“Well honestly, it was Avery that—” Piers falls silent as Mason gazes uncharacteristically fondly at him.
“Doesn’t matter. You planned that trip. You went out into the cold and stayed there for weeks, tracking it. Who cares whether it was you that landed the final blow?” Mason sighs and closes his eyes.
The next thing he says, he directs to me. “And you, Black …” he shakes his head. “I swear to you I didn’t kill your parents, but I didn’t save them either.”
He moves his hand just a little, and I see that beneath it there’s some sort of wound in his forehead, which is weeping blood down over his brow. Piers gasps. He’s seen it, too. Mason pays his son’s worry no mind, instead placing his clean hand on the side of Piers’ face.
“It’s okay, Dad. Come on. You’re talking like these are your last moments,” Piers says with a nervous laugh.
Mason smiles silently, then winces, and the smile disappears.
“Dad, your wound’s not that bad.” There’s a note of panic in Piers’ voice now. “Is it? How deep is it? We should call Mom,” he adds frantically. “She should know that you’re hurt.”
“Not right now,” Mason mumbles, taking his hand down to reveal a huge gash across his brow. “Infirmary.”
“I’ll help you,” Piers tells him, grabbing his arm. Together, they head off.
I feel too tired to be stunned by Mason Dagher’s words. He’s finally admitted what I suspected all along, but It doesn’t bring me the satisfaction I expected. I still want more answers, but I wonder … will they satisfy me either?
“I have Mason to thank, mostly,” Helsing croaks out, watching them walk away. He wriggles his arm free from the tall man and wraps it around his daughter. Erin worriedly clutches at him, trying to hold him up. “Most of the exorcism attempts failed, but he tried out a version from some tribe he came across during his travels. That did the trick.”
He winces in pain, and Erin delicately pulls away from him. “Oh—manners. This is my daughter, Erin. And this is Avery Black.”
Recognition dawns on the tall hunters’ faces as Helsing introduces me. “We’ve heard a lot about you from our son,” the woman says to me. “He speaks so highly of you.”
“Your son?” I ask. “Who?”
“Take a wild guess,” the man laughs.
“Mom? Dad? You guys went on the hunt?” Bennett’s voice asks behind me.
Of course. How could I have not guessed immediately?
Helsing manages to crack a smile at me. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Little,” he says.
Bennett’s parents detach themselves from Helsing and walk past me to wrap Bennett in a huge hug. “Come, come!” Mrs. Little says, pulling him along toward the dining hall. “You must tell us all about your first hunt.”
“Why’d you come to my cabin last night?” Helsing asks me in a low voice as the giant family of monster hunters are positively swarmed with star struck students. “Novac said it was you who reported what was happening.”
I glance down at my hands. My problems seem stupid in comparison now. “I wanted to talk to you. You’ve been the one who’s kept me on-track with the revenge I was planning, and …”
“Hold it,” he interrupts. “That wasn’t me.” He sighs. “That was the incubus.”
Erin raises her eyebrows. “What?”
“At times, it was like being trapped inside my own head. Or like being a passenger in a car. I could see what was happening and where I was going, but I couldn’t do anything about it.” He snorts. “The thing had access to my memories. It knew you’re a formidab
le monster hunter, Avery. It wanted to distract you from me, so it fed off your anger. It helped that your revenge brewed some other negative feelings. Got a good meal off you, that thing.”
I feel disgusted. This whole time, I’ve been manipulated by an actual monster.
“Don’t go feeling bad about it,” Helsing grunts at me. “If anyone should, it’d be me. I should’ve noticed something was wrong with me and got some help before it started being able to pilot me around like a robot.”
Novac approaches us and gently places a hand on Erin’s shoulder. “I think your father ought to visit the infirmary now,” he says, smiling. “You two should go to breakfast.”
“Right. Sorry, Professor Helsing,” I say. “I didn’t mean to keep you.”
He grunts. “I hate the infirmary. You didn’t keep me from anything.”