“Why don’t you ask the SDC’s finest?” the musclebound jackass grumbled.
Nathan smiled at Persie and me. “That’s an excellent idea. You must know the Beast Master quite well, I’d imagine. What does he believe?”
Persie nodded. “Tobe knows every creature, and he cares for each of them with the biggest heart. Even the ones who might not deserve it.”
You say that, but he’d rip Leviathan a new one if that slimy son of a biatch ever actually tried to hurt you.
I didn’t say it aloud. There was no use in bringing him up when he was clearly already on Persie’s mind all the time. She always shuddered when she heard his name, and I hated the hold he had over her. She should’ve been enjoying her life, not worrying about what Leviathan would do next. I’d never forgive him for that, or for ruining my best friend’s eighteenth birthday. Who did that? The slippery snake clearly had zero manners.
“If you love him so much, why didn’t you stay there? You could’ve added to the Bestiary,” the other ponytail muttered under her breath, growing some serious sour grapes.
Fortunately, I liked the taste of sour. And I wasn’t about to let anyone talk to my friend like that. I knew she could defend herself, but she wouldn’t.
“Why, you worried it might give us an advantage because we’ve seen more real-life monsters than you’ve had hot dinners?” I retorted.
Ponytail #2 sneered. “I’m not afraid of you, Genie.”
“You’re the one who said it, not me.” I smiled, sweet as anything. “Now, I’d like to hear more from Nathan and less from you.”
Nathan nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, thank you, Genie. I’m pleased to hear that the Beast Master is everything I thought he would be, and I’d like to speak with you about him in more detail, but… that can obviously wait.” He walked up to one of the bubbles and coaxed the creature inside to appear. It flitted around like a dragonfly, with wings that looked like browned leaves. It resembled a stick insect with its crooked arms and thin body, with the exception of an eerily human face that observed us with milky white eyes. “This is a sprite called Archimedes. He’s very shy, and he likes—”
“Long walks on the beach?” I joked. This time, I got a proper laugh, free of nerves.
“I imagine he would, though he’d probably prefer a long flight in the park,” Nathan replied, smiling. “Many people used to believe that sprites were the spirits of the dead, who could be benevolent or malevolent, depending on how they were treated. They are ancient and were feared, but not so much anymore. This one is an Earth sprite, with weak spellcasting abilities that it uses to grow flowers and fruits, and to help crops. But the point is, there are sprites who would batter against this glass, or shrink away, or not emerge at all. I’ve gotten to know this one, and it’s proof of my theory that they have awareness and are far more complex than people make them out to be.”
A long-haired dude folded his arms across his chest. “You’ll be saying they have souls, next.”
Nathan put his palm to the glass, and the sprite raised a crooked, twiggy hand to his. “Actually, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that they do, but proving the presence of a soul in a Purge beast would be like proving the existence of a soul in a human being.”
Nice comeback, O’Hara! The long-haired guy huffed grumpily. Nathan had silenced him without so much as raising his voice. He’d slapped him with a wet fish of intellect, and I had to admit… it was kind of sexy. Not the wet fish part, but the smarts part. And he’d shown me a flash of a sense of humor, when I was fairly sure he’d had a humorectomy. Still, I wasn’t sure he would be much use in an actual hunting scenario. Not to sound shallow, but I’d always gravitated toward brawnier types. The kind of guy who could hold their own. Borderline alphas, that sort of jam. Nathan had some tasty looks, absolutely, but he was so… awkward. Cute, in its own right, but I didn’t usually go for that.
“Are we done in here?” Charlotte reappeared, as blunt as ever. Maybe even a little thorny, but who wouldn’t be if they’d been saddled with a tour group by their mom? I’d shown a similarly blasé attitude when my dad made me take new Atlanteans around the SDC, though I’d managed a few smiles and a joke here and there. Just like Nathan’s theory about monsters, humans had their own individual styles and responses to situations. Charlotte was just riding with hers.
“I believe so,” Nathan replied. He cast a look at me, and his face brightened in a disarming smile. It would’ve been rude not to smile back.
“Right, then, let’s get moving. Our last stop is the future new wing of the Institute.” Charlotte disappeared and the group exited, in a rush to catch up to her. This time, Nathan joined us. I pushed away the hopeful thought that maybe he’d joined because of me.
We got halfway up the corridor when something caught my attention: a faint light bobbing in the rafters overhead. I paused and stared at it, convinced my eyes were playing tricks on me. I blinked, but the light didn’t go anywhere. It looked like a hazy purple orb, with flaming blue wisps coming off it.
I nudged Persie. “Do you see that?”
“What?” Her voice sounded weird. Strained. Glancing down at her, I gasped. The color had vanished from her face, and a sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead. Her lips were blue and trembling. Either we had a panic attack on our hands, or a Purge. Since it had been five days since her last spew of scary mist, my money was on the Purge.
“Okay, Mama, we need to get you
