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Chapters (79)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sixty
  64. Sixty-One
  65. Sixty-Two
  66. Sixty-Three
  67. Sixty-Four
  68. Sixty-Five
  69. Sixty-Six
  70. Sixty-Seven
  71. Sixty-Eight
  72. Sixty-Nine
  73. Seventy
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Praise for Destroy All Monsters
  77. Books by Sam J. Miller
  78. Back Ad
  79. About the Publisher

But this was still our city. We could still smell roasting chestnuts, and garlicky noodles, and mammoth-milk ice cream. Stalls sold Unmasking Day tools and supplies, for a city full of people building masks for themselves. The city belonged to the good people who just wanted to live their lives, not the wicked ones who wanted to divide us.

Two blocks from the Palace, Ash tugged at my sleeve. We stopped, and she whispered in my ear. “Go get us something to eat, okay? I want to be alone for this.”

I climbed off Maraud, and went into a nearby bakery. Pretended to browse through breads and cookies, when what I was really doing was watching Ash. How her face darkened. How her lips moved, ever so slightly, like she was whispering in the ear of the queen.

And then I had to wait, until she was done crying.

“I don’t think it worked,” she said, when I came back out. “I don’t even know if she could hear me. Or if she heard me, and was trying really hard not to.”

I handed her a cinnamon roll, and climbed back onto Maraud.

Ash turned around to watch the Palace as we left it behind. Shimmering gray stone. The home she had never felt completely at home in, but loved all the same. I switched the little radio on, eager for some news, some distraction, but Ash turned it right back off.

Fifty-Nine

Ash

Solomon turned the car radio on, but I switched it right back off.

I looked up at my house. Pristine gray paint. The home I had never felt completely at home in, but loved all the same.

“What do you want to do?” I asked Solomon. “Wait out here? Down in the basement?”

He looked off into the distance, and I was afraid he’d want to leave. Go off on another one of his weird, wild journeys. The time we’d spent together was making me feel strong, stable . . . and I hoped it wasn’t just pride that made me think it was helping him too.

“I’ll take a nap in the back,” he said, opening his door. “I’m so tired.”

I hadn’t told him, that I meant to tell my parents. Half of me thought maybe he wouldn’t want me to. Wanted to keep this secret. Because telling my parents meant something might happen. And maybe that would get Mr. Barrett punished, but it also might make headlines, become gossip, cause a backlash . . . make Solomon’s life even more hellish than it already was.

But staying silent couldn’t be the right call. Could it?

“That sounds great,” I said, watching him curl up across both back seats. “I love you, Solomon.”

“I love you too,” he said.