by Cheree Alsop
The corners of the Queen’s eyes tightened slightly. She turned her attention back to the crowd. “Thank you for coming. We are all safer for the actions of these brave citizens.”
They began to disperse into the coming night. The DRAK surrounded the stage, shielding the Kingship from view. The two Lessers who made up the Queen’s right and left hand spoke quietly with a group of guards.
Everett figured it was his time to leave. He turned, but a hand grabbed his shoulder. The hold was tight enough to make his fingers numb, and he had to fight off the urge not to shrug it away. When he turned back and found that the Queen was the one gripping his arm, he was glad he had practiced restraint.
“Yes, my Queen?” he asked politely, grateful for Dr. Transton’s rushed lesson in dealing with political leaders. “How may I be of service?”
The Queen’s voice lowered to a snarl he barely heard above the departing crowd. “I want you to understand this.” Her dark gaze pierced into his. “No monster will be the face of victory in this city. Lay low, Everett Masterson, or you will see the last of your family.”
She walked away and the DRAK fell in around her. Everett stared. Part of his mind questioned whether he had heard her correctly, while the other part replayed her words over and over in his mind. There had been no mistaking the hatred in her voice and expression. She loathed him. He had saved her five cities, and she hated that she had to honor him for it. His family was in grave danger.
The thought struck him that humans truly are a monster’s worst enemy even when the monsters might be their means to survival.
“Everett?”
Adrielle’s voice broke him from his thoughts.
He schooled his face to be expressionless when he turned. “Sorry. It’s been a crazy last couple of days.”
She smiled back. “That’s an understatement. Dr. Transton wanted to talk to you about something before we head back to the Asylum.”
Vanguard appeared behind her. “Yeah, and since the DRAK aren’t out to kill us, maybe we can get ice cream on the way.”
Everett smiled at him. “You two go ahead. I’ll meet you at the Asylum.”
“Your loss, Vampy,” the warlock replied. “Maybe they’ll have blood-flavored ice cream. It’d be your loss.”
“That’s okay,” Everett waved them on. “Go ahead.”
Vanguard offered his arm to Adrielle. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and they vanished from sight. Everett shook his head. Despite the warlock’s words, he was very grateful for the magician’s disappearing trick.
“Evy, he likes me!” Isabella said when Everett found them in the crowd.
He smiled at the sight of his little sister holding the amarok’s leash. The puppy hadn’t put up even the smallest struggle when he handed the rope his mother had fashioned to the young girl.
“Of course he likes you,” he told her. “Who doesn’t?”
“Hadley, when I ask him to play dollies,” Isabella replied.
“Everett, we’re so proud of you,” his mother said. She wrapped him in a tight hug.
His father patted his back when his mother refused to let go. “We’re very proud. Who would have thought one of my kids would receive such an honor from the Kingship? You’ve done us proud, son.”
“I’m glad,” Everett said, holding his smile so that it didn’t slip when he thought of the Queen’s words. He turned to Bran and Annie in their wheelchairs. “I’m so glad you guys came. You gave Dad his workout, right?” he asked with a wink.
Bran huffed a laugh. Annie smiled at something behind his shoulder. Everett didn’t have to look back to know he wouldn’t see what she was looking at. He leaned close on the pretense of hugging her. “Lisette saved my life,” he whispered. “I told her she was welcome to visit you whenever you’d like.”
A wide smile spread across Annie’s face that matched the one Lisette had given when he told her the same thing. They both needed another friend, and Annie would be happy for one who had her sense of mischief.
Everett waved goodbye to his family. Dr. Transton found him sitting with the puppy on the edge of the now-empty platform.
“We’ve got to hurry,” the doctor said. “There really isn’t much time.”
“For what?” Everett asked, falling in beside him. “I’m exhausted. We just saved the entire Pentagrin.”
“We’re going to call that training.”
Everett stared at the doctor. “What kind of training?”
“You started something, Everett,” Dr. Transton replied. “When the vampires joined you to fight the wendigo, it started a chain of events bigger than either of us.” He paused, then said, “The Queen sent word that you are to investigate the tunnels of Cognitum. Students have been disappearing and there have been rumors of draken.”
A shiver ran down Everett’s spine at the mention of the Queen. The fact that she had requested it meant it was a command he had to obey, especially with his family on the line.
“She sent word?” he asked. “How did she get it to us so soon? She could have just told me at the ceremony.”
“Perhaps she felt a formal request would be better,” Dr. Transton replied. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Everett. The paper was heavier than he was used to, and when he unfolded it, the scent of vanilla touched his nose.
The note had been written in a tight, scrolled hand. ‘The Kingship requires the presence of Everett Masterson in the investigation of the Cognitum tunnel system. Mr. Masterson is to determine if draken are involved in the recent disappearance of students from the city.’
It was stamped with the seal of the Queen, a vanilla flower held in a fist. Below the stamp, there was a small circle that to the human eye probably looked as if the dark red ink had dripped, but Everett knew better. The drop was blood.
“Is everything okay?” Dr. Transton asked.
Everett nodded and forced a light tone when he asked, “What are draken?”
“Dragonmen,” Dr. Transton answered. “If they’re involved, we’ll need the vampire who brought down Bloodhaven.”
“I didn’t do it on my own,” Everett said, trying to keep his attention from the paper he held.
“Exactly,” Dr. Transton replied.
Everett’s gaze followed the doctor’s to the group that walked ahead of them. Vanguard was giving Adrielle a piggyback ride while Angel was busy holding what looked like a conversation with herself. The thought that Lisette had yet another friend made Everett happy. Torrance walked with the group, a human in a pack of monsters, yet he appeared to enjoy their friendship instead of fear it.
Leander wandered a few feet behind the others. When the vampires from Bloodhaven had left to find their own lives outside the confines of the cities, Leander had surprised Everett by staying. There was so much more to the vampire than he understood. With all the additional memories in his head, Everett knew he had work to do.
Something warm brushed his leg. Everett looked down to see the amarok puppy watching him. He bent down and slipped the leash from the pup’s neck. The animal almost reached his knee. If the amarok kept it up, the pup would be the size of a horse, soon.
“We can handle it,” Everett said.
“I know you can,” Dr. Transton replied with a proud smile.
A man with glasses and a notepad hurried up to them. “Doctor, can I get a word?”
Everett recognized the man from the newspaper his dad read every morning. Stanley Vorcom’s face was a constant beneath the front page’s headlines.
“Of course,” Dr. Transton said with a pleased nod. He and the reporter broke away from the others, leaving Everett to follow them alone.
“I don’t know if I should do this,” Everett said quietly. He looked at Reaper. The amarok gave a soft whine. Everett set a hand on the dog’s head for strength and touched the drop of blood on the paper to his tongue.
Anger and hatred swarmed him with brutal force along with a single image. Leon stood
in the sunroom in the Masterson house. He had a hand on Annie and Bran’s shoulders and smiled his reptilian smile. His siblings looked terrified.
Everett channeled every ounce of strength he had and ran through the streets toward Masterson house. The buildings blurred and everything else fell way except for one thought, his family was in danger.
About the Author
Cheree Alsop has published 28 books, including two series through Stonehouse Ink. She is the mother of a beautiful, talented daughter and amazing twin sons who fill every day with joy and laughter. She is married to her best friend, Michael, the light of her life and her soulmate who shares her dreams and inspires her by reading the first drafts and giving much appreciated critiques. Cheree works as an independent author and mother, which is more play than work! She enjoys reading, traveling to tropical beaches, spending time with her twin boys before they start school, and going on family adventures while planning her next book
Cheree and Michael live in Utah where they rock out, enjoy the outdoors, plan great quests, and never stop dreaming.
You can find Cheree’s other books at www.chereealsop.com
If you liked this book, please review it so other readers will be able to find it. The next Monster Asylum book will be out shortly! To be added to Cheree’s email list for notification of book releases, please send her an email at [email protected]
Believe in yourself and appreciate what makes you different.
