Page 84 of A Mastery of Monsters

I don’t get to see Jules on his birthday, and the day after, I’m summoned to the Kingston Penitentiary.

Both Margot and Corey have exams to sit, so only Virgil is with me.

We get off the bus and cross the street to the building.

He’s been quiet since everything that went down with the vote, I assume thinking about the fact that his whole life could be turned around again if I’m reinstated as a candidate.

I can’t manage to consider the possibility like the others.

I guess I’m already used to the Learners letting me down. I don’t want to hope for anything.

We go around to the same side entrance I went to during the monster affinity training, where a white woman greets us and walks us down the staircase I mistakenly went down before.

She uses a flashlight to guide us in the dark.

Now I can properly see the monsters in their cages.

They look drunk—slumped over and droopy-eyed.

Do they drug them? Virgil’s eyes linger as we pass, and I swallow.

“You didn’t have to come,” I say.

“I wanted to. You shouldn’t have to go alone.”

At the end of the hallway is a door where the three Doctorate candidates stand. Or two of them stand, as Carrigan is more slouched against the wall than anything.

Adam smiles at us. “Thank you for coming. We’re still proceeding with the investigation, which is nearly complete, but Bernie has requested to speak with you, August.”

“Me?” I ask, then look at Virgil. He’s the one who was friends with the guy. And yes, I’d liked Bernie before I found out about his involvement in all this, but I hadn’t know him that well. Clearly.

“We’re hoping that since he made the request, you might be able to glean more information from him.” He waves to the woman who brought us down and now holds an electronic device. “Lydia will get you miked, if you don’t mind.”

“Uh… sure.” I let Lydia tape a mic under my clothes while everyone else politely looks away. There’s equipment set up on the side featuring multiple headphones, which I guess they’ll use to listen to Bernie’s and my conversation. Lydia finishes up and hands me her flashlight.

I can’t help but look back at Virgil, who gives me an encouraging smile. “It’s just Bernie.”

Right. It’s just Bernie.

James opens the door for me. “Third cell on the right.” His eyes follow me as I walk past him.

The door shuts with a soft whoosh , and I hold the flashlight out in front of me. I count the cells as I go. They’re all empty except for Bernie’s.

Ironically, he looks better than ever. There’s a fresh pinkness to his skin, and he’s not coughing or needing to lean against something for support. The only sign that anything is off is the redness of his eyes.

Davy died yesterday.

Was killed, technically.

Now Bernie is only partnered to one monster. Though Jules is, thankfully, outside of his control. Either way, the physical strain of being bonded to two partners is over.

“You came.” Bernie’s perched on the single bed. As far as cells go, it’s a lot nicer than the Penitentiary was historically. The toilet has a privacy screen, and there’s a mini fridge and a TV. I guess when it comes to people, the Learners suddenly know how to be humane.

I nod to the TV. “You get Netflix on that?”

“To be clear,” Bernie says, his gaze on the floor, “I only called for you because I can’t bring myself to face Virgil or Jules.”

“Maybe try being less manipulative and homicidal next time.”

A tiny smile blooms on his face, and he looks at me. “Perhaps. It wasn’t personal. Though it’s clear to me now that even that girl, Riley, didn’t know what I meant or where the artifact was. I’m not sure any of them do.”

“What artifact?”

“Now, isn’t that the million-dollar question?”

So he doesn’t know. I’d already gathered as much, but Bernie has just confirmed it.

He says, “Please convey my apologies to them. Jules and Virgil. I feel bad for what I did to your brother, but I feel worse about betraying Virgil. I’ve known him most of his life. Came to love him like a son. I admired his parents, too.”

I don’t know that I care for Bernie’s brand of fatherly love. He wielded Davy like a tool and would have done the same with Virgil. “You admired the parents whose actions led to Virgil having a lifetime of being ostracized?” Honestly, it’s on brand for Bernie.

“They dared to challenge the status quo. It’s not fair that my boy was—” He sucks back a breath.

“This entire society is predicated off of the belief that we are creating a fair system. But it never was. Virgil’s parents knew that.

They sought change so their son could have a better future.

My Davy played by the rules for a long time, and look where it got him. ”

“Are you saying you decided to do this to… what? Disrupt the society? Is that what the artifact was supposed to help with?”

But then, Bernie doesn’t even know what this artifact is, so why was he chasing it? He could have just lived quietly with his family. Instead he risked exposure to go after QBSS. “Your wife, she said you had to do this. Why?”

“Why did you have to join the society?”

“To help my brother.”

“For family,” Bernie says, staring at his lap.

We know that someone else helped Bernie… but even that doesn’t make sense. They must have been getting something out of the exchange. Otherwise, why use their power and influence like that? What if they didn’t just help? What if they were the reason Bernie was involved in the first place?

I stumbled onto the truth that Bernie had saved his son accidentally. It’s not so far-fetched that someone else could have discovered what Bernie had done. “Someone found out about Davy, didn’t they?”

Bernie gives me a small nod. “I knew you were a smart girl.”

“Who?”

He laughs. “If only it were that simple.”

He doesn’t know. Or he does, but he won’t say. Davy may be gone, but Eleanor is still alive. The only family he has left. “Why didn’t you say something about this earlier?”

“It wouldn’t have saved Davy. They were already going to kill him for the illegal bonding. If anything, it might have made things worse.”

“Then why say it now?”

“Because maybe telling you will make the society take the protection of my wife more seriously.”

“A name would be ideal.”

“And I’ve already said it’s not that simple. Let me ask you a question: When do you think this started?”

“February.”

“Wrong. How do you expect that I got the serum to bond with Davy in the first place?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “You stole it?” It sounds weak even to my ears. Someone helped him recently for sure, but for Davy… I don’t know.

“How? The serum is held under lock and key. Us professors don’t even get access to it.

When it’s time for the initiation, it’s taken from its secure location—which is not even known to us—with multiple witnesses to sign off, and transferred via armored truck straight to the Pen.

There it continues to be monitored until used.

And if any dose is missing, a red alert goes up.

Let me tell you, Dr. Weiss was stolen from once in the past, and he refused to be stolen from again.

The amount of people, power, and coordination you would need could never be satisfied by just me. ”

“Someone got it for you, even back then.”

“Presented it as a prize. It was right there. Special delivery to my home. So I used it. Then all that evidence of Davy camping and this plan to run that neither he nor I had ever conceived suddenly appeared. A cover story.” Bernie licks his lips.

“I was naive. I thought there wouldn’t be a cost to that decision.

But of course there was. In February, I was given the name of a boy to seek out, along with the goal of acquiring an artifact. ”

“By who?” He has to know something .

“Listen!” he snaps. “Listen to me and use your brain!”

“I’m listening! You went to get serum that night for Virgil. Who did you go to?”

“I went to beg a ghost! And wouldn’t you know, I guess I’m a believer, because once again they delivered.”

A ghost… Holy shit. “You really don’t know,” I say.

“There she is. You can do it when you apply yourself.”

I scowl at him.

We’re not the only ones playing a game here. That’s what Henry said to Margot at the Mastery group meeting weeks ago. And that’s exactly what this feels like. Players and pieces being moved around and around.

But what do they want? I thought this was about the election, but Bernie’s son was missing before Cyrus even died. That can’t be discounted. The election is part of this, but with this much advance planning, that can’t be the only goal.

“Someone manipulated you.”

Bernie shrugs. “Why stop at one? Like I said, this requires coordination. This is not something that one person could do alone. And yet there must be someone at the helm. That’s the question you should be asking.

” He spreads his arms open. “Go forth and cut those strings, Ms. Black. I’m already dangling because of your efforts.

It’s almost curtains for me. But you need to keep going.

Cutting and cutting and cutting until you get to the puppet master. ”

“How do I know you’re not just saying bullshit to bait me?” I ask.

“You think I don’t know that they’re going to kill me? Even if the Masters vote in my favor, I’ll still die. That’s the only way you can be sure a secret stays safe.”

I’m not naive enough to dispute what he’s saying.

Not now that I’ve seen how the society handles things.

There’s no saving Bernie, and I don’t even know if that’s what I want for him.

But this is my last chance to learn what I can from the man.

“You don’t know what the artifact is, but do you know what it does? ”

His lips spread into a wide grin. “It’s a God killer.”