Chapters (79)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Praise for Destroy All Monsters
- Books by Sam J. Miller
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
None of the lengthy honorifics of her full title, the one we all learned by osmosis from street signs and radio clips—by the grace of the gods Queen-Empress of the Middle Valley, Regent-Mayor of Darkside and Governor of the Lower Riversea, Grand Duchess of the Carnivores . . . and so on.
None of that. Just a short pause, a hiss of static, and then—her voice.
My subjects, I speak to you tonight from a place of great love, and great concern.
The last time I heard her voice it was literally saying, Get the hell out of my house. But now she was precise and formal and strangely accented, a mask she put on when it was time to be The Queen.
These are difficult times for many of us. We are angry. We are frightened. We think that our neighbors are our enemies.
I looked to Radha. Her face was so beautiful. Her lips came together in a tiny, strange smile.
Like Connor, she was better off believing that the woman was perfect, all-powerful. The pride she took in her queen was worth more than anything I could offer.
I implore you all to look past our differences. We are all of us brothers and sisters.
I hadn’t told any of them about what I saw. The chimera, murdered. The crowd of people—half of them terrified by the sight, the other half excited.
I am announcing the formation of a new royal commission, said the queen, through the tinny speakers of Radha’s ancient wireless. Ash smiled, at the sound of her mother’s voice, and then she frowned. It will be tasked with investigating the deep divisions that are splintering our city, and recommending the best way forward. If actions are required—if new laws must be passed, if ancient injustices must be remedied—I am not afraid to do so.
Shouts, from outside. Faraway explosions.
Niv’s fists went up, tendrils of lightning sparking in the air around him. Instinctively, he stepped between Ash and the front door. I envied him, his training, his skill. His ability.
Then the screaming started, in the distance.
“Stay here,” Niv told us, but I followed him outside. Ash and Connor stayed with Radha.
Flames raged atop the far tower of the bridge.
“Explosions,” a fellow gawker told us. “People are saying it’s all over the city. Synchronized.”
I asked Niv: “Is this the Shield?”
He nodded. “If I had to guess. He wants to show how powerful his movement is. How the Palace can’t protect the people. We should go back inside. Could get crazy out here.”
We got back in time to hear the queen say, May the gods bless you, and may the gods bless Darkside. The trumpets sounded. The radio people began to squawk again. The smell of smoke drifted in through the open window.