Page 92 of A Mastery of Monsters

I look over at Margot, alarmed. I mean, I knew she would be busy. But I didn’t realize that meant she wouldn’t be my trainer anymore.

She straightens in her chair. “I could maybe—”

“Don’t overextend yourself.” Henry slides his eyes to her. I still don’t like him, but more on principle than for something he’s actually done. If anything, he’s only helped. Not every time he should have, but enough. “It’s best to let Margot concentrate so she can achieve what’s needed for Isaac.”

Isaac hunches his shoulders, and Margot stares at her plate. Neither of them speak against Henry.

He continues, “Pairs need to place inside the cutoff twice—once as Bachelors, and once as Masters. When you do it in two consecutive years, you have more opportunities, which is what we want for Margot and Isaac. The worst-case scenario, of course, is failing three times. Those people are stripped of both their title and partner like our disgraced colleague, Bernie.”

Bernie, who’s sitting in a cell somewhere waiting to be killed. I say, “I’m not giving him excuses, but he didn’t do it by himself. He was being directed by someone else.”

“Yes.” Henry adjusts his tie. “And trust me, the society is looking into it. Adam is readying a task force.”

“The same society who didn’t even notice what was happening until we dropped it in their laps?”

There’s shifting at the table. Virgil fiddles with his shirt cuffs. We’re silent until the server has left.

“Use that,” Henry says. “That rage. That feeling of injustice. That is what will serve us as we reshape the Learners under Adam. Even if he does not want to move as quickly as we’d like… Sometimes justice is slow, but—”

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Margot says.

He grins. “Exactly.”

“You have a lot to say,” Jules muses, meeting Henry’s eye. “But you don’t like to just say it.”

“Welcome to the Learners’ Society. Though I’m curious to hear your point of view.”

“Bernie was a sad man who loved his kid. Davy is dead. His dad will be soon. And even though someone else was pulling the strings, they’re either too crafty or too high up to be punished. You act like that’s going to change, but you can’t promise it.”

“Who says I can’t make that promise?”

Jules raises his brow. “You’re going to guarantee them being brought to justice?”

“Yes. Because I believe in what we’re doing here, Mr. Black. And change is made by believers. An opinion I thought your partner held as well.”

“If she does, she hasn’t shared that with me.”

“Interesting. Well, in any case”—Henry turns back to me—“I would like to invite you to join my Mastery group in the new year alongside Violet and Bryce. We’ll get a chance to work closely together on making sure you all succeed in the coming trials.

Corey will also be coming on board as a research assistant. ”

“Part-time,” she adds, straightening. “I’m going to restart classes at the dojang. I want to brush up.” She eyes me. “And I’ve already signed you up.”

“I know, I promised.”

She’s acting casual but, in a couple of sentences, she stood up for herself against Henry and noted that she’ll be going back to her family’s dojang. I haven’t wanted to pry, but I know she’s been tentatively talking with them again.

“Right, part-time.” Henry gestures to Jules. “I would offer to take you on board as well, but your partner already has an assured title, and the group is for prospective Masters and Masters-in-training. What do you think, August?”

Virgil is practically vibrating beside me. This is exactly what he wants. I level my gaze at Henry. “Thank you. We’ll be happy to join.”

Under the table, Jules grips my hand.

After dinner, Henry excuses himself to mingle with the other guests, and Virgil makes me walk around the room doing the same thing.

We repetitively introduce ourselves and accept congratulations.

For every pat on the shoulder, there’s a ghost of a knife at my back.

For every connection made in the society, you make an equal enemy.

“Oh!” Virgil says. “There’s Corris. I’ll be right back. I want to pick his brain.”

I’m glad for the moment to myself. I hang around the dessert table, trying to figure out what I want to try.

“I hear the Basque cheesecake bites are delicious.” I whip around at the smooth voice and come face-to-face with Natalie. I didn’t see her earlier and assumed she wasn’t here. But of course she is.

“Congrats on bonding,” I say. “I appreciate you pairing with my brother.”

“It’s my pleasure. I get a lot of joy in helping young people. Speaking of…” She tilts her head to the side. “Did you get my card?”

“What?”

“The birthday card I sent.”

I set my plate down on the dessert table a little too hard.

The weird card with that story I assumed was some prank of Caden’s—I’d forgotten about it until this moment.

That was the day we learned that any God can be killed.

I think of what Bernie said only days ago with new interest. “You know about the artifact? The one that kills Gods?”

Natalie leans forward. “The what now?”

Is she really going to play this game? “What Bernie was looking for. The artifact.”

“Oh, is that what he wanted?” She laughs. “Silly. You kill a God with your teeth and claws, not a tool.” She gazes across the room at Virgil. “Let me give you some advice that I wish I’d been given. When you’re told a story, think about who benefits from that narrative.”

“Like your story from the card?”

“Yes. Here, I’ll tell you one more. Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted to see the man she loved live free.

She joined a group that believed in it. Eventually, she became the leader of that group.

They grew stronger, and they started to make progress.

Real progress. Not a cure, but a way to break the chains her lover wore.

Another man didn’t like that very much. He sent them on a mission to die.

One of them came back, but she stopped leading.

She could barely move without him.” Here, Natalie’s voice goes high, and she has to pause.

It’s the first sincere emotion I’ve ever seen from her.

“Then one day, that horrible man died. And every single person he wronged rose up. The woman was reborn. She would never love like that again, and the man she hated was dead, but make no mistake, she would have her revenge.”

I lick my lips. “I won’t let you use Jules for whatever you have planned.”

Natalie laughs. “Oh, honey. You don’t have to use anyone when you have the same goals.”

“Goals of setting Monsters free and letting them kill people?”

The good humor drains from her face. “With everything you have seen and learned about the society this semester, you still believe whatever it is they feed you. I thought you were smarter than that.” I swallow under her stare.

She’s standing across from me, but it feels like she’s looming over me.

Pressing down on me with her eyes. “Do you know what the difference is between my faction and the Progressives?”

I shake my head.

“The Progressives want equality for Monsters within an inherently unequal system. Dr. Weiss never intended for Monsters to be equal like the Progressives believe he did. Otherwise, we would know the name of the man they call Patient Zero, would we not? It was Francis McLaughlin, if you care. My predecessors fundamentally disagreed with the Progressives’ approach, though I admit the theories they threw around didn’t help our reputations.

But I can assure you that since my ascension to the role, we have been focused on one thing and one thing only, and that is the complete and utter destruction of the Learners’ Society.

” She does lean toward me now. “You cannot achieve liberation within a system of bondage. And I’ll tell you a fun tidbit: your Progressive leaders understand this exactly.

They don’t want your partner to be free.

They just want to give him enough shiny things to distract him from the fact that he’s in chains. ”

I fight not to brush down the goose pimples that have risen on my arms. Everything in me is screaming to deny what she’s said, but I can’t.

It was perhaps the worst mistake I’ve ever made to think that this woman was just some unhinged leader of a failed faction.

She’s not. Natalie Soer is a powerful woman with a vision and the people to make it happen.

And now my brother is bonded to her.

Jules spots us and starts walking over. A beatific smile graces Natalie’s face again. She raises her glass to me. “Congratulations, again, Ms. Black. I’ll leave you with one final question to ponder: Who brings the apocalypse?”

“I’m so fucking tired of riddles.”

“Aren’t we all?” As Jules reaches us, Natalie grins. “Perfect timing. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

My brother gets whisked away, though he throws me an apologetic look over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Virgil returns to my side. “Got some great tips about Monster evolut—” He stares at me. “What?”

“Who brings the apocalypse?”

“The God of Monsters,” Virgil says automatically, then frowns. “Where did you hear that?”

“How did you know that answer?”

“It’s from old lectures that Dr. Weiss would give. Some were transcribed. I used to read them for fun.”

“On brand in the worst possible way.”

“Some of us like reading!”

“What does it mean?”

He shrugs. “People want to know why tragedy happens to them. Dr. Weiss never discovered what caused Monsters to be born into this world or why the spontaneous birth rate started rising, so it was more of a placeholder. I don’t think he believed in a real God of Monsters.

He was as close to an atheist as you could come in his time.

And even he said in later lectures that it was only a concept. Why?”

“Natalie just asked me that.”

Now it’s Virgil’s turn to roll his eyes. “Ah yes, the Pro-Libs believe there’s a real God of Monsters. And that what they’re doing is serving Them. But they believe in a lot of bullshit that’s been disproven. Though you can never disprove a God.”

“Unless they die,” I say.

“If they die, I think it’s far more likely that they were just human.”

What I actually care about is if Natalie and Bernie are talking about the same God. And if this God exists, whether it’s a real entity or a person, should They be killed or saved from those who wish Them harm?

I pick up my plate and load my desserts onto it, including the mini Basque cheesecake.

It’s none of my business.

I’m invested in keeping the people I care about safe.

The Gods can die if they want. It’s not my job to protect them.