Page 14 of A Mastery of Monsters
“Dr. Scott or Professor Scott to you. I haven’t given you license to address me that casually.”
I bite the inside of my cheek.
He stares at me for a moment and then writes something down on the page. He’s pulled it closer to him, so I can’t see what he noted. “You’ve agreed to partner with Virgil for the candidacy. Do you understand what that means?”
“I’m going to compete to become a Master. When I do that, I’ll be able to help control Virgil when he’s in monster form.”
“I see, so you don’t understand.”
Great, an asshole. “Enlighten me, then.”
He narrows his eyes. “You’re rude.”
I reel back with a laugh. “ I’m rude?” I get that I’m supposed to impress this guy or whatever, but they could have warned me how shitty he’d be.
“You do not understand the seriousness of what you are committing to, and you’d better start understanding right now before you ruin that boy’s life.
Virgil deserves more than he’s been given.
He deserves more than you . But unfortunately, you are who he has chosen, and so I hope your will to find your brother is strong enough to make up for it.
” My eyes widen. “Yes, Virgil has told me about your deal. I agree that you should keep this particular motivation concealed, but I need to know about it because I am the one who must now put my reputation on the line to pitch a girl who I don’t think is worthy of being a candidate in order to give him this chance to save his life. ”
This man decided to hate me the second he walked in the door. I thought everything was fine after last week. I came back to face Isaac, didn’t I? But apparently both Margot and Virgil talked shit about me. I can’t see any other reason for him to be treating me like this.
“Well,” Henry says, leaning his chin against his hand. “What will you tell people when they ask why you’ve decided to compete?”
“Why don’t you tell me, since I’m so useless?”
“The Learners’ Society has a long history, Ms. Black.
The candidacy itself is a tradition that has been carried out annually for over a century.
Candidates come from families who have been students of its teachings for generations, some even descended from Masters.
You are nothing and no one to them. These people are then nominated for the honor of just being considered as candidates by Masters like me who stake our personal reputations on our picks.
Trust me when I say that it is not easy to advance in this society without pedigree.
All of us do this because we understand there is a threat in the shadows.
We train because we believe in protecting the students who commit themselves to this cause.
And looking for your missing brother is not good enough. Nor can I tell you what to believe.”
“So, I should be doing it to save everyone from this apocalypse thing?” I haven’t stopped picking at my nails. There are bits of black polish collecting on my jean shorts.
“I would recommend that you change your tone and take the apocalypse seriously. The candidacy was created to prepare for it specifically. It is not a joke. It would be a tragedy for you to only consider its reality when everyone you know and love is suddenly transformed into a snarling beast with the will to do only one thing: kill . You should feel fortunate to get to join the society and have a chance to become a Master, which is the only thing that will protect you from suffering the same fate. And when that time comes, you will be expected to fight and die to guard the Doctorate, the only person on the planet with the power to turn the tide in humanity’s favor.
If you don’t have it in you to be noble, come up with a better reason for competing. ”
I curl my hands into fists. I don’t bother correcting him with my newfound knowledge that there are technically four people on the planet with the Doctorate’s ability, not one.
I’m busy thinking about the idea that this supposed apocalypse is apparently everyone in the world, except for Masters and the Doctorate, turning into monsters.
It sounds unhinged, but then again, so does the existence of monsters, period.
Still, it’s a wild escalation. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the cultlike secret society believes in an end of the world that, of course, can only be combatted by their leader and higher-ups.
This shit is textbook. I don’t care what Henry says.
Unless I literally see random people becoming monsters, I’m not buying it.
“Fine, I’m doing it for Virgil, then.” I grin at him. “You’re all so in love with him, so why not me too?”
Henry closes the journal. “Intimate relationships between partnered monsters and Masters are forbidden.”
“I’m heartbroken.”
“You’re insufferable.” He points at the door. “Get out.”
I fly out of the room, as glad to go as Henry is to have me out. Margot pushes off from the wall with a frown as I leave the office and Virgil’s eyes dart from me to the door. I don’t stop as I walk down the hallway, trying to find my way out of the building.
Margot calls after me to ask what happened, but I’m too far ahead to bother answering.
Virgil, however, puts in the work to catch up to me. “What did you say to him?!”
“He’s an asshole,” I hiss.
“He’s not a sunshine-and-daisies guy, but his entire family was massacred in a random monster attack, so yeah, sometimes those people are grumpy.”
I stop and turn to him. “Tough titties. Everyone has a sob story. He was shitty to me, and so I was shitty back. I don’t know what else to say to you.”
“We told you it was important to impress him!”
I keep heading to the exit, and Virgil doesn’t follow this time. Which is just as well, because I don’t have anything to say to him.
It’s done. There’s no way Henry will find someone to nominate me now.
I’ve fucked up before we even started.