Page 41 of Misfit Monsters
Last to enter, with nonchalant strides as if the mission we’re about to be sent on means nothing to him, is Hail. The chill that follows the winter fae thickens when he sets eyes on me.
His lips draw back in a sneer. “You’re sending the pipsqueak with us? This is a joke.”
“No one’s laughing,” Rollick says smoothly. “You can figure out how to work together—and how to work your powers without them going haywire—or you can take a one-way trip to the shadow realm. If you’ve changed your mind, feel free to say so now.”
The men remain stubbornly silent. My hands clench at my sides, but I keep my mouth shut too.
I can fulfill this mission. I’ll prove I can do more good than harm.
As long as the men on my team don’t demolish me first.
15
Periwinkle
The silence in the administration room lingers, as if Rollick is waiting out the rest of us to see who’ll break it first. I’m not ashamed to pipe up in the hopes of ending the uncomfortable tension.
“Where are we going, and how are we getting there?”
The demon smiles. “Excellent enthusiasm. I’ll give you a thorough briefing before you leave.”
“Briefing with plenty of grief-ing,” Mirage says in his singsong voice. There’s a swish as his tail appears and promptly vanishes again.
Toni narrows her eyes at the fox shifter. “You need to keep all those inhuman appendages under wraps when you’re away from the academy. We have to stop these shadowkind creatures from catching the attention of mortals, not add to the problem.”
He offers her a jerky salute, as if he’s trying to be playful but can’t quite pull off his usual irreverence. “And if I mess up again, I’m really in a mess. Messagereceived loud and clear.”
How exactly did he mess up in the first place? I haven’t seen Mirage get into any significant trouble here at the school. But then, he could say the same about me.
Hail scoffs. He’s put on a bored expression, but the uneasiness wafting off him tastes bitter as wasabi. “This whole group is a mess. If you want me to prove something, let me do it myself. These duds will only drag me down.”
Raze lets out a growl, tension rippling through his ropey muscles. “If we’re here because we’re duds, I think that means you’re one too.”
They’re all agitated, upset. That’s the opposite of our assignment.
With a bright if cautious smile, I hold up my hands. “Hey, we’re not duds, any of us, or Rollick wouldn’t think we can handle this problem. It’s incredibly generous that he’s giving us another chance instead of banishing us. We’ll find those weirdo shadowkind and figure out what’s up with them, no problem.”
Raze’s fierce expression softens. Maybe he’s not still pissed off at me over our gore-splattered room.
Hail shakes his head, but he doesn’t outright argue. Despite his dismissive attitude, the bitter flavor of his emotions turns milder.
Mirage shivers and then cracks his knuckles. “Weirdo shadowkind. Takes some to know some, huh?” His chuckle still sounds a bit tight but more honestly amused than before.
Satisfied, I turn back to the table to find all the administrators studying… me. I’m not sure how to read some of their expressions, but Gnash is definitely suspicious and Pearl is pleased. Rollick has a gleam in his eyes I’d call sly if that made sense.
Al simply looks bemused. “Well, Rollick, your choices might not be quite as inexplicable as they first appeared.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Albumin.” Rollick claps his hands for our full attention. “You’ll be supplied with phones within the hour, at which point you’ll head out. I’ve pulled all the details I have into a comprehensive report that I’ll send to your devices. The unfortunate fact is that we don’thavea tremendous number of details at this point.”
Raze frowns. “You said the other beings who’ve gone to investigate didn’t come back or returned injured. If we run into trouble where we’re going, what should we do?”
The demon’s eyebrows arch. “I’d imagineyou’remore than a match for anything you might find out there if it comes to a physical fight. The sightings have come from a fairly desolate area of northeastern Canada, where few beings of both the shadow and the human kind make their home. Jonah will have contact information for associates of mine in nearby cities, but they wouldn’t be able to provide immediate support.”
If the problem is happening out in the wilderness, it’s no wonder information is scarce. There could be all kinds of things going on up there that no one’s witnessed.
I keep my chin high. We do have a combination of impressive powers. I don’t know how much I can help, but I’ll be able to pick up on the emotions of any humans or shadowkind we encounter. That’ll be handy for judging threats.
There’ll also be fewer people around who I could hurt if I have an outburst. It all works in our favor… except for the whole walking into unknown danger part.
