Where Monsters Hide (The Monster Within 1)

My name isn’t even on the list yet.

“Piers Dagher,” the test administrator calls.

One of the three boys that I followed—the one with eyes like artic ice—goes to join the group of advancing recruits as his name skyrockets up on the list. I watch him, but he doesn’t look at me.

“Bennett Little.”

The tallest of the three boys follows Piers, and I note just how massive he is. He towers over the rest of the recruits so much so that even Piers has to reach up to clap him on his broad shoulder to congratulate him when he too makes the cut.

“What’s that guy been eating?” Sawyer whispers to me. I stifle a laugh.

“Owen Collier.”

He’s the last of the boys I followed. Owen’s blonde hair gleams in the sunlight as he runs his hands over it, pleasure spreading across his face when his name appears well above the dividing line. He glances nervously at the crowd as he leaves it, but the expression melts into a satisfied smile when Piers reaches out to pull him into the group.

Several names are called, but they fall too low to join the others. The girl who had to be rescued from the axes is among them. She turns away and covers her face to hide the angry tears that gather there. It’s sad, really. Every one of these people are here for the same reason. We want to rid the world of monsters, keep the darkness and evil at bay.

But there’s a reason for these trials, reasons for why Saint M is considered the best monster hunting school in the world. Not everyone is cut out for hunting. Not on this scale.

“Sawyer Alman.”

“That’s me!” Sawyer gives me a grin and a playful nudge up towards the board as his name appears alongside the other boys’. He jabs me once with his elbow as he walks off to join them on the other side.

Several more names are called until, at last, I’m the only one standing before him. He blinks up at me, and for a moment, I think he’s finished. Then he glances back down at his chart, and he reads my score aloud.

“Avery Black.”

Whispers erupt around me as I step forward. “Black?” “Did he say Black?” “That Black?” “Like, as in Samson and Riley Black?” I wonder what they mean by it, but my eyes are trained forward on the scoreboard.

For one second, nothing changes. Then, with a slight flicker of red light, a new name appears at the bottom of the list. Beside it, after a second, a score appears—propelling me up into the middle ranks of the other recruits. My name, Avery Black, lands just above the dividing line.

I made the cut.

Relief washes over me in the form of a deep, shaky breath. It doesn’t matter that I missed the first test.

There’s no chance I’ll place in the top of the class, but there’s still a chance I’ll get in.

I go to stand next to Sawyer, who’s looking at me with a slightly puzzled expression. The crowd is still whispering, and I catch more than one hasty glance my way. I lift my chin and fix my gaze straight ahead, toward the school.

Somehow, my name precedes me. The name Black carries with it a reputation … but for what … I don’t know yet.

Chapter Two

The group follows the test administrator deeper into the forest. I walk with Sawyer, glancing over my shoulder at the rejected applicants. A few of them are heading toward the courtyard in the opposite direction, but others are following us, melding into the crowd of onlookers.

“They’re going to watch, I guess,” Sawyer says, noticing my gaze.

I don’t respond. There’s no point in wasting breath with small talk. I saw the way he looked at me earlier.

“Why did everyone react like that when they announced my name?”

He turns sharply to look at me. “You’re not serious, right?”

I arch an eyebrow at him in reply. It takes him several seconds to choke out the next words.

“Your parents. They’re Samson and—”

“Riley Black. Yes. Or were, I guess. They’re dead though …” I trail off, glancing around me to catch more stares. “Something tells me you already knew that.”