Page 3 of Monster's Heart

Never fear, your friendly Astronomy teacher is here to help. Here is your Astronomy Extra Credit assignment. Now, I only offer this twice a year, so the due date will be the Solstice, Summer or Winter, or the Spring/Fall Equinox celebrations, depending on which semester we are in.

Now that we have established that, here are the rules. You must chart a course across the stars, using the fundamentals you learned in class (or didn’t learn, which is why you are seeking extra credit—just check my blog) and Morganna’s Guide to Astrology in order to chart a course to your true love, or the closest thing to them, by the next Solstice/Equinox festival. I expect all data to be in printed form.

You must hand it in by midnight on the night of the festival, and if you succeed in finding your match, bring them along! I would love to meet them.

-Professor McEwan

P.S.

Failure to find your true love will not impede your ability to pass this course. It is a failure to try that will ultimately be the reason you do not succeed. Please note and track any occultations you come across during your mission. Good luck.!

CHAPTER 2

Sten

I couldn’t stifle my laugh as I watched the curvy little Witch as she read the ridiculous extra credit assignment after chasing after our corpulent professor. Professor Dravean McEwan taught Astronomy at Blackthorn, but everyone knew he had a penchant for all things astrological.

It was his dream to open a dating site using his cockamamie theories on charting paths to true love, and students who were desperate enough to seek extra credit in his class acted as test subjects for him. Not that I ever needed it.

I could chart paths across the sky through realms we hadn’t even discovered yet with my eyes closed. Part of my exceptional gifts, such as they were. If only I didn’t cause black holes to appear when my nose got out of joint. Maybe then I could just do my fucking job and leave this cursed island.

Whatever.

Normally, I didn’t care about my fellow Blackthorn Academy students. Especially not the ones failing a class I could pass without ever even showing up. But there was something about the usually shy little Witch that drew my eye. It wasn’t her curvy frame… okay, well, it was not only her curvy frame.

The Witch had an ass that simply would not quit. Big tits, soft belly, thick thighs. She was every naughty dream I’d ever had and more. And believe me, I was an excellent dreamer. Something about my affinity for night made my dreams so fucking vivid I could sometimes taste them.

Anyway, banging body aside, there was more to my interest in the Witch than that. I’d been watching her for some time. Call it morbid curiosity. There weren’t many things that caught my eye. But she had. And so, I was interested. Perhaps it was the way she often tried to disappear into a crowd. Okay, so I was sort of an expert on that, which is why I noticed when anyone else tried to do it.

This Witch, though. In class she sat hunched at her desk, doodling on her notebooks or tablets, and more often than not, daydreaming with her gaze fixed out the window rather than listening to what the professors were saying. Even when they caught her, she didn’t make excuses. Just nodded and agreed with them that no, she was not paying attention. I mean, I’d never seen anyone have the balls to just admit they’d been doing whatever it was they’d been caught doing. Must be a universal go-to, a survival instinct that made people lie or deny their culpability when confronted with our shortcomings or failures.

Not her, though. She straight up owned that shit even when those around her snickered in amusement. I admit, it annoyed me whenever I heard her apologize for it. If those stodgy old cunts wanted to be listened to, they could damn well make themselves more interesting. As interesting, perhaps, as the lovely Witch who’d caught my attention.

No, a voice whispered inside me, and I shook my head.

Once upon a time, I would have relished the idea of getting to know the pretty little female. But every day, my powers grew more volatile. I was dangerous. A threat to the fabric of multiple realms. You see, my powers were unstable and the risk of creating a trans-dimensional black hole, a literal life-sucking void that could collapse worlds, was actually pretty damn high.

If I could not master my magic, I would need to go back to my people for a binding ceremony. It was not something I looked forward to. For a descendant of Mani, that would mean cutting off my ties to the heavens, which was also the source of my life. Without them, I would perish. So, if I rescinded my responsibility, if I gave up my powers, I would be killed.

But the only thing that could stabilize them would be my soul’s own true mate. I’d given up on finding such a creature long ago. So, I could never rise to claim my title. I could never be Menon Blau, bender of the moon, ruler of the tides. And likely, I would not be around much longer. The binding ceremony did not offer a kind death. It was a long drawn out exsanguination of my very soul.

There’s still time.

That was what a foolish part of me wanted to believe. But I was only kidding myself. I couldn’t bear the rejection of another woman, having felt it so keenly once. No, I could not curse anyone to walk the night with me. Especially not a Witch whose strongest power seemed to be her ability to daydream.

Forging a bond with a Monster such as myself would be catastrophic to the fragile little butterfly. She could never survive a lifetime of night. And I was stupid for even considering the possibility.

“Sten,” a deep voice said, and I turned my head to see Draugr stalking by.

“Draugr,” I returned the greeting.

I was not used to being spoken to by most of the students at Blackthorn, but the Draugr was one of the few who knew my actual identity. Of course, lately, he’d been different, having found his fated mate in the smiling Necromancer currently holding his hand like it was a lifeline.

What. The. Fuck.

He was a killer. A bloodthirsty beast. But she was looking at him like he hung the moon, which he didn’t. That job currently belonged to my Uncle Faustus. I frowned.

“This is Serena, my mate. Serena, this is Sten,” he introduced us, and I nodded my head, bowing slightly but making no move to touch the smallish female.

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