Page 56 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

ASHER

“What’s your game here?”

Blinking, I squint into the sunlight spilling between the marble statues lining the quad. An angry blond puts a manicured hand on her hip, glaring at me from behind big, pink designer sunglasses.

“My game ?” I hold up the sketchbook in my lap, pointing at the wordless comic strip across the page. “I’m not sure this qualifies.”

Aurora rolls her eyes. “You know, Foxe is the only person in the world who has ever found you funny.”

“Yeah? He tell you that himself?” I balance the book on my legs, brushing some pencil debris off the drawing. “How is our favorite rock star, by the way?”

Scoffing, she turns, plopping down on the metal bench beside me. “Rock star is a generous term.”

“He does okay.”

She doesn’t respond, and I wonder if she thinks I don’t know about them. As if Foxe would ever be able to keep it a secret.

Across the quad, situated a few feet from the front steps of the Lyceum, Lucy hands out flyers that I mocked up for her, detailing the adoption day she’s organizing with the Fury Hill Animal Shelter .

She doesn’t smile, and most of her interactions with students involve her simply shoving the flyers into their hands, but I can tell she’s excited anyway.

When they contacted her about setting it up, she’d immediately called her mom for tips, and for a moment, the darkness at Avernia lifted just a little bit.

I should’ve known the reprieve would be short-lived.

Stretching my arms over my head, I crack my spine and then lean my hands on the back of the bench, glancing at Aurora. “You don’t need to worry about me hurting Lucy, you know.”

Aurora’s green gaze swivels to mine. “I’m not worried about her. She’s stronger than all of us kids put together. Lachlan, Logan, River, you, me, and Foxe? We don’t hold a fucking candle to Lucy, and you should be terrified of her.”

I am. “Then what’s the problem?”

She kicks at the ground with her black Mary Janes. “There’s no problem . I just…”

“Don’t want me to take her from you?”

“Yeah.” She bumps her shoulder into mine. “I liked having her to myself for a few years.”

“If it’s any consolation, you can have Foxe.”

Her face screws up. “That is a punishment.”

“You could just sell him on the black market. I bet there are some unhinged fans willing to take him off your hands.”

“You’re such a great best friend. You know that?” She snorts, and it’s sort of nice to sit here with her like this.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?”

Beckett’s entire body blocks the sun and our view of Lucy, along with the frame of some other guy with distant green eyes and dark, messy hair. He’s thin and pale even compared to Beckett, his hands shoved in the pockets of his black jeans.

He doesn’t look at me, instead focusing on his shoes in front of him.

“God, it is too early in the week to be dealing with your shit, Beckett,” Aurora says, pushing her sunglasses into her hair .

“You wish I was here for you, PW,” he tells her, bringing his gaze to me. “I hear congratulations are in order for Anderson here.”

I cock an eyebrow. “For?”

“Word around The Delphic Pages is you and a certain little wolf cub are hooking up. Congrats on being the first person to score.” He lifts a hand, palm out, in front of my face.

When I don’t move, my expression flat, he lets his arm fall to his side.

“All right, not a fan of spreading the love. I get it. I’d want to keep her under lock and key too, especially with all the weird shit following her around. ”

Setting my sketchbook aside, I bend down, pulling the utility knife out of my tube sock. I flip open the blade, drawing a line over my thumb with the sharpened edge; blood beads in the cut immediately, and I drag my tongue over it, sealing the wound, before getting to my feet.

Beckett’s eyes widen as I take a step in his direction, grabbing the collar of his corduroy jacket before he can move out of my reach. Fisting the material, I yank him close, bringing the knife perpendicular to his face.

He flushes when the tip grazes at his throat, pinching his eyes shut on a wince as my wrist flicks out, cutting through a loose thread near his neck.

“That was bothering me,” I say, returning to the bench beside Aurora.

She snickers, hiding it in a pretend cough.

Beckett’s nostrils flare. “ Anyway . I only came over to make sure you were still planning to pledge for the Curators, considering the recent opening in Visio Aternae that just popped up.”

“Visio Aternae?” Aurora frowns. “They don’t open spots midyear.”

“I know. My brother’s a stickler.” He rolls his eyes but shrugs. “Still, since that Tag kid’s death, I guess they had an uneven number, and it was?—”

“Tag Holland?” Sitting up straight, Aurora’s eyebrows draw in, confusion marring her face. “What are you talking about?”

Beckett’s friend finally chimes in. “Uh…he died after a party the ot her night. Hazing gone wrong or something.” The guy glances between us, then at Beckett. “Do people not know about that?”

“What do I look like to you, Eli? Avernia campus police? Dean Bauer doesn’t tell anyone shit, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he kept this under wraps. It happened on his doorstep, practically. He probably doesn’t want to look bad to the school board. Lot of deaths on his watch this semester.”

Aurora whips out her phone, her thumbs flying. “Yuri was literally just with him at that party. There’s no way she wouldn’t have said something.”

Eli lifts a shoulder, watching her with an unreadable expression. Or rather watching as she texts. “Maybe she doesn’t know.”

“Curse of the AC student body.” Beckett sighs dramatically, lightly punching my shoulder and grinning. “But hey, plenty of student organizations for you to choose from then, right? Although, you know, Curators do have an added layer of protection.”

I stare at his hand until it falls away from me. “You realize I was just attacked by a Curator not long ago. Or have you conveniently forgotten my report of that?”

He only agreed to help with the shelter fundraising after I promised not to go to the higher-ups about the attack.

“An overzealous newbie who has been dealt with.” Beckett gives me a solemn nod. “Under my leadership, you’d be safe.”

Cocking my head, I study him for a few seconds; there’s some faint shading beneath his left eye, possibly a bruise, and a scabbed-over cut on his chin. His knuckles are a little raw, as if he’s been getting into physical altercations as of late.

Or perhaps one altercation in particular, though his eyes aren’t the right color.

Still, I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to write him off entirely. He knows things, and whether that’s because he’s involved in them or because his organization really is the lifeblood of the school, I don’t know.

“It sounds like you have the hots for me,” I tell Beckett, crossing my legs .

Aurora nods, twisting her mouth up, but doesn’t look away from her phone. “It really does, dude.”

He almost seems offended for a split second, but then his lips twitch, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “And if I do? I’ve seen the way you look at me, how badly you wanted me to put you on the inductee roster. It’s okay to want this. In fact, Fury Hill would probably be delighted?—”

“Not interested.”

His face falls. “What, because of her ?”

Hooking his thumb over his shoulder, he points at Lucy, who’s out of flyers and gathering her things now. She spins in a circle, likely looking for her dorm room key, since she’s finally allowed back in there, before crouching down and picking something up.

“She’s not like you and me, Asher.” He sounds jealous, but I’m not sure who of, truth be told. “Jesus, she’s not even like fucking Eli, who at least has a real shot at making a name for himself now that he’s trying to switch into the Curators.”

I glance at Eli, who just blinks back.

“Whatever, man.” Beckett turns on his heels when I don’t say anything else, shoulder-checking Eli as he starts toward the Lyceum. “Your funeral.”

As he walks away with his friend in tow, I can’t shake the feeling that he means it.