Where Monsters Hide (The Monster Within 1)

I move out of the way as Sawyer finally stumbles past me, collapsing face-first into the ground. With great effort, he rolls over onto his back and smiles up at me.

“Hi,” he gasps, that puppy-dog look on his face. He’s too honest.

I smile back. What a doofus.

I have time to catch my breath as the rest of the students finish their last run of the course. Each one gets a judgment from Davies as she spots them. I lower myself to sit cross-legged next to Sawyer and begin rubbing dried blood off my various cuts.

“Miller—terrible, absolutely terrible; you should’ve run that at least two more times. I have half a mind to

send you up to the headmaster’s office and have him re-evaluate his decision to take you on.” The student in question hangs his head and watches the last few students jogging up to the line. “Yi—good time, right on target. Stavros, Attar—decent time, both of you. Ah, there you are, Singer,” she adds as Erin walks up on wobbly legs. “Terrible; you should’ve been back a long time ago. Did you stop and take a nap between those last two laps?”

Erin purses her lips and sinks to the ground next to me, her face pale. She, too, is covered in cuts and bruises. A few of them are bleeding. I shoot a glance over at Piers and his lackeys, but they aren’t paying any attention to us. They’re all still lying face down on the ground.

“Anybody give you any trouble?” I ask, still eying them warily for signs they were responsible for her misery, too.

“No,” she says, still panting. She coughs loudly and places a shaky hand on her stomach. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

I look over her again, taking in her state. She looks almost as bad as me—which is saying a lot if she really did all this just to herself.

Davies waits for the very last stragglers, then clicks her stopwatch a final time and surveys the group of exhausted students. “That’s it for today. Go get some lunch.”

I get to my feet and help Erin and Sawyer do the same. “I’m gonna go clean up first,” I tell them, but when I walk away, I don’t head straight for the showers. I make a beeline for Piers, Owen, and Bennett. Erin might be clumsy enough to cause that level of injury to herself, but I’ll be damned if these boys put me on the same level as her.

The three of them are walking on their own, hanging back from the group. It makes for an easy target.

“Hey!” I bark as I approach. They look up and pause.

“Yeah?” Piers asks coolly.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I demand, stopping an arm’s length away from them. I fold my arms over my chest self-consciously. I probably look awful with my caked-on dirt and dried blood, especially compared to their bare chests marred by nothing but sweat, which only serves to make them gleam in the noon sun.

“What do you mean?” Owen asks with faux innocence.

I point to one of the particularly bad cuts on my face, which I can feel is still bleeding. “This shit.”

Piers steps forward, trying to close the distance between us, but I take a step back. He spreads his hands with a smirk.

“Look. The worst-performing student gets dropped at the end of the year, yeah?”

“And none of us want that to be us,” Owen adds.

Bennett folds his own huge arms. “We’re at the bottom of the pack.”

“And you’re probably our biggest threat,” Piers finishes.

I glance between the three of them and scoff. “Biggest threat? How do you figure?”

The smile melts off Piers’ face. “Number one—Samson and Riley Black. Need I say more?”

“What about your dad, Piers?” I ask. “I saw him up on the stage next to the headmaster.”

“We already told you,” Bennett says, suddenly growing protective of his friend. “That isn’t the same.”

An annoyed expression flits across Piers’ face, but he doesn’t correct Bennett.

“Secondly,” Piers continues. “You’re a girl.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” I snap, fists clenching.