Page 34 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

ASHER

I don’t wait outside the auditorium for Lucy.

She wants space, so I’ll give her a little. Her finding my presence offensive might be amusing if it wasn’t making my life so goddamn difficult.

I’m not willing to leave Lucy at Avernia by herself, even if she doesn’t want to see me. That doesn’t mean I have to ditch her.

Been there once already. Won’t fucking happen again.

Even when I’m not by her side on this godforsaken campus, I’m aware of where she is. What she’s doing. I have eyes everywhere, and the cardigan I gave back was installed with a small tracking device, courtesy of my dad’s cybersecurity friends.

Her safety is my only priority. I won’t accept being kept in the dark anymore.

The sky is a muted gray, pelting the stony Avernia pathways with a light drizzle as I take a look at my course schedule.

Muna was assigned as some campus escort intended to help integrate me into student life, like I’m at all interested in joining any clubs, trying out for sports, or going to trivia nights at Lethe’s.

Frankly, I’m not terribly interested in doing anything that Lucy isn’t, which means half the courses on this slip of paper are nonstarters. But since my degree is mostly finished, I needed something to fill in the blanks.

Raucous laughter floats in from behind me, and when a hand clamps down on my shoulder, I fold the schedule against my chest. Annoyance simmers immediately beneath my skin, but I reel it in for a moment while I turn to meet the gaze of the intruder.

The idiotic part of my soul is hopeful I’ll see beautiful blue eyes.

Hopeful and naive.

“Asher fucking Anderson in the flesh .” A guy with black hair steps into my path, his hold on me tightening as he flashes a sharp-toothed grin my way. “I wasn’t convinced it was you in class, since you completely ditched us to sit in the back.”

He’s flanked by a few others, Tiernan and a deeply tan brunette a few inches shorter than me. They’re all wearing matching blazers with a theta symbol in the middle of a poppy embroidered on the breast pocket.

I look at them, then back at the one touching me. “Do I know you?”

If they were sitting around me in that auditorium, I wouldn’t fucking know. I wasn’t paying them any attention.

“ Ouch . I’d be offended by that if you weren’t still brand-new around here.” The guy laughs, but I notice the way his fingers dig a little deeper into my arm. “We’re friends of Muna’s. She said you might be looking for a tour guide? Maybe stuff she can’t necessarily show you?”

My chin tilts down, and I glance at where he’s still gripping me. My stare lingers and finally returns to his, my eyebrows arching.

Waiting.

When he makes no move to retreat, I reach up, grabbing his index finger, and pry it off me. The other four digits follow, and he winces into the movement, grunting when I yank back, making his bone pop.

“I don’t need to be shown anything.”

“Well, that’s what you’d think if your orientation was lacking.” He steps away, holding his fingers and nods at the pair behind him. “Sara-Sofia and Tiernan have been on Muna’s route before. They know she’s kind of boring. ”

I don’t bother glancing at the other two and continue my walk instead. The mouthy guy doesn’t move before my shoulder checks his; I barely register the impact, noting his recoil in the corner of my eye.

Still, that’s not enough. He jogs to catch up, once again putting himself in front of me. “Look. As an upperclassman, fellow RA, and FFM, it’s my duty to really welcome you to Avernia. If you decline, I’ll be forced to report the insubordination to Dean Bauer.”

“FFM?” A throuple pairing in some of the romance novels my mom reads, but surely that doesn’t translate here.

“Founding family member.”

Again, I just look at him.

He frowns, the expression on his face growing almost menacing. “Is playing dumb how you got out of trouble the other night?”

That piques my interest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“In the words of the great George Bernard Shaw,” the guy says, practically shouting into the damp air, “‘dying is a troublesome business.’ Even more so for those left behind with the body.”

Tiernan steps up, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

I wonder if he’s having trouble looking me in the eye because of our last encounter.

“We’re not exactly strangers to death around here, but you have to admit, a double homicide happening in your dorm, on your floor while you’re the RA, looks pretty shady. ”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing outright. “I wasn’t aware that I was a suspect.”

“You’re not,” the girl rushes out, her cheeks darkening when my gaze meets hers.

“I think what Beckett and Tiernan mean is that Avernia gets spooked easily, and some of us just want to get to know you better. There’s a party at our chapter house on Friday—it’s the big, ugly Victorian near the edge of campus, right before the fencing cuts off the property line. We’d love it if you came.”

The last party I was at burns a hole in my mind, and I consider saying no on principle .

I fucking hate people, parties, and everything about this place.

How I ever survived as a stagehand for a rock star is beyond me.

Still…maybe getting in with these guys wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It’s technically what I’ve been wanting anyway, even if these three are incredibly irritating. They’d likely know something about what’s going on with the murders and their cover-ups.

“All right,” I reply. “What’s your guest policy?”

“Oh.” She looks at the two guys, toying with her ponytail.

“No couples,” Tiernan says. “But other than that, you can bring whoever you want.”

I stare at them for a long time, weighing my options.

Despite them trying to rile me up, it doesn’t seem like the school gives much of a shit about what happened in Erebus Hall, considering how everything has gone on as normal.

Maybe they’ve gotten so used to blowing off student deaths that these were no big deal, or perhaps having two Andersons on campus has them frothing at the mouth for a different sort of destruction.

Either way, attending a party could be a smart move.

At the least, it’ll give Lucy something to do rather than hide out in the library. I’m certain she won’t like me attending on my own. She never did when we were kids, tagging along so she could bounce on her heels all night and chase off anyone who wanted to talk to me.

Not that I minded. It was nice to have a guard dog on occasion rather than being one myself.

I wouldn’t have wanted to speak to anyone but her anyway.

Pushing past the little group, I continue across the quad. The rain picks up, drizzling harder than moments before and soaking my sweater through.

When I glance back over my shoulder, the group has dispersed, though the dark-haired man remains, staring after me.

Watching.

Waiting, maybe, though I’m not interested in sticking around to find out what for.

Foxe is flipping through one of my sketchbooks on the bed when I get back to my room, with Keats curled up on his bare chest. There’s a scar over one pectoral, white and splotchy, from the tattoo he had removed a few months back, and I wonder if he regrets it yet since the rest of his torso is still covered in them.

“Jesus, do you have to be here all the time ?” I snap, irritated by the day’s events so far.

It’s not until I close the door and toss my backpack to the floor that I realize he’s not alone. Lucy sits by his feet with her knees to her chest, glaring at a tattered book lying open on the mattress.

I stop in my tracks, blinking. Immediately, my gaze swings to my cousin, taking in his disheveled, half-naked appearance.

Lucy’s shoes are off, discarded somewhere near the desk. Her sweater is soaked, sticking to her like glue. A part of me wonders how long she’s been in here and how she got here before me.

My jaw clenches, mulling over the possibilities. They’re related too, distantly, but that does nothing to balm the jealousy surging within me.

Foxe smirks, staring up at the ceiling. “Took ya long enough.”

I ignore him, looking at Lucy. “Didn’t you have a meeting with your professor?”

“Yup.” She glances up, eyes narrowing. “Thanks for waiting, by the way.”

“You said you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Since when do you actually listen to what I say?” Extending her legs, she leans over the side of the bed, digging into her bag, and yanks out the torn notebook paper I gave her earlier. “And by the way… I don’t want you taking notes for me.”

“Who should I take them for?”

She gives me a dirty look. “Yourself? Why do I care?”

“But I don’t need them.”

“Even more reason you shouldn’t just take it upon yourself to offer unsolicited help.” Her arm falls, and the paper slips from her fingers. “Did you come to Avernia just to make me feel stupid again?”

Again? I take a step forward but stop myself from closing the distance. Agitation swells in her irises, and while I do enjoy pissing her off—always have—I don’t want her to run.

This oddly feels like progress. Her being in my room without summoning.

“Maybe I was tired of being around Foxe twenty-four seven,” I say. “You try it, and tell me you wouldn’t go looking for reprieve.”

“No thanks,” she spits.

“Hey,” Foxe whines. “Don’t drag me into your quarrel. I’m just having fun watching you two self-destruct.”

Lucy throws her book at him, and he catches it, laughing so loud the window shakes. That almost pulls a smile from her, but she stifles it before the gesture can bloom, as if suddenly remembering I’m here too.

I could throttle him for being the one to almost make her smile, though I guess that’s what he’s always been good at.

Me, I just make her angry. Like my own emotions are up for grabs, and she takes whatever she can cling to.