s hands were clenched into fists.

  None of us were used to this level of pain. River probably was, but I couldn’t seem to stop it. All I wanted to do was scream and shout.

  I sat behind the wheel without knowing what to say. There was nothing. No words.

  Our entire life had just been put on a jet and was now making a new one without us. We didn’t know her brand-new name or where she’d be. She could be in some town close by, or another country.

  “Do you think they’ll keep their word?” Gael asked.

  “Yes,” River said. “They wouldn’t lie to us.”

  “Oh, really? They were more than willing to kill the only woman we’ve ever loved.” Gael slammed the palm of his hand against the car window. “Fuck this. Fuck them. Why did we have to give her up?”

  “We couldn’t allow them to kill her.” I didn’t know why I was making excuses. Gael knew why we’d done it.

  “There’s four of us. We could have taken them. This is all fucking horseshit. I don’t … she was … I don’t…” Gael stopped speaking. One glance in the rearview mirror showed that he struggled with tears.

  We’d gone through so much together, but I couldn’t recall any of us crying. It was kind of sad when I thought about it.

  No tears.

  We’d all accepted how our lives had turned out. It sucked.

  “Do you just accept this?” Gael asked.

  “I accept that we made the right choice with her. We made the choice she needed.”

  “It wasn’t the right choice,” he said. “Not the right choice at all.” He climbed out of the car just as the jet took off. We all followed him, standing by his side as Emily was taken from us.

  “She’s going to think we abandoned her,” Vadik said.

  “We know we didn’t,” I said. “We have given her the best chance. The best opportunity to live. Try to think about what she’s now got. She’s got a full life ahead of her. One she’s going to enjoy more than anything.” I didn’t know if I was explaining this well or just trying to give a more involved reasoning for why we’d let our woman go. “She would know we loved her.”

  I didn’t know how long we stood in that same spot. Cars honked at us as we stood in the way at the airport, but we ignored them. Gael stared up at the sky as if he imagined Emily magically sprouting wings and flying.

  I didn’t know what to say or do. I felt completely helpless, and this was all my fault.

  Finally, I didn’t know what happened, but Gael stepped back.

  From the look on his face, the boy he’d once been had just faded. I saw the anger, the rage, the deep-seated pain. He didn’t say anything as he climbed inside.

  One by one, we got back into the car, but I knew we were not the same men.

  We were finally the monsters our fathers had always hoped we’d be.

  Chapter One

  Emily

  I sang the birthday song in my head, staring at the cupcake with one candle aglow. Seven years had passed since I’d been Emily Crane. Every single part of my past life had been extinguished.

  Now I was Amelia Coast. Ashley was now my sister, Harper.

  I still found it hard to think of myself as Amelia. We still lived in the apartment I’d first woken up in. According to my records, I’d graduated high school, and to pass the time, I’d taken a couple of college courses at night.

  Ashley attended culinary classes and worked at a restaurant about five minutes from where we lived, while I worked at a local supermarket. The job wasn’t very exciting, but after work, I’d then go to my night job of cleaning. I liked having two jobs. Ashley believed I worked too much, but it was much better than sitting around the house moping. I did that a lot regardless. Like now.

  Twenty-five years old and my heart still ached for the men I couldn’t have. I hated myself and my weakness. I should be able to forget about them, but I couldn’t. Caleb, River, Vadik, and Gael. Four boys, no, they’d been four men, even back in high school. I rubbed at my chest, the pain still very much there.

  In and out.

  I tried to take deep breaths, but it failed. It always failed. Tears filled my eyes and because I was alone, I allowed them to fall.

  Ashley didn’t need me to be strong right now. Whenever I was around her, I always found myself fighting to be strong for her. She didn’t need me to be anything but myself, which I found a huge relief. I didn’t want to be anyone else.

  Just myself, trying to focus on the now.

  With the tears sliding down my cheeks, I stared at the candle, wondering what they were doing. Had they moved on? Like their fathers, did they have a new woman? Did they have sons of their own?

  At the sound of the door opening, I quickly swiped at the tears on my cheeks.

  “Hey, it’s me. I’m home. You do not even know the day I’ve had it has been so freaking hectic but so much fun. I have learned so much.” The light turned on as Ashley came into the room, carrying a whole load of bags on her arms and a white box in her hand. “Oh, no, you didn’t think I’d forgotten, did you?”

  I got to my feet as Ashley made her way toward me. “No, no, no, not that tiny cupcake. It’s your birthday. This isn’t the time for you to be just one single cupcake. We are not watching our figures here.”

  Ashley had once been the thinner of the two of us. Now she had the curves and I struggled to eat. I’d tried. Eating had no appeal to me, but Ashley did everything she could to help me. She was a damn good cook, and I did feel bad.

  One day, she’d come home all excited about how she was going to cook on camera and upload it onto a social media site, to which I reminded her that we couldn’t exist online. She’d instantly deflated and I’d felt like the worst kind of person. She instead learned to cook and I’d film her on my cell phone, and we’d watch it.

  If it hadn’t been for my father, I just knew she’d be awesome. She was made to be in front of the camera. Her smile, her charm, her wit, it all came across as she cooked. I knew when she wished for something, it was to be a cook. She was so passionate about food.

  I watched as she blew out the candle, pushed her long brown hair off her face, and slid the white box in front of me. Opening the lid, I saw it was a chocolate cake. Possibly fudgy.

  “And I got ice cream.” She ru
shed away and came back seconds later with a tub of vanilla ice cream. The good kind with vanilla specks in it.

  I smiled.

  “Oh, not finished.”

  She produced some birthday candles, one in the shape of a two and the other a five. Then I watched as she struck the match and lit each one before going to turn off the lights. “Now, don’t forget to make a wish.”

  For several seconds, I stared at the candles, wondering what I could wish for. What would be worth the words that could possibly come true? Nothing seemed to be of any value to me.

  What was the point?

  I didn’t have my men. There was no one to love.

  Wrapping my arms around myself, I looked at the burning candle and knew that come this time next year, I didn’t want to feel this way. I hated the pain, the sadness. Ashley didn’t deserve it, and for the last seven years, that was all I’d been, sad.

  My life kept on whizzing by and I didn’t have a single good memory. Well, I did, but I was wasting mine, and I couldn’t allow that to happen anymore.

  Rather than wish for something I couldn’t have, I made one plan: to be happy. That was what I was going to do. No more wallowing. No more wishing for something that would never happen. It wasn’t lost on me that I’d spent seven years craving to be back in the arms of the men at Crude Hill high, and yet while I was there, I wanted to be anywhere but.

  No more.

  I was going to move on.

  Blowing out the candles, I felt slightly different.

  Ashley clapped her hands, cheered for me, and giggled. “Do you feel any different?” she asked, going to turn the light on.

  “Yeah, I do.” I smiled at her.

  She came back. “Now I think it’s only fair that we have cake, then I’m cooking you a delicious meal.”

  “You don’t have to do that. We could go out dancing if you’d like?”

  Ashley put a hand to her chest. “Really? You’d come out dancing with me?”

  “Hell, yeah, why not? I’d like to.” She’d tried to get me to go out dancing so many times. “I’ve been a sucky roommate.”

  “Don’t,” Ashley said. She offered me the knife to cut the cake. “You’ve been what you’ve needed to be. I’ve never felt … you know. I don’t know what it’s like to want to be with someone that being apart is like a pain in itself.”

  Now I felt even worse. She hadn’t experienced love, and it was all my fault.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said.

  “Stop.” She chuckled. “I’ve gone out dancing. I’ve been on dates, and believe me, I haven’t met anyone who has made me want to drop my panties.”

  “Just so you know, I didn’t want to drop my panties for them for a long time. I actually wanted to kill them.”

  “We shouldn’t talk about them. Not on your birthday.”

  I slid a slice of cake toward her and she dolloped out the softened ice cream. She ran to get spoons, handing me one. I made sure I had a nice piece of cake and some ice cream before having a taste. I closed my eyes. The vanilla and dark fudgy chocolate were perfect.

  “You made this, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I stayed late last night at the restaurant. What do you think?”

  “You’re really good.”

  “I’ve been trying to perfect this recipe for so long.” She took a bite herself and closed her eyes. “This is so good.”

  “Are you not happy with it?”

  “Oh, I am, but I’m already moving on to my next challenge.”

  Ashley had an entire stack of notebooks full of her ideas. There were plenty of disasters in there, but she was never put off. Her enthusiasm was addictive. I finished my slice off within a few bites, and when she offered me some more, I accepted.

  “I’ll cook us something when we get back from dancing.”

  We ate another slice and then it was time to get ready.

  After heading into my bedroom, I went to my wardrobe and looked through my clothes. I had a couple of black dresses, and I picked the one that came to my knees. When I’d bought them, I’d been a bit bigger, but fortunately, I still had the tits to pull it off.

  Ashley was already waiting for me when I joined her in our living room.

  “Damn, you look hot. How about we skip men and make out?” Ashley asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to keep being so nice.”

  “I do. It’s your birthday. What better way to be nice?”

  “I’m not looking for a date, or any guy for that matter.”

  “Stop being a party pooper. It’s not fair.” Ashley stuck her tongue out. “Now, let’s go and party like our lives depend on it.”

  Our lives didn’t depend on anything. Grabbing my bag, I followed Ashley out of our apartment, letting her lock up. We linked arms as we made our way out into the night. People were already milling about in the street. We walked a couple of feet away from our apartment, and Ashley hailed us a taxi. It took a few minutes but finally, someone was willing to stop.

  I smiled, relieved as I didn’t want to have to walk all the way to the nightclub. I didn’t know where she wanted to take us, but right now, all I wanted to do was forget about everything and everyone. Especially four guys back at a town I once loathed.

  Once inside the car, Ashley kept the driver entertained, allowing me to sit back, relax, and just focus on the passing world. I didn’t know if this would be the biggest mistake in the world.

  Going out for my birthday had sounded like fun, but now, I didn’t think it would be.

  After half an hour, Ashley grabbed my hand, leading me out into the night. She waved at the bouncer at the front door, and much to my surprise, we were allowed in.

  “I know Philip. He’s a good guy. He comes into the restaurant all the time and I helped him with proposing to his fiancée.” Ashley tugged me deep into the nightclub. The lights were all down. The music was just a jumble of notes filling the air.

  People danced on the main floor. No one seemed to have any rhythm, but no one cared.

  Before I had a chance to turn her down, Ashley pulled me onto the dance floor and made me work my hips. It wasn’t so bad. Kind of fun actually. No one expected anything from me, which was a welcome relief.

  Pushing all my previous thoughts out of my head, I let myself go, dancing and enjoying myself. It wasn’t too hard to do. Not when I finally let everything go and just enjoyed the feelings. It was nice. Freeing.

  We stopped to get some drinks, then started back dancing. A couple of guys tried to hit on us, but Ashley sent them on their way. Tonight was about me, apparently.

  Finally, we were both exhausted and found a booth that made it a little more private. The music was still too loud, but we could at least talk to one another.

  “This is so much fun, am I right?” Ashley asked.

  “Yeah. It’s great. You know, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to go out on a date.”

  Ashley waved her hand in front of me. “Please, I don’t want to even think about guys right now. I’m focused on my career. Guys are like totally boring.” She blew out a breath as she looked out across the dance floor.

  I reach across and take hold of her hand. “This is our life now, Ash. We’re not going back there. Ever. This is all we’ve got.”

  “I get that, and guess what, the only person I want to spend my life with is you. I don’t care about men or relationships.” She shrugged. “I really need to pee. How about we have another drink and then go and get some food?”

  “Yeah, I’m game. I’ll wait here.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ashley slid out of the booth and I sat, waiting for her. She disappeared from sight, and I ran my fingers across the table. It had been nice to dance, but my feet were killing me. Regardless of what anyone said, there was no good way to dance in heels. They were horrible death contraptions.

  I couldn’t wait to take them off and give myself a foot massage.

  Someone sat in the booth and I’d been so busy look
ing out across the crowd, I didn’t pay attention.

  I was about to tell them I’d be going, but all the words died in my throat as I saw who sat opposite me. I hadn’t seen him in seven years. The night that had changed it all.

  Earl Valentine. The man my father had intended to sell me to. My virginity. Not me. I wasn’t the commodity, my precious hymen had been. Of course, realizing what my father planned, I’d slept with not one but two of my men, and I didn’t regret it.

  Staring at him now, I knew we were in danger. I glanced in the direction of where Ashley had gone.

  “She’s safe,” he said.

  I clenched my hands into tight fists. Seven years of being all alone had made me sloppy. I didn’t have anything to back me up. No protection of any kind.

  I didn’t know what the fuck to do.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s a free country, and London is such a wonderful city. Have you seen it at Christmas?”

  He knew damn well I’d seen it at that time of year. Fucker.

  I didn’t like this.

  Even though I’d been miserable, I enjoyed not living in fear. I no longer constantly put my back to any room. I took my time where I went. Right now, I was pissed off. I hated this feeling.

  In a few short seconds, he’d made me ache for the freedom I’d possessed.

  “What do you want?”

  “Now that’s a rather interesting question, isn’t it? Originally, I was promised a virgin woman. Then, of course, that was taken from me, and in its place as a peace offering, I was granted an alignment with the Monsters that saw me double my empire.”

  “If that’s the case, why are you here? How do you know about me?” I wasn’t going to bring Ashley into this. I wanted to try to make him forget she even existed. I didn’t know how I was going to do that.

  She was an innocent. My father had brought her and her mother into the limelight. If it hadn’t been for Caleb, River, Gael, and Vadik, I knew she’d be dead as well.