Page 30 of An Inheritance of Monsters

I watched in amazement as he circled the idol, coming to stand in front of it—and floated upwards, nothing but a scrap of smoke and fog disappearing into the stone mouth.

“What the hell was that?”

The wind swept my words away. I lowered my phone, about to circle the idol myself, and a soft “Ahem,” from behind me nearly sent my own soul careening out of my body.

I whirled towards the sound, and my amazement curled up and died inside me, becoming ash.

It was going to be that kind of day.

Eloise Doyle stood at the head of the beach, between the two boulders marking the entrance. Her brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, glasses glinting.

“What are you doing here?”

The words popped out before I could stop them, aggressive and flat.

She smiled thinly, hugging a camera to her chest. “The same as you. I was also invited here, Juno.”

My lip curled. My name sounded like a curse in her mouth. “Did you follow me?”

It would’ve been impossible to miss another person out on those rocky hills. She couldn’t have come here without knowing I was waiting at the end.

She was the one person I could’ve happily died without seeing ever again.

“You don’t have a monopoly on the island.” She raised the camera, snapping several photos of the open sea, and swung it around towards the idol. “If being around the others who wereaskedto be here is too much for you, don’t forget you have a whole wing to yourself to explore.”

I was grateful for the cool sea wind on my face. My blood pressure had risen so high my heart felt like it was pounding in my throat, heat coursing through my veins.

“You have no shame, do you?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it.

Eloise took a picture of the idol with slow, deliberate carefulness. Then she moved a step to the left, further from me, and took another. “You know as well as I do that shame doesn’t matter in our career field. There is only how far you can make it.”

“Unlike you, I’m not a fraud.” Somehow, my tone remained calm, even though I wanted to shout. “The truth does matter to me. It matters to a lot of people you’ve fucked over.”

Eloise glanced at me, but there must have been some minuscule, withered shred of conscience still within her. She didn’t look for long, as though it were uncomfortable to meet my eyes, turning back to the idol.

“Nothing to say to that?” My fists clenched, nails digging into my palms.

Eloise took another slow picture. A step to the left, circling the idol. Her lips pulled down at the corners. “No.”

I sucked in a breath.

Her audacity was appalling. No remorse, no shame, nothing.

So much for even a withered bit of conscience.

Without saying another word, I strode through the boulders and back up the hill. I couldn’t stay another moment on that beach with her, not with my mind full of thoughts of Mom, Dad, and Lincoln.

My older brother. The first ghost I had ever seen.

And the memory of everything that came after him.

Including Eloise.

I hardly noticed when I made it back to the garden. “Find anything?” Crispy asked hopefully. “Ican’tdo shots of flowers anymore. I could go the rest of mylifewithout filming another one.”

Throwing myself into work was the only way to get Eloise out of my mind.

“Hell yeah, I did.” I faked a smile that didn’t reach my eyes, and pulled out the Black Book to begin sketching a small map. “If we follow this gravel trail, there’s a beach with another statue on it. It’s completely identical to the first.”

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