BooksBarbecue
Back Destroy All Monsters Save as PDF
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

“Ash will fix it,” I told him. “We’ll bring her back to herself, and she’ll explain what happened, and we’ll be forgiven.”

“Not just us,” he said. “Ash is the secret to saving the whole city. Queen Carmen can’t stop the Shield, and won’t challenge his movement. Or the police, for that matter. But Ash has an awesome power inside her. She could stop them. Save us, save this city. But it seems so . . .”

Unlikely. Impossible. Overwhelmingly difficult. Likely to end in at least one of us ceasing to breathe. Neither one of us finished the sentence, because there was no good way to end it.

We lay in silence. I didn’t shut my eyes. Someone was hollering through a megaphone from far away. Cops, conducting random sweeps of anyone out on the streets, likely. A bad night not to have a place to sleep.

Of course I couldn’t sleep myself. My head was too full of the things happening all over the city at that very moment. One part of me wanted to grab my camera and go find them. Another was frozen in place. Eventually I opened my eyes and turned around. In the dark I could make out the shape of Niv’s body, his bare shoulders, his sturdy chest. I could see that his eyes were open as well.

“Can you . . . come over here?” he asked. “Lay with me?”

I wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea. My feelings about him were messed up enough already. I didn’t know what it would be like, pressed against him on the floor. If I’d be able to keep from kissing him. If there was any reason not to. “Sorry,” he said, when I hesitated just a second too long. “That was silly of me. I’m not a little kid.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” I said, feeling bad for my indecision, knowing what it was like to be lonely. To feel frightened. I shifted my body back and forth, inched my mat over until it was up against his. He rolled over onto his side and I spooned in behind him.

“This used to be my favorite time of year,” he said. “The week before Unmasking Day. As a kid, it was always the best holiday.”

“The food alone,” I agreed with him. “The fried dough. We’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

“Thanks, Solomon,” he said, and kissed my forearm.

I kissed the back of his head. It felt so easy, the way we fit together. I didn’t want any more than this. The moment was magnificent the way it was.

And then he spoke.

“You were right,” he said, turning around so we were face-to-face. “Not to trust me.”

Thirty-One

Ash