Only a Monster(Monsters #1)(60)

‘Tom?’ Joan said. ‘We want to buy something from you.’

‘Get me a drink, love.’

‘I think he’s broken,’ Aaron said dryly. ‘When you pull the string, he only says one thing.’

‘I think he needs a coffee,’ Joan said. The bulldog was awake now, sniffing at Joan’s shoe. She bent to stroke its soft head. It was very small for a bulldog, but clearly well cared for—sleek brown-and-white fur and a solid build. Better cared for than Tom himself, who had the crooked nose of a fighter and was barely conscious in the early afternoon.

‘Tom, do you remember me?’ Joan said. ‘You offered to buy my necklace.’

Tom peered at her through cracked eyelids. He saw her bare neck. ‘You sold it to someone else?’

‘Not exactly,’ Joan said. ‘Do you know where I can get another one?’

Aaron returned from somewhere with a paper cup of water. Tom took it eagerly and gulped. Then he wrinkled his nose. ‘Oh, what’s this?’ he complained. He offered his dog the rest of the water. It huffed, and then struggled to its feet. Tom tilted the cup so that it could lap inside.

‘That necklace—’ Joan started again.

‘Look,’ Tom interrupted. ‘You want to buy a phone?’

Joan blinked. ‘No.’

‘You want to sell a phone?’

‘No.’

‘Then fuck off.’

‘But the necklace—’

‘I know what it was,’ Tom said. ‘Saw one once at the Court. But you’re not going to find one in any bloody market.’

Joan deflated. She’d hoped he’d recognised the necklace because he’d seen ones like it here. But it seemed he’d only recognised it from his past life at the Court itself.

Aaron realised it too. ‘He’s just an opportunist,’ he said to Joan. Tom’s expression was blearily blank in response. Aaron clarified, sneering: ‘You took a chance when you saw it. You offered to buy it and hoped she didn’t know what it was.’

Tom shrugged. ‘Yeah.’

‘Let’s go,’ Aaron said to Joan. He’d been surveying Tom and the dog, hand in his pocket like a landlord inspecting substandard property. Now he turned to leave.

Joan put a hand on Aaron’s arm. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘Wait.’ They couldn’t just walk away. Their families’ lives were at stake. Every monster’s life was at stake, their own included. They had to get into the Court. ‘My cousin tells me that you were a Court Guard,’ she said to Tom.

‘So?’ Aaron said to Joan. ‘She also said he was fired.’ He looked disdainfully down at Tom, at the empty beer bottles clinking under his table. ‘Can’t imagine why.’

‘We need to get in,’ Joan said to Tom.

From Ruth’s gasp and Aaron’s alarmed look, Joan realised she shouldn’t have said it so bluntly. But she kept picturing Nick already at the Court. They couldn’t let him get to that device.

Tom’s face was still bleary. Ruth and Aaron’s alarm hadn’t touched him. ‘You want me to get you into the Monster Court?’ he said.

‘Can you do it?’ Joan said. Her body felt tight with tension.

‘Why do you want to get in?’

‘None of your business,’ Aaron interjected.

Tom regarded Aaron. ‘You’re an Oliver, aren’t you?’

Aaron didn’t reply.

Tom scratched at the crook of his jaw. ‘Could spot one of you anywhere. Nose in the air like you can’t stand the smell of the rest of us.’

‘Can you get us in or not?’ Joan said.

Tom closed his eyes deliberately. ‘No,’ he said, flat and final.

‘Excellent find,’ Aaron said to Joan. He didn’t bother to keep his voice down. ‘Really. Top-shelf.’

But Joan wasn’t ready to give up yet. She thought she was starting to get a read on Tom. ‘You haven’t even heard what’s in it for you,’ she said to him.

‘Joan,’ Aaron said. ‘Let’s just go.’

Joan ignored him. She waited for Tom’s eyes to crack open. ‘We’re going to steal from the Court.’

‘Joan,’ Ruth said, and Aaron swore.

‘You are so fucking reckless,’ Aaron said.

But Tom’s eyes were open properly now, a flicker of interest kindled. Joan was relieved. She’d read him right. And so had Aaron. Tom was an opportunist.

‘You want in?’ Joan said.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Aaron said.

‘You’re not an Oliver,’ Tom said slowly to Joan.

‘We’re Hunts,’ Ruth said.

‘Hunts.’ Tom rested his head against the wall, visibly relaxing. He looked intrigued. It was the opposite of how most people in the monster world had reacted to the name Hunt. Tom retrieved a half-eaten sandwich from under the table that the dog had somehow missed. To Aaron’s obvious disgust, Tom took a big bite. ‘What’re thieves doing with an Oliver?’ he asked with his mouth full.

‘He owes her,’ Ruth said. ‘She saved his life.’

Tom took another bite. ‘And she’s making him steal from the Court?’ His bleary eyes brightened. ‘Making an Oliver break his vows to the King. . . . Guess it’s true what they say, huh?’ he said to Aaron, mouth still full. ‘Never get into debt to a Hunt. They’ll screw you sore.’