Our Monsters by Jemma Topaz

Author:Jemma Topaz [Topaz, Jemma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Constraints of Nobility.

I awoke quite early, thanks to a phone call from my mum.

“Are you okay, bab?” she said. “Kostya says the Zone’s in lockdown. They’ve closed the gate.”

“I can believe it. Yeah, I’m fine. Tired,” I said. “Kostya’s the vampire? Is he still there?”

“Yes, of course. I had to put blankets up at the windows; you know how sunny my bedroom gets,” she said, sounding excited.

“Okay. Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m sore, I suppose…”

“Oh my god, mum, no,” I said. “I meant, are you alright with a vampire?”

“What do you mean? I raised you better than that. Kostya is a perfect gentleman.”

Well, I suppose she was used to men whose concession to hygiene was a blast of Lynx to the tackle, “for the women.”

“Okay, mum, good,” I said. “Just don’t tell me about his aubergine, okay?”

“Oh, I was sort of wrong about that,” she laughed, “but he has a bosting strap-”

“NO, no, please stop talking.” Once children become adults, their parents should stop having sex. It was only fair. “Anyway, mum, I’ve got to go. Head into work.”

“On a Saturday?”

Oh. I didn’t actually know. “There’s a lot going on at the moment. Important council stuff, I guess.”

“Aw, your dad would have been proud of you,” said mum. The convention was that we spoke of my dad as if he was dead. There’s a non-zero chance that he’s back in Ireland, or somewhere else. Death was easier for all of us than him being Schrödinger’s father.

We said our goodbyes, and I set off for work. I might find the folly deserted, but my instinct was that Lyssa at least would be in. She might have news about Cassie.

The queues at the checkpoints were smaller this morning, but still considerable. Bracing myself for evil looks, I walked to the front of the queue, ignoring the murmurs.

Lyssa was right; I announced that I was with the council, the guards consulted some sort of magical – presumably – crystal, and waved me through. I fought the instinct to apologise to the queuing crowd. What was I going to say?

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