Page 8 of Endless Anger (Monsters Within #1)

When I was little, I’d spend my time here curled up on the floor in front of the black stone fireplace, listening to Mom read from whatever classic she chose that evening.

Lucy could rarely stand to sit still long enough to join, but I used to love nothing more than the sound of my mother’s soothing voice before bed, lulling me to a place where anger felt a little less prevalent.

It seems such an infrequent sensation for me these days.

I’d hoped as I got older, that might change .

“Why are you asking about school?” Mom continues, tilting her head at me. “Have you been thinking about what your plans are for after graduation?”

“I certainly hope that’s been on his mind, considering how close it is.” Dad’s voice echoes through the room as he strides in, bringing Mom a steaming mug of tea. He places it on the desk by her elbow, bending to press a kiss to her forehead.

She leans into the gesture, smiling up at him.

A private smile.

One she keeps just for him.

“Maybe you should worry more about your globe-trotting daughters,” I point out. “Has anyone heard from Noelle recently?”

“She had an audition last night and got brunch with her agent today. And Q’s ferry should be here in an hour or so,” Mom replies easily, winking at me. “I can worry about all three of my kids at the same time.”

“Kind of feels like I’m getting all the focus these days.”

“Well, Ash, you’re the only one left.” Dad comes over, dropping into the chair across from me, and picks up a copy of the Aplana Times from the coffee table between us. “Maybe if you seemed more interested in your future, we’d be able to think about something else.”

I scrub my hands over my face. “Do you think I should go to Avernia?”

Dad’s dark eyes meet mine over the newspaper. “No.”

Nodding, I slump back and glare at the ceiling. “Great. Then what the hell am I supposed to do?”

“We were under the impression you weren’t interested in going anyway, what with everything that happened when we visited.” Dad cocks his head, studying me. “Did something change?”

“What if all that was just a fluke? I mean, Q’s doing grad school there, and the place is up and running. Surely?—”

“I’ve yet to fully understand your sister’s insistence on remaining at the school for her master’s,” Dad says.

“But I sincerely doubt she’s there because it’s a good place to be.

Especially for our family. You read what was in those books that day, and the more we’ve looked into it the more clear it is that you kids are targets to the people in that town. ”

Mom comes over, perching on the arm of Dad’s chair. She adjusts the neckline of her wine red robe, and he wraps an arm around her waist.

I look at a piece of warped hardwood floor.

“Avernia’s belief system is wrapped up in its city’s history,” Mom says.

“And that means they don’t want Anderson blood around at all.

It makes the campus a dangerous place to be, and since we don’t really know what else they have planned or how far they’re willing to go…

I’m just not sure it’s a good idea, Asher. ”

“Quincy’s there.”

“In violation of my wishes,” Dad replies. “If I’d had my way, we’d have yanked her out immediately after I disposed of two corpses the day we visited.”

Two corpses? I frown, opening my mouth to question where the other came from, but a memory flashes in my mind before I can speak.

Noelle, tucked tightly into the back seat of our car, huddled under a blanket in the corner. The smell of alcohol and sweat as I climbed in beside her, casting a glance at her unmoving form.

It was past midnight, and she’d gone to some party with Quincy, so I’d just assumed she was drunk or tired.

But unlike the times I’d actually seen her inebriated, she never spoke a word on the whole ride home. Even when we got back to the Asphodel, she just went straight up to her room, and I heard the shower run for hours before I finally fell asleep.

Is it possible that something else happened that day?

That Avernia is even worse than I’d initially thought?

“Quincy insisted on staying, and since Avernia credits are nontransferable, pulling her would’ve done more damage than good,” Dad finishes. “Though I maintain that the Kellys could have easily fixed that issue for us, but no ?—”

“You’ll be an adult,” Mom interrupts, placing her palm on Dad’s thigh.

“We can’t tell you where to go or what to do, nor can we force your sisters to listen.

That is why Q remains on campus. We trust you all to make the right decisions for yourselves and your safety, so ultimately, if you choose to attend, we won’t stop you. Just… Keep all this in mind, okay?”

“They never reported those deaths,” Dad notes.

“Not the person who attacked you or the…other. No one questioned anything, and it’s just like those two people didn’t exist. I barely had to clean up beyond the technical scrubbing.

That school has way more secrets than just the desired downfall of a founding family. ”

When I’m alone in my room later, I spend hours researching Avernia College on the web, trying desperately to find out what sinister things lurk within the grounds there.

Mostly, it seems to just be a conglomerate of centuries-old buildings with a student body that supposedly embraces modern progress while honoring tradition.

Yet the evidence of some strange, deadly plot is damning.

Mortui vivos docent.

The school’s motto, plastered at the top of their site’s homepage and on the garish iron gates leading onto and off campus.

The dead teach the living .

Is that their goal? Did the school have a hand in the attempt on my life, and that’s why it was never reported?

Do they intend to kill people because of something that supposedly happened centuries ago and use them as a lesson for future generations?

To stave off some ridiculous idea of a curse?

If that’s the case, then I should steer clear of it entirely. I’ve no desire to go somewhere I’m not wanted, much less where I’m threatened.

Still…

Lucy’s convinced this place will be her reckoning, her shot at greatness, because of how Quincy’s hyped it up over the years.

But no one’s told Lucy about how the Andersons tie in.

She doesn’t know it’s dangerous for us, and I’m not sure I should tell her .

I stare at the ceiling after everyone’s gone to bed, with Keats curled up in my lap over the comforter, and wish the Asphodel would collapse on top of me so I didn’t have to make the decision.

If I don’t go, Lucy will hate me.

But if I do go, it sounds like I won’t come out the same person. If I come out of it at all.