Page 34 of Monsters Like Us
He leans back, his fingers steepled under his chin, his glinting eyes fixed on me like he’s already dissected me.
“How have you been sleeping?” The question sounds innocuous. It’s not.
“Fine.” The lie feels jagged. “Better.”
His brow arches, and he writes something down, the scratch of his pen too loud. “Better how?”
Heat creeps up my neck. Images flash—dark eyes burning into mine, his hand between my thighs, the way he ordered me to keep looking at him while riding him. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste iron.
“I… just adjusted to the schedule,” I say quickly. “Routine helps.”
His pen pauses. His gaze sharpens, narrowing like a blade. “Routine,” he repeats, as if the word itself holds weight. “And have you found anyone here to… help you adjust?”
My chest tightens. He’s not asking about routine. He’s asking aboutsomeone.
I force a shrug. “I keep to myself.”
He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t move. Just stares like he can peel back my skull and pluck the thoughts out. “Interesting,” he murmurs. “Because Marcy noted you seemed… preoccupied. Distracted. As though something—or someone—was filling your head.”
My stomach plummets.Marcy. Did she see something? Does sheknow?
Vale leans forward, elbows on the desk, his voice low and deliberate. “Tell me, Katana Morgan. Is there someone here you’ve grown… close to?”
I freeze, my name in his mouth like a blade pressed against my skin. The walls feel tighter, the clock louder. He’s baiting me, waiting for me to twitch.
My lips part before I can stop them. “N-no.” The word trembles out too fast, too thin.
His eyes flash—triumph, or suspicion, I can’t tell. He sits back slowly, jotting a note with infuriating calmness, letting the silence stretch before he finally speaks. “You hesitated. Hesitation is a tell.”
My throat closes. I clench my fists in my lap, my nails biting into my palms. “I said no.”
He hums, unconvinced, then looks up sharply,pinning me in place with his stare. “I will find out, Katana. Secrets rot in the dark. And when they do, they stink.”
The session ends shortly after, but I barely hear the closing words. My pulse is roaring too loudly.
By the time I’m ushered back into the hallway, the world feels tilted. Every shadow looks like an eye.
Does he know?
Did Marcy tell him?
Or is he testing me, waiting for me to crack like he said I would?
I wrap my arms around myself, walking faster as I head toward my room.
But no matter how far I get from his office, it feels like he’s still watching.
CHAPTER 29
Micah
She comesout of Vale’s office like a ghost escaping a grave—her shoulders hunched, her arms locked around herself, hazel eyes darting like she can’t decide if she’s being hunted or already caught.
Her fingers tremble. Her lips move in soundless denials. She’s rattled—rattled enough that my fists twitch with the urge to torch this place until there’s nothing left but ash.
I stay in the corridor’s shadow, carved into the wall, watching every falter in her step. Vale pressed her harder today; I can see it stamped into her bones. She fed him crumbs before, but crumbs don’t keep a wolf at bay. He’s circling closer. Testing her. Waiting for the slip.
A prickle crawls up my neck.
