Pet

Jam stands outside her house, communicating with Pet telepathically about what to do next. Though she wants to go after Redemption, Pet tells Jam to go back inside the house so as not to worry her parents. That night, while her parents think she is in bed, Pet teleports Jam straight into Redemption’s house. As long as Jam holds Pet’s hand, they are both invisible. Pet and Jam watch as Redemption tries and fails to gather his courage to talk to his parents about Moss. Redemption goes to speak to Moss instead, and Jam insists that she and Pet wait outside, believing that Moss deserves privacy.

Hours later, Redemption calls Jam crying. After talking to Moss, Redemption tried to tell his parents about the abuse, but they did not believe him. Redemption and Jam apologize to each other. Jam promises that she will never lie to Redemption again. Redemption tells Jam that Moss was too terrified to talk out loud about the abuse, so Redemption encouraged Moss to draw or write the name of his abuser. Moss drew a hibiscus, indicating their Uncle Hibiscus as the abuser. Redemption thought that the drawing would convince his parents, but they insisted that monsters no longer exist.

Jam tells Pet that the monster is Hibiscus, Moss and Redemption’s uncle. Redemption’s rage is stoked by Pet’s desire to hunt the monster. Jam tries to figure out a way to keep things under control. Redemption knows the details of what happened to Moss, but he doesn’t tell Jam. Redemption wants to kill Hibiscus but Jam calms him down enough to agree on a compromise. Redemption calls Hibiscus, who is Redemption’s fighting trainer, and pretends to have suffered an injury while practicing an advanced move. Hibiscus hurries over and finds both Redemption and Jam in the basement. When Redemption confronts Hibiscus for what he’s done to Moss, Hibiscus feigns ignorance. Pet, invisible, tells Jam that it will not allow any harm to come to her or Redemption. Hibiscus says that he won’t train Redemption any more, furious that Redemption called him “a false angel. A traitor” (147). Redemption calls Hibiscus a monster.

Hibiscus and Redemption’s verbal altercation turns physical when Redemption hits his uncle in the face. Jam runs to help her friend and Hibiscus grabs Jam by the wrist, hurting her. Pet throws Hibiscus against the wall and Jam tells Pet to stop before it kills him. They speak telepathically. Pet is convinced that it must kill Hibiscus to complete its mission. Pet does not believe that humans can learn from their mistakes; it resolves to hunt down and kill every new monster that comes into being. Pet insists, “I will cleanse, and when another like him comes, another of me shall come as well, and we will cleanse again” (152).

Jam argues that people will have a chance to learn and protect their children if they let Hibiscus live and his crimes are revealed. Redemption says that he will kill Hibiscus if Pet does not. Hibiscus cries and apologizes, saying that he tried to fight his urge to do harm for a long time. Jam’s faith in humans’ ability to learn and change convinces Pet not to kill Hibiscus. Pet ties Hibiscus up and breathes yellow smoke into his face, which ensures that Hibiscus will confess. Pet warns Jam and Redemption to look away, then unfurls its gold feathers to reveal its true face to Hibiscus in a flash of blinding light. Pet tells Jam, “DO NOT BE AFRAID” (157). Jam realizes that Pet is an angel from the old religious books. Hibiscus screams. Jam does not move or open her eyes until Redemption shakes her. They find Hibiscus shaking and crying, his eyes burned out of his skull. Glass, Bitter, Aloe, and Redemption’s parents arrive. Aloe carries Jam home, intent on protecting her.

All of Lucille shows up for Hibiscus’s trial, but Pet does not appear. Glass reveals that she has always known that Hibiscus abused children. Malachite calls Glass a monster for allowing Hibiscus near Moss and Redemption. The human angels of Lucille launch investigations and put policies and programs in place to ensure that everyone will be on the lookout for monsters, and no longer insist that monsters are extinct. Jam and Redemption tell the angels the truth about Pet. Bitter tells Jam that the angels were helped by creatures like Pet during the revolution. That night, Pet comes to tell Jam goodbye. Jam is scared that there are more monsters in the world, but Pet tells her to remember its words on the night of the hunt. Jam repeats, “do not be afraid” (165), and Pet smiles and disappears before her eyes.