Page 33 of A Mastery of Monsters

“So you’re straight-up stalking me?”

“I’m observing.”

I have to laugh. What a rebrand.

Riley crosses her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll tell you what I’m looking for?”

“Or you could go first, since I don’t owe you shit, but you clearly want something from me.”

She narrows her eyes and then exhales slowly, blowing the breath out of her mouth with effort. “Sammie. Samantha. She w—she’s—we were in QBSS together.”

She doesn’t say the letters of the acronym individually and instead says it like it’s a word, “Q-biss.” “Okay…”

“She texted me that night. She was texting me regularly , and then she sent one that was very different from the others. She was scared. When I saw it and called at like two in the morning, she didn’t answer.

I was worried, so I went to her house, and she wasn’t there.

I traced the path she would have taken to get home from downtown and searched around that area, and you know what I found?

Her body. Just lying there, and…” She swallows.

“I couldn’t handle being near her like that, so I walked up the road a few blocks to wait for the police, but she was gone when we got back.

Everything was cleaned up. Not even luminol could find traces of her blood.

Someone was thorough. Her parents—well, they want to say she’s missing until the body is found.

” Her gaze narrows. “But I know that she was killed.”

“I’m sorry, are you accusing me of murdering your friend?”

“No,” she grinds out between her teeth. “But I know about McIntosh Castle. The body was close by. They must have seen something. There’s no way they didn’t.

They’re tight-lipped because the Learners’ Society is always tight-lipped.

But now I see you coming in and out. And you don’t seem like their type. ”

Isn’t the society supposed to be a secret? “What does that mean, not their type?”

“You aren’t properly indoctrinated.”

“How do you guess that?”

“Because the society is ‘color blind.’?” She wraps finger quotes around the word.

“None of them would be caught dead at a celebration of Blackness because it’s ‘exclusionary.’ Which means, either you’re bad at it, or you’re pursuing your own interests.

I’d like to know what those are, because if they align with mine, we may be able to help each other. ”

I bite the inside of my cheek. Okay, so I committed a society faux pas without realizing it.

I hope no one saw me come in here. I’m not even going to touch on that color blind philosophy.

More importantly, if Riley’s looking into Samantha’s—or I guess Sammie’s—death, then she’s already searching within the parameters of the information I’m seeking.

This is the closest I’ve come to a real lead. “My brother’s missing.” I avoid thinking about how Sammie is being described as missing even though Riley is saying the girl is dead. It doesn’t mean that Jules is too. The same way what the police say doesn’t mean Mom’s dead.

“And you think this is related to Sammie how?” That bit is harder to explain. “Is it a monster thing?”

My eyes go wide. Apparently not.

She shrugs. “It’s not commonly known. Don’t freak out. And if it helps you, they know I know. Besides that, Sammie had claw marks down her back. That means a monster killed her. Now confirm, how do you think they’re linked?”

“I was attacked by a monster at Big Sandy Bay—”

“And you’re alive?” Riley looks me up and down.

“Obviously.”

“Okay…”

“Anyway, that same day, my brother disappeared but he left me a note saying monsters are real. To stay away from forests or deserted areas, and to run if I spotted one. That someone else had already been hurt. A monster unknown to the society attacked me, has something to do with my brother, and potentially also attacked Sammie. I figured there must be some sort of connection between them.”

“Flimsy at best.”

“Do you have something better?”

“Not yet, but we do have aligned interests. And you were right. I need you because I need a connection to the society. And I assume you now need me because I knew Sammie. Give me your phone.”

I hand it over and let her put her number in. I text her when she gives it back to me, so she’ll have mine. “I don’t have to actually join up, do I?” I ask.

“QBSS? Oh, no.” She laughs. “We don’t accept society members. Really, they never join, but if they tried, we wouldn’t accept them.”

“Because of the monsters?”

“Because we question the morality of people raised in a society that supposedly celebrates diversity but frowns on individuals for expressing any pride or joy associated with their race, culture, or identity. You should question it too.”

“Their culture or whatever has nothing to do with me. I’m not joining the cult. I’m just there to find my brother.”

“Sure.” She waves to the door. “Shall I see you out?”

I follow her downstairs and outside, mourning the curry chicken plate that I didn’t get to have, and keeping my head down in case any society people are milling around outside.

At least I have a real lead now. I’m not sure if I’m going in the right direction, but it’s better than feeling like I’m standing still.