Page 125 of An Inheritance of Monsters

“I do.” I gazed up at the comet. I didn’t know everything yet, but enough to say yes.

Yes, this was my home now.

Yes, I chose this.

“I know you have so very many questions. What was done to you was a disservice. There is a reason the Marsh women do not leave the island; it is easier to learn, and understand your role, when you grow up here living among the uncanny.” Mrs. Marsh’s lips curved in a gentle smile. “We must, after all, remain silent.”

I nodded in understanding, the words from the obelisk still burned into my brain.

Together we keep the silence.

“But soon… soon, I will be able to break that silence. As long as you do your part. And then I will become a proper mentor to you, the one you should have had all along.”

“I’m ready.” My fists clenched involuntarily. I wished I had the power to reach up and push the sun, to send the world spiraling through sunlight to sunset, the time when monsters walked the earth and the shadows reached out to touch us.

“I know.” Mrs. Marsh reached out and touched my shoulder gently. “Try to relax. Everything will be fine. As for me, I will be saying my farewells to the end of an era.”

I put my hand over hers and squeezed gently before she removed it.

Her footsteps receded further into the garden, slow and contemplative.

I retreated to my room, and looked at the duffel bags I’d brought, strewn around the bed.

First I hung my nice clothes, then put my unshredded leggings and panties in the dresser drawers. I could have chosen any room in the house, but I had a particular liking for this one; it was where I’d first met all my monsters.

I dragged a small desk in from the room across the hall and set up my laptop, then tucked my empty duffel bags in the bottom of a dresser drawer to be forgotten.

I wouldn’t need them again.

The clocked ticked by as slowly as molasses, and I took my time in arranging everything exactly how I wanted it. Rask’s gifts lined a shelf on the wall, and I dusted out the closet and carefully polished the carved designs on its doors.

I would have plenty of time to turn this room into exactly what I wanted after tonight. I supposed in time, this place would become a sanctuary for me the way Mrs. Marsh’s rooms were for her.

As the crimson light deepened, casting shadows on the opposite wall, I finally heard footsteps in the corridor and Sierra’s soft giggles interspersed with whispers.

Two doors shut, and I went into the bathroom to do my makeup.

It was full dark when I emerged, and I slipped out of my street clothes and rolled on a pair of sheer black hose, wondering if Rask would enjoy shredding them with his claws.

The black dress I’d packed hung in filmy billows around my legs, with a V neckline that plunged down just past my breasts.

I zipped the back, wishing Voraal was here to help me, knowing his claws on my spine would make me shudder deliciously.

I’d swept dark smoke around my eyes, and my hair hung in curls to the small of my back. Rask’s sapphire necklace glimmered at my throat.

I slipped into a pair of dark, spiky heels, and ran a hand over the dress.

There was a thrumming tension in the air throughout the manor. It had grown steadily worse throughout the day, and now, as I looked at myself in the mirror, it was almost sickening.

It felt like an invisible hand strumming my nerves, tapping on my bones.

I knew it was the pull of the Fuseli Comet, now directly over the island. If we looked up at the night sky, we would see the glittering scarlet comet looking as though we could reach up and touch it, though it was millions of miles away.

But the comet no longer concerned me, as long as I played my part correctly.

I ran the words through my head as I left my room and descended the staircase. The grandfather clock in the foyer chose that exact moment to ring in nine o’ clock, the deep gong sounding throughout the manor with each footstep.

The formal dining room was already lit with red pillar candles when I stepped into the room.

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