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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

“That’s cool,” I said, excited already at the thought of the strong, sweet milky tea that would provide badly needed caffeine at the same time as it soothed my frazzled nerves.

Thirty-Four

Solomon

We drank sweet milk tea, and ate soft fluffy idli. Radha had packed us two little breakfasts, when we woke up at dawn and told her that Ash and I had to go. Niv had given us the last of his money. Enough to paddock Maraud in a safe place, and get a hotel room if we absolutely had to.

He’d hugged us. And I kissed him, in front of Radha and Ash. His smile was like the last gulp of air you take before diving under water, when you don’t know how soon you’ll be able to breathe again.

Logistics were worked out. Ways to get in touch. Worried looks were hidden away. We all kissed sleeping Connor on his forehead. And then we headed out, and went our separate ways, and Ash and I were alone.

And now we sat along the riversea, miles away from home, with no clear idea of where we were going. Drinking tea and pretending like we weren’t scared shitless.

“How do you feel, Ash?” I asked. All morning long she’d been present, saying little but responding in ways that made it clear she was aware of what was happening around her.

She nodded, then reached out her hand for mine. “I’m okay.”

“Better today than yesterday?”

“I can see and hear things . . . better.”

“Excellent.”

“What happened?” she asked. “Last night. The attacks, during my mother’s speech?”

That was the old Ash, all right. Concerned for everyone else’s safety. Worried more about her city and her people than about herself. I told her the little that we knew, from the news reports on the radio. Thirteen people were confirmed dead. Fifty-seven known instances of sabotage and terrorism. Monsters slaughtered, all over the city. DPD had made no arrests.

I took both of her hands in one of mine, and pressed them together. “There’s something I need you to remember. Something that I think will help. Will you let me try something?”

Ash nodded.

I shut my eyes. Breathed in, straightened my spine, focused on the sensations there. Tried not to try. Tried to just let it happen, like it had with the brontosaurus. Tried to feel happy, stable, strong. Things that would help her out, lend her the power she needed to break through the spell she was under, access her own ability. But where do emotions like that live? Wherever happiness and stability and strength were, I couldn’t snap my fingers and summon them up.

A breeze came in from down the shore, bringing with it the smell of the riverfront laundry vats, and I had my answer.