Beauty, by David Barr Kirtley.

David Barr Kirtly's story, Beauty just went up over at Lightspeed. It's an amazing story, here's a taste:

'“....No!” he raged, pacing back and forth in front of the mirror. “No! This can’t be happening.”
Nicole watched from the bed. She said softly, “How?”
“I don’t know. The spell was gone, broken, it—” He turned on her suddenly. “You! You did this to me.”
“What? But I . . .”
He sat down beside her and took her by the hand. “Do you still love me?”
“Of course I do.”
“With all your heart? Like you used to?...”'

Go read the rest of it, now!

I had the pleasure of doing the illustration for it. Many thanks to Lightspeed for that opportunity.

Also, for kicks, I assembled a few more thoughts on monsters.