Page 28 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

ASHER

Avernia doesn’t change at all the next day, despite one of their very own—a presidential scholar—being MIA.

No one even seems to notice, in fact, that anything is amiss. Multiple killers waltz around campus freely, living their lives the same as everyone else, and not a soul bats an eye.

Granted, I suppose it’s possible they’re unaware of the crime that has taken place, but still.

Students seem to care more about my presence than they do the absence of a peer, which I find unnerving. Not because I’m unfamiliar with the level of scrutiny but because it shouldn’t be so commonplace that someone goes missing.

Yet the archives and encyclopedias in the Obeliskos tell another story—one filled with disappearances, unexplained suicides, and that goddamn curse.

If you want to believe that bullshit.

I think higher education is just corrupt in general, and there are certain places where malice breeds well. Schools like Avernia, who pride themselves on prestige and elitism and then use the exclusivity as a weapon to keep students quiet .

Even outside their strange desire to eliminate a supposedly cursed bloodline, it’s clear this university has many pockets of darkness, all waiting for the chance to consume the people.

Not that it matters. I’m not sticking around here long enough to give a shit about how Avernia treats its student body.

Just one student’s body in particular.

It takes all my effort not to stalk into Lucy’s dorm room and keep an eye on her when she gets back from breakfast with Aurora, but I have other things to do.

I already spent the night listening to her pace a hole in the floor from the hall; maybe now that she’s had some normalcy in her routine, she’ll be able to calm down.

That logic is how I force myself to leave her, anyway.

When I get to the quarry, I’m only half surprised to find it sparkling and spotless. After a party like the one from last night, I’d have expected a certain level of cleanup, but this feels like overkill.

The Primordial Forest itself is no less intimidating during the day; dense eastern hemlock and American beech trees surround the campus on all sides, so thick it’s impossible to know how deep they run before you hit alpine terrain.

Deep enough that you start to feel lost the minute you step foot within.

Goose bumps prick along my arms as I remember the first time I entered them. What changed within me when I left.

I find what I’m looking for behind the half-burnt gazebo a ways off from the quarry. A wooden lockbox with some matches, small tools, and an envelope stuffed full of dirty, wrinkled papers.

When Foxe and I showed up yesterday, I ducked out after he was accosted by a couple of naive freshmen, stashing the wooden storage piece where I could access it later.

An hour before the Curators started their party, putting some sinister plan into action, I was already out here.

Cleaning up my own mess.

“You’re late. ”

Carefully placing the envelope back in the box, I close and lock it. Slowly, I turn around and come face-to-face with Muna—the bartender from Lethe’s. Her dark brown skin shines with a glittery bronzer in the sunlight, the long, pleated skirt she wears swishing as she approaches.

She clutches a tan satchel to her chest, and at her side is a broad-shouldered redhead with a ponytail and heavily freckled face.

I glance between them, settling on her familiarity, though I’m certain she doesn’t remember ever meeting me. “We said three.”

“It’s three-oh-five,” Muna states, her gaze falling to the box behind me. “If you’re trying to bury a time capsule here, you’ll need to submit a formal request to the Student Initiative Board as well as the Fury Hill Historical Society. There is a lot of paperwork involved with?—”

“Muna,” the redhead interjects, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Why don’t you let the guy explain what he’s doing before you start lecturing him?”

She rolls her eyes. “Are you seriously suggesting I ask questions after he’s violated school and city policy? God, Tiernan, at least pretend you know me. We’ve only been on the Curators governing body for the last three years together.”

“Right, I forget you want to be queen of Mars one day. I guess a policy violation would get in the way of that.”

“Mars isn’t—” Muna cuts herself off, holding her hands up in mock surrender. She looks at me again, rolling her shoulders. “ Anyway . Are you ready for the grand tour?”

My head already aches. “What’s so grand about it?”

She cocks her head. “Well… You’re only standing on the property of one of the greatest schools in the country. Maybe even the world. I think the better question would be what isn’t grand about it?”

“Feels like I could name a few things.”

“Like?”

“Poor security, unstable blockades at the cave entrances, and all the rumors about ghosts, for starters. ”

“This place definitely is haunted,” Tiernan tells me. “When students die?—”

Muna elbows him in the gut. “I’ll give you the first two things, but the rumors are unfounded. Don’t believe everything you read on The Delphic Pages , and you’ll thrive here.”

“The what?”

“Our school’s community forum. That’s where you heard about the rumors, right?” she replies, though she doesn’t wait for my answer. “And since you’re new, I’ll let your attitude slide. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be seeing Avernia in a whole new light.”

I have no doubt that’s true, though probably not in the way she’s hoping. The only reason I accepted the tour invitation was in the hopes she’d let her guard down and show me the ugly underbelly without meaning to.

Between Muna and Tiernan though, I’m not sure they’re the best option for that. I need a higher-ranking student. The president of the Curators, maybe, or one of the Daughters of Persephone.

I’d ask Quincy, since the latter is her project, but I’m not supposed to bother her unless it’s an emergency. Since it’s her first semester as part of the faculty, she doesn’t want me causing issues.

Like I’m a beacon for trouble, or something.

“Okay, so if we hit up the Morning Fields first and then the Lyceum, we can do the Meadows after lunch.” Muna takes a notepad from her satchel, scribbling something down with a small pink pen. “Which do you want to see first?”

Glancing into the deeper forest, I wonder if my bloody footprints from last night are still visible in the soft dirt, and try to guess how long it’d take for someone to trace them back to me.

I was fucking sloppy, too focused on finding Lucy. Dad would be pissed.

“…most people use the gyms in the Morning Fields recreationally, but the observatory and greenhouse are really nice. I know the Daughters of Persephone are working on a huge campus garden renovation right now, so they probably don’t want us over there.

The outdoor theater is nice this time of day, and Professor Dupont usually hangs out there with his org, if you’d like to meet him. ”

It takes a second to realize she’s talking to me. “Professor Dupont?”

Tiernan raises a thin brow. “Did you enroll at Avernia on purpose or just throw a penny onto a map and head wherever it landed?”

“ Sutton Dupont is the premier professor on campus,” Muna says with an incredulous look aimed my way. “He’s an alumnus and part of the Dupont family, which is the most revered founding bloodline in town. They run everything . Plus, he’s an acting phenomenon and fantastic teacher.”

“As far as legends go,” Tiernan adds. “he’s about as close to one as we’ll get around here.”

Muna eyes me, tilting her head. “You’re an Anderson, right? Shouldn’t you, like, know this sort of thing? I know your family isn’t exactly on great terms with Fury Hill, but?—”

“My interest in what the other families do or don’t do is nonexistent.” Shoving my hands in my pockets, I stand up and start in their direction. Probably shouldn’t have told her my name or association, but she hadn’t wanted to give me a tour until I did. “Now, what exactly are the Morning Fields?”

“Campus is split up into sections,” Tiernan answers.

“The Elysian Dorms are, obviously, student housing. Org residences, the dean’s house, and some admin buildings are also found scattered along this quadrant.

The Lyceum is the main academic building and the center hub, with the big courtyard out in front, and the biggest library behind it.

Which then leads us to the Morning Fields—essentially, areas you might need access to earlier in the day, or places that might make you cry, like the smaller libraries, the gyms, or the student health center.

It’s a play on words…morning, mourning . Studying, exercise…get it?”

He grins wide at me, and I just blink back. “Clever.”

“It was the founders’ idea to tie in Greek myths so heavily with the structure of the school.

Their fascination with the ancient beliefs ran deep and are inescapable now.

” Waving that off, he continues. “The Meadows are basically everything not included in main campus or the forest beyond. Mostly just whatever’s outside but still within city limits. ”

“Great.” Taking off, I start past them but sense hesitance.

“Um…” Muna’s gaze shifts back to the wooden box. “You’re not just leaving that there, are you?”

I don’t reply, because I don’t really know what to say. It didn’t cross my mind that she’d be so interested in the damn thing.

One of Tiernan’s feet slides forward as if he’s tempted to investigate. “I’d take it if I were you. That Wolfe girl will be out here doing her weekend forest cleanup, and if she sees that, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Wolfe girl?”

Nodding, Muna shudders. “Lucy Wolfe. The cleanup is part of her community service sentence.”

My eyebrows arch. “Her sentence ?”

“For starting a fire at Lethe’s a few years ago.

” Muna smooths a hand over her dark curls, adjusting the silky red headband above her forehead.

“The place nearly burned down. It’s a wonder there were no deaths, honestly.

A couple of injuries and serious internal damage to the bar though.

Since the dean is good friends with the chief of police, they let him decide her fate, and she chose community enrichment over jail time. ”

“Still went on her record though,” Tiernan says, crossing his arms. They seem to move on from the box’s presence, turning and heading toward the school. “Plus, everyone pretty much stays away from her now. Well, except Beckett and Eli. I think they just want in her pants though.”

Something bleak and angry simmers in my gut. I follow after them. “How do they know she did it?”

“Hell if I know,” Tiernan replies. “Dean Bauer finds out everything.”

“She’ll give you a formal citation for littering,” Muna notes, looking over her shoulder one last time. “Lucy seems to get off on the power dynamic. Probably because she has none otherwise here.”

Tiernan scoffs. “You and she would be best friends, I bet. ”

“Please.” Muna shakes her head, shoving her notepad back into her satchel. “She’s a little too gruff for my tastes. I like people who smile.”

My teeth grind together. “Maybe she’d smile more if she wasn’t on the hook for something from three years ago.”

“Nah. She started a fire a week ago too.” Tiernan slings an arm around Muna’s shoulders.

“We tried to befriend her during orientation. She’s like this…

rabid dog someone just recently let out of a cage into civilized society.

Practically bit our heads off for suggesting she join a student group.

” He pauses, seeming to consider something.

“Hey, maybe that’s where she gets her name! Because she’s a bit?—”

I kick my foot forward, hooking around the front of his ankle, cutting him off. He grunts, tripping over the blockage; Muna jumps out of the way, disentangling herself from him before he can pull her down too.

He face-plants in a puddle of mud and comes up furious.

“What the fuck , man? Watch where you’re fucking stepping, with your ridiculous Slenderman legs.”

I stare down at him as he slings mud from his eyes with two fingers. “Oops.”

Without waiting for them to catch up, I keep on the path back to Avernia.

Fuck that guy.

I should’ve just killed him.