Page 16 of A Mastery of Monsters

“Too much history and too much politics,” Corris says. “Well, I guess I found her without Henry’s help.”

Margot purses her lips. “You don’t mind being seen with her? People will talk.”

“Oh, darling, people always talk about me.” Corris flashes her a wide grin and then takes off, walking in the direction of Natalie, who’s broken away from her heated conversation.

Not by choice, either. Garrett stalked off, and she didn’t follow.

Corris makes a big show of greeting her, which causes multiple heads to turn as they embrace and then settle at a table together.

“That woman’s shit doesn’t stink,” Margot mutters. “Henry says it’s her greatest talent. She somehow manages to surround herself with powerful people despite her own infamy.”

“Because she leads this Pro-Lib thing?” I ask.

“First rule of factions, do not publicly speak about them. It’s fine with us, but don’t with anyone outside of this group, especially the Pro-Libs. They’re pro-monster in the wrong way. Trust me.”

“Will do.” I don’t know who I would even encounter to speak about it, anyway.

Virgil eyes Natalie and Corris. “Why is she here, do you think? And Garrett, too.”

“Gives me a bad feeling,” Corey says.

Virgil’s knee is bouncing so violently beside me that I’m starting to develop an involved fantasy of driving my knife into his leg so he’ll stop. “You good?” I ask him.

He responds by glaring at me.

“It’ll be fine,” Corey says to him. “I’m sure Henry found someone to nominate her.”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“If he hadn’t been such a dick to me, I wouldn’t have been a dick back,” I say.

“It’s called holding your tongue! I don’t know why you’re incapable of doing that.”

The thing is, I’m quite accomplished at keeping words in.

I did it for years. I didn’t protest when Mom once again declared that we would be moving.

I didn’t correct my “friends” when they said I didn’t sound or act Black.

I didn’t disagree when people suggested that I needed to watch my eating.

And even better, I encouraged it. I tried to get the family excited about once again being uprooted from a new place.

I laughed with my “friends” and agreed that I was an Oreo, like I was happy to be compared to a cookie.

And I meticulously recorded everything I ate and stopped when I hit my calories for the day, even if I was still hungry.

Congratulated myself when I ate less than the minimum.

So I am more than capable of holding my tongue.

Margot straightens as Henry enters the room. He goes to the front, where a seat is conveniently empty at a table. Like it was reserved for him.

“See? That’s the shit I’m talking about,” I say. “He couldn’t even say hi to us? Maybe reassure Virgil a little so he can calm the fuck down?”

“There is a reason for everything that Henry does,” Margot says. “It’s not for you to question.”

I slouch, crossing my arms. “Why can’t you nominate me? You’re a Master.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t have the full Master title yet, which you need to nominate. And Virgil can’t afford to wait. He’s already showing signs of turning. It has to be now.”

Virgil’s leg bouncing increases.

“Stop it,” Margot snaps.

Corey says, “It’s anxiety. Leave him alone.”

“I meant stop freaking out. Don’t bother having faith in August at this point. Have faith in Henry’s desire to help you.”

Virgil’s knee comes to a standstill. I can’t feel bad for him or myself. It’s too late now. Either Henry came through or he didn’t.

Everyone’s heads swivel to the stage as three men walk onto it.

Corey says, “That’s Adam, James, and Carrigan Shaw.

Their father, Cyrus, is the Doctorate.” One is a light-skinned Black man with warm eyes who looks Henry’s age, wearing a loose, billowing dress shirt and pants.

The second is an older East Asian–looking man who’s decked out in a full suit.

And finally, the last man, dark curls falling into his eyes, has deep bronze skin, looks South Asian, and is dressed almost absurdly casually in a black hoodie and cargo pants.

He gives me big middle child energy. “Some students think the fact that they all inherited the Doctorate abilities means the apocalypse is imminent.”

Margot’s left eye twitches. I assumed she believed this apocalypse bullshit as much as the others, but she didn’t grow up in the society like Corey and Virgil. She speaks like she believes it, but that doesn’t mean she actually does.

I glance at Corey. “What do you think?”

She frowns. “I wonder if the mutation is changing for some reason. For example, born monsters become more powerful with every generation. That’s why we have legacy monster families. I’ve always been curious whether that would start happening to the Doctorates.”

I look back at the stage, eyeing the men there. “Is Cyrus a person of color or…?”

“He’s white-passing,” Margot says. “Meredith Grant, the fifth Doctorate and his mother, was multi-racial, and his father was Korean. Cyrus, on the other hand, never married. His sons are technically half-brothers. They all had different mothers, though who they are is a mystery. You’ll find that our Doctorate is more eclectic than those who came before him. ”

Eclectic is an interesting way to put it.

Sounds more like a man with commitment issues.

I guess they took their founder’s encouragement to heart.

In practice, it’s kind of weird to think of them seeking out people of color for partners.

It’s the sort of thing that sounds good until you think about it for a bit. “And where’s Cyrus?”

“Sick,” Virgil says. “He hasn’t been out in public for a while.”

I lean my head against my hand. “Could it be one of them, the Doctorate or his sons, controlling our favorite homicidal Easter Bunny? They’d have the power to have reports ignored too.

” It’s clear to me that the monster at Big Sandy Bay was acting consciously.

It wasn’t attacking like a wild animal. There was intent.

Corey shakes her head. “Why? The only person more powerful than them is their father, and it’s not like attacking you or kidnapping your brother would change that.”

Fair, even I can admit that. The continuing problem is motive.

Why would that monster attack me? And has it really backed off?

Did Jules leaving do something to make it stop?

Or was the point always to get to Jules, and I was just a means to that end?

Which opens up a whole new host of questions about Jules and his connection to that monster.

Virgil stares at the stage. “First Natalie and Garrett show up, and now Carrigan, who hasn’t been to so much as a lecture in years, is here too? What’s going on?”

“I guess we’re about to find out,” Margot says.

The clock above the stage strikes six, and James walks toward the mic.