Page 65 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

I force my lips to curl up at the corners, but I think we both know it’s a hollow gesture. A poor attempt at adding levity to a situation that will likely not end well.

Beckett snaps his fingers directly in front of my face. “Hey, don’t go getting all googly-eyed on me now, Wolfe. We’ve got shit to do here, and I can’t have you getting distracted.”

“What are we doing?” I ask, yanking my head away from his hand. “I thought you were above all that human sacrifice and demon summoning.”

“Don’t worry. If I leave you here long enough, Fury Hill legend says something will crawl out and devour you. The same way it did my ancestor, who Cronus Anderson dragged here and left to fend for themselves in these caves. Do you think you could find your way out, Lucy?”

“You kidnapped four students to satisfy some weird vendetta from hundreds of years ago?”

Beckett makes a strange face, his eyebrows furrowing, and then he tips his head back and laughs. “Duponts don’t forget, you wild beast of a girl. How could we when we were nearly wiped out by Anderson interference? ”

Foxe groans, his chin dropping. His neck is flushed, dripping still, and Willa doesn’t look good either. I don’t know how much longer we have before bad shit starts setting in here, but Beckett doesn’t seem terribly interested in shutting up.

“Not long after establishing Fury Hill and carving this town into the edge of the White Mountains with their bare hands, five of the six founding family patriarchs came down with these terrible coughing fits. From sunrise to sunset, they spent their hours hacking up pools of blood. They were drowning in it. But one patriarch remained completely healthy, leading everyone to the conclusion that Cronus had poisoned the others to gain access to their land and sell it off to outside investors.”

“Sounds like they had tuberculosis.”

“Sure, if you want to be modern about it. But that still doesn’t explain why Cronus, who was in constant contact with the other five, never caught it.

It’s highly communicable, right? Meanwhile, a triage center was established as more and more of Fury Hill became infected.

Guess where that triage center was located? ”

Goose bumps scatter along my arms, trickling through my hair like liquid fear. I don’t have to answer; I can feel it here, like the spirits of whomever died still linger hundreds of years later.

Maybe the Obeliskos is haunted.

“Avernia College, this amazing entity the six families had created, became a house of death that no amount of holy relics, priests, or praying seemed able to thwart. Until Cronus suggested an unorthodox method of healing: drinking healthy blood to replenish what had been lost and cancel out the tainted supply. But since nearly everyone in town was affected and no one wanted to volunteer, Cronus offered the livestock on his farm, arguing that meat and other parts were suitable for human consumption, so the blood would be fine as well.”

Spinning around, Beckett puts his hands on his hips, his voice echoing through the cave as he continues. One of the other hooded figures inches toward Willa, bending down to slide the sharp edge of a blade along her spine; she cries out, and I feel her anguish in my bones .

“That’s what he said anyway. But the creatures he brought and professed to be livestock were much larger than any animals the others had seen. Overfed, he told them, so their blood would taste better.”

A long, long pause. Beckett watches his companion terrorize my friend, and I clench my jaw against the urge to yell at them to stop. Her raw screams come from between gritted teeth, and she twists to try and escape, but the masked person follows.

“One night,” Beckett goes on, facing me again, “after the animals were drained, Jean Dupont felt well enough to venture down the narrow tunnels leading out of the caves, where they were housing the founding patriarchs. He stopped at a small entrance to an adjoining cavern. It was covered with a white sheet, and when he pulled it back, he found Cronus feasting on the corpse of a resident who had passed after drinking the livestock’s blood. ”

“A vampire?” I reply, trying to hold back a laugh. “Really? You think that’s what Asher’s ancestor was?”

“What other explanation is there?” he asks. “In that moment, Cronus seemed half human, half monster. Jean didn’t understand what was going on, but he knew he had to get out of there.”

“You should really leave the lecturing to your brother,” Foxe slurs.

Beckett ignores him. “Petrified, Jean took off running back to where the others were recovering, urging them to leave. He got a Blackwater on his back and a couple of others out of bed, but when they made it to the entrance, there stood Cronus, blood coating his entire body as if he’d bathed in it. ”

My eyes flicker to Foxe and Willa. Are they trying to recreate that scene?

“There was no hesitation when it came to slaughtering the founders. Three of them were brutalized by Cronus’s bare hands, and only Jean and William Blackwater remained.

Jean succumbed to his illness, which had ramped up as soon as Cronus came into play because, as it turned out, the blood did nothing to cure them. ”

“Why suggest it in the first place?” I question.

“Some say it was just a theory. Others think it made the corpses taste better, and that was why he’d given them the overfed creatures.

” Beckett shrugs. “In any case, Jean collapsed before Cronus could finish him off.

William was never seen nor heard from again.

Like he just disappeared in these caves, his body recovered by the earth.

“Cronus, in turn, would go on to rule Fury Hill under the guise of having been a courageous friend who’d tried helping the other families, because no one knew what had happened inside the caves. All the witnesses died, and Cronus painted the bloodbath as an animal attack.”

“Then how do you know any of this?” Foxe rasps.

“Cronus wasn’t subtle. He went on to marry the Dupont widow and would brag to her about what he’d done.

She was too afraid to tell anyone until after he died, but she left journals detailing the events.

My ancestor, although they never had any children together, thank fuck.

I wouldn’t want any relation to Asher’s freaky nightwalker bloodline. ”

You should be so lucky. “Is there a point to any of this?”

He cuts me a glare. “The curse that snaked its way down the line to your little boyfriend and his siblings is the goddamn point, Wolfe. You think evil energy like that just disappears when a man gets to finish his life peacefully?

“They exhumed Cronus’s body after his death and used his organs in a ritual that was supposed to keep his relatives and other evil away from Fury Hill, but one of the people who participated in the ritual sought chaos and sent a curse out instead.

One that claimed three Andersons would eventually return to finish off the destruction Cronus had started.

Since then, Avernia’s been prepared to rectify the curse by whatever means necessary.

Their strategy has always been clear: end the three in the place this all began before they can annihilate what has been built. ”

When Beckett finally finishes, I glance around the cave, raising my eyebrows. “Did you forget to bring Asher or something?”

He scoffs. My nails dig into my palms.

“No, you stupid bitch. But I’m not an idiot. I would never win a fight against that mindless brute. He talks with his fists, and we all know he loves to put out fires by creating bigger ones. ”

A moment passes, the two of us staring at each other. He knows .

He knows Asher set the fire at Lethe’s that day three years ago, and he knows it was for me.

How he knows isn’t relevant, but it’s clear that Beckett is aware Asher’s connection to me runs a lot deeper than some random hookups.

Nausea churns in my gut, burning a path up my chest. Shit, shit, shit .

Is that why I was blamed? To keep the fire’s memory alive and keep school apprehension toward me at the forefront of everyone’s minds? If no one liked me, it wouldn’t matter when I suddenly went missing.

To anyone other than Asher, who they would attack when he came to find me.

Because he would find me. That much I do know.

I can feel him searching right now in my soul, because that’s how deep our bond is. That’s how well I know him.

He’d follow me to the ends of the earth, no matter how I’d ventured to them.

Except that’s apparently exactly what Beckett and his cohorts want. They think Asher Anderson and his siblings are a blight on the existence of Fury Hill, and they used me to bring him to their level.

This plan has been in motion for years .

And I fell right for it.

Swallowing, I push down the mounting panic as it rises in my throat. Freaking out won’t do anyone any good, and seduction is no longer an option. I need a practical escape, something I can use to get Foxe out too, and then come back for Willa.

My eyes flicker to her, roving over her form as the second hooded figure joins his buddy, stepping on the bottom of her foot until she pleads with them to stop.

They’re the first words she’s spoken, punctuated by mouthfuls of blood dribbling down her chin, and my heart aches with the sheer agony rippling through each syllable.

After a few moments, the masked pair seems to grow bored; they walk off, disappearing through the one exit in the area.

Light spills in, and I wonder how many tunnels and other openings there are here.

A sawing noise echoes through the corridor a few minutes later, drowning out the sound of Willa’s sobs. Sadness pierces my chest as I wonder what they’re doing to Eli—how they probably started with him and are working their way through us.

“Beckett,” I say, lifting my chin. My wrists chafe against the rope, but I work them from side to side behind my back anyway, trying to get enough slack to slip out.

“Do you realize how bad this is going to look for you? Maybe the Fury Hill PD can overlook one or two students here and there, but four dead people at once? Found in the same area, mutilated and tortured? There’s no way that’s getting brushed under the rug. ”

He turns, shrugging. “My family owns this town. I’ll be fine.

Besides, I’m not technically doing anything.

I’m not even really here . In a few days, when someone reports one of you missing and Dean Bauer opens an investigation so that he looks good to the school board, they’ll find nothing but charred remains. ”

“You’re going to start a fire underground ? Do you realize that can collapse soil and incinerate the entire Primordial Forest?”

“What the fuck do I care? If I can take out half the acreage around campus, that’s even better. Room for developing it instead of letting greedy conservationists keep it for themselves.”

“They’re greedy, but that isn’t?”

His face turns bright red. “I’m allowed to be. My entire life has been shaped by how this town acts and how?—”

“You’re a little boy murdering for his mommy and daddy,” I spit, leaning in with a glare. “Your life was shaped by your fucking privilege , and it’s insulting for you to insinuate otherwise just because you want to look good for your future investors or bosses or whoever else?—”

I don’t see his hand as it sails through the air toward me, but I certainly feel when it connects with my cheek, sending me flying. Sprawling out on my stomach, my chin bounces off the rocky ground, scraping so hard I see stars .

“Shut the fuck up and just wait for your boyfriend.” Beckett slides his mask back into place and pulls his hood over his head. “I don’t want to have to do that again.”

Silently seething, I watch him head out of our cavern the same way the other two exited and then wait a few more minutes to see if I hear his footsteps returning.

When only the sounds of Willa’s soft sobs are audible, I spring into action, finally managing to slide one of my wrists through the bindings.

Pain ricochets up the side of my face, but I can’t pay attention to that now.

With one arm free, I bring both in front of me; blood drips down my fingers from where I’ve been rubbed completely raw by the rope, but there’s no time to care.

Launching myself across the cave, I land hard on my knees next to Willa, my hands trembling as I lift them, trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do.

I reach up, pushing a finger through a small hole in the shoulder of my sweater, and use every ounce of strength I can muster to tear the sleeve from my arm. Still, as I sit closer to Willa and look her over, I realize her injuries are even worse than I initially thought.

Aside from the gruesome incision connecting her privates, her guts are spilling out of a hole in her side. Her left eye is swollen shut, possibly even missing, and there are several stab wounds decorating her right leg.

Frankly, I don’t know how she’s alive at all right now.

Carefully, I take the torn sweater piece and slide it beneath her thigh, tying tight above one of the wounds to stop the bleeding. Her injuries must be fresh; otherwise, I can’t imagine how she’s hanging on.

Her right eye looks up at me when she feels me touching her, and she coughs into the ground. “Lucy, don’t?—”

The words are barely audible.

I shake my head, leaning in to whisper, “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? Don’t worry. ”

My chest tightens as I glance at her bottom, wondering how the fuck I’m supposed to bandage her enough to keep that promise.

A small amount of vomit my mouth as anxiety pushes it up, but I swallow, ignoring the urge to gag.

Turning slightly, I look at Foxe. He’s watching us, his own eyes swollen, his nose fully disfigured. “If we can patch her up enough, it might be possible to move her. Do you think you could shoulder some of her weight? I can grab her legs, and you get beneath her arms.”

Foxe nods once, his gaze dropping to his lap. He looks fucking exhausted, and I’m trying not to let panic set in, but its claws scratch at the chamber of my heart, begging to be set free.

Foxe is a safety net—always has been. He doesn’t take things seriously or frown or experience grim emotions the way others do. I mean, there’ve been times when I thought something was bothering him, but this is different.

Right now, I hardly recognize him.

Doesn’t matter, Lucy. Focus on getting the three of you out, and then you can deal with his issues later.

This is all my fault anyway. If I hadn’t invited him to the party, begged Willa and Eli to come, or ignored Asher telling me to stay away from Beckett, none of this would have happened.

Whether a savior complex or sheer stupidity, I’m the reason for all of it.

Well, me and Cronus Anderson. The fucker.