Page 82 of A Mastery of Monsters

This time at Summerhill we aren’t in the formal meeting area.

Instead, we’re ushered into a smaller side room that has a long conference table.

There are pitchers of water set out alongside coffee pots and mugs.

There are no windows to speak of, and there’s a cool staleness to the air as if this room isn’t used often.

Me, Virgil, Corey, and Margot settle in the chairs, and I look hopefully at the door. They’re supposed to bring Jules out. The others busy themselves with getting water or tea while I tap my fingers on the table.

Virgil’s shoulder nudges mine. “He’s coming. It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah.”

Virgil looks away, but I keep staring at him out of the corner of my eye.

It’s surreal that just yesterday we fought Bernie and his giant monsters, one of which was my own brother.

Margot called Henry once we’d incapacitated Bernie and Davy, which got Adam involved, which got James and Carrigan involved, and suddenly Jules was being taken away.

The only reason I didn’t start fighting them was because Henry assured me he wouldn’t let anything happen to my brother.

I’m not Henry’s biggest fan, but he’s a man who knows how to come through.

Henry and Margot also had a hushed conversation that culminated in us agreeing to a lie about how Virgil got involved in the fight.

Officially, the account is that Bernie tricked Virgil by pretending to need help with a possible lead on Davy, and then the two monsters forced Virgil into the cage.

The intent being to add him to Bernie’s roster of monsters.

We noticed Virgil was gone, went to ask Bernie about him, found the secret basement tunnel, etc.

, etc. It was important to avoid any impression that Virgil had run away.

It’s our word against Bernie’s and his family’s, which are good odds, especially since we have Adam on our side.

Jules agreed to the lie as well. And still, however despicable the man turned out to be, I don’t think Bernie would contradict us.

Even at the end, he wanted me to save Virgil.

We also had to say that the lock of the cage Virgil was in was melted and had been relocked with a new padlock by Bernie, exactly like the cage under his house.

Isaac went and broke that open, freeing Virgil, and they both came to the fight.

Isaac is faster in monster form, which is why he was first on the scene.

Unofficially, Virgil bent the bars of a cage that is specially formulated to keep monsters in and has been doing so for over a century.

And he did it while in human form. Or, I suppose, a semimonstrous form.

Henry had to get a welder in under the cover of night to bend the bars back into shape before the society could investigate our claims. The man was bribed to never mention the job, nor the underground cage.

No one had an explanation for why Virgil did something that is supposed to be impossible.

The door on the other side of the room opens, and James, Adam, Carrigan, and Professors Perez and Chen file in.

“My brother—” I start.

“He’ll be brought in when it’s time.” James tugs at his clothes and sits down, adjusting himself frequently as if this is his first time sitting.

Meanwhile, Carrigan runs a hand through his curls and slouches over the table. Looking for all intents and purposes like he does not want to be there.

Adam says, “Thank you all for coming today. We also have the candidacy professors with us, as they worked closely with Bernie, and anything you say may help in adding to and/or supporting their accounts. Now, August, when did you become aware that your brother was an unregistered monster?”

“He’d gone missing. I was trying to find him, and I followed a lead with a friend who brought us to the Marshlands, where I saw him transform.”

James says, “This friend being the QBSS treasurer, Riley Townsend—a Historic and a direct descendant of Joseph Lawrence.”

Well, shit, I didn’t know she was a direct descendant. That explains a lot of what she shouted at Malachi. I can’t believe that fool thought he could kick her out knowing that. “A friend,” I repeat.

“And you didn’t report this unregistered monster sighting,” James continues, eyeing us. “None of you did.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Margot says.

“It is not our job to keep track of monster registration. It was our understanding that monsters running around in Kingston would have obviously been known to the society. Especially considering that this has been going on for a long period of time. Besides that, we did make reports early in the summer and got no response to them. We assumed that meant it was being handled. Furthermore, there was no reason to think Jules was unregistered. We suspected that his partner was not exactly acting with proper decorum, but we had no proof of this to report it. August investigated on her own time while participating in the candidacy, on top of her studies, when it should have been detected and handled by the society.”

Damn. Margot is scary when she’s mad at you but badass when she’s angry on your behalf.

James glowers at her. “I don’t know that I like your tone.”

“But she’s correct,” Adam says, looking sidelong at his brother. “I’m interested in how this went undetected for so long, especially given that reports were made. It’s clear to me that there was no nefarious intent on Ms. Black’s part.”

“We’ll see what the boy has to say.” James presses the intercom button on the table. “Bring in Mr. Black.”

The door opens, and Jules walks in. He looks much better.

He’s standing tall with his shoulders back and his chest out.

And they haven’t put handcuffs on him or anything.

He’s dressed in a shirt and joggers that are a bit too big for him.

He pauses for a moment in the doorway, staring at the Doctorate candidates, his eyes darting from one brother to another before he shakes himself out of it and sits down next to me.

I glance at him, but it’s not like I can ask what’s up right now.

I remember in that moment that tomorrow is his birthday. I almost laugh. He’ll be the same age as Davy, who I learned is only nineteen.

Adam nods to Jules. “Mr. Black, please tell us how you came to be partnered with Bernie Mathers.”

“I was struggling…. I’d had an encounter and been bitten. I thought it was some sort of giant animal.”

Bitten? I swore that Jules must have been a spontaneously born monster because of all the problems he’d had in the lead-up to February. But maybe that was just him dealing with Mom’s disappearance. Still, a bite would have turned him right away.

“Did the monster who bit you have any distinguishing markings?” Chen asks, leaning forward. “Or an animal it looked like?”

Jules shakes his head. “It was dark. I didn’t get a good look at it. I just know it had fur. But it wasn’t Davy.”

I swear that Carrigan’s more alert. He’s in the same slouching position, but before he was looking at the table or playing with his mug. Now, he’s rapt with attention. This, he wants to hear about.

James looks like he’s about to say something but holds himself back for once. Maybe he doesn’t want to be too antagonistic?

“You were bitten,” Adam says. “And then?”

“I started to notice changes. I was more aggressive. I had strange dreams. I craved raw meat. To be honest, I kind of thought maybe I was becoming a werewolf.” He laughs, and the sound is hollow.

“Ridiculous,” James huffs. “If he was bitten, he would have turned right away. And from his story, he hadn’t even met Mathers yet, so how could he maintain control?”

I hate to side with James, but that was my understanding of bites too.

“Not necessarily,” Carrigan says. “We’ve been having more spontaneously born monsters in the last couple of decades.

He might have already been slated to turn without knowing it and then was bitten.

The effects of the bite on someone who already has the mutation are not predictable.

Sometimes, yes, the bite can immediately activate an existing mutation.

But other times, the bite simply exacerbates the onset of symptoms. I wouldn’t expect anyone outside of my faction to be privy to that information, however, so your ignorance on these facts is understandable. ”

It’s the first time Carrigan’s spoken. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that, as an expert on monsters, he’s decided to pipe up to correct things. And unlike James’s interjections, it’s actually helpful information.

James glares at Carrigan but doesn’t try to clap back.

“Please continue,” Adam says.

Jules nods. “I joined the Queen’s Black Student Society just to make friends.

But then Malachi said he could see something more in me, and I was recruited into their advancement program.

While I was there, I was sent an invitation to meet and discuss my ‘current circumstances.’ I was desperate for answers, and so while it was vague, I went anyway.

I met Bernie, and he knew everything I was going through.

He explained that it would get worse and that he could help me control it.

Like I said, I was desperate, so I agreed, and we bonded. This was in early February.”

“Can you explain the details of the bonding, please?” Chen asks.