Page 9 of Monster's Heart

“Well, you would have to do that work if I wasn’t letting you use my Celestial Mapping program,” he replied with a grin.

I looked at the application on my screen and back at Sten.

Could it be?

There was a little icon at the top, a blue circle, the moon maybe, with curling horns and a tail, both cartoon versions of his.

Gulp.

“What do you mean by your Celestial Mapping program?”

“I wrote the code for this program, Luna. I designed it so anyone using it, like you, would be able to do more than simply map stars one realm at a time. The program is designed to place multiple coordinate graphs, overlaying them, and mapping the stars as they transgress across all the known realms simultaneously. The information you enter, time, date, and coordinates, determine the results.”

“Holy shit,” I gasped.

“Indeed,” he agreed, and leaned over, tapping the keys with broad strokes of his long fingers.

I trembled at his nearness, but tried to play it off. He smelled so good, like a mix of lavender and spice. I didn’t want to get caught sniffing at him, but fuck, it was close.

“Okay, you’re almost set up here. Next, it’s a matter of using numerical astrology or numerology to chart a path to, er, your true love.”

Was it my imagination or did he growl that last part?

“Well, I mean, this is just to pass the class. I don’t think Professor McEwan expects me to find my true love. Besides, you said you would go with me to the festival, right?” I asked, needing to hear him say it for some reason.

“I said so, yes,” he murmured.

“Okay, um, I think I’ll finish inputting the rest of the numbers back in my room,” I announced.

Being in that closed space with Sten, so distant and yet tempting, was playing havoc on my nerves. It had been a very long time since I’d had a date of any kind, and all the hours I’d spent with the giant blue Monster were starting to melt into each other. The line between the bargain we’d made and the fake relationship we’d agreed on was seriously blurring. I had to go before I did something stupid. Like throwing myself at him.

“Okay. I have class in half an hour, anyway,” he said, and I frowned, looking at the time.

“You take night classes?” I asked.

“Well, I am mostly nocturnal,” he admitted, and it was the first time he’d ever told me about himself.

“Really? I have such a hard time sleeping at night, I was actually going to ask the headmistress about taking some night classes next semester.”

“Why can’t you sleep?” he asked, taking the bag with my computer and school stuff from my hand.

I tried not to let my feelings show, but I was flustered and a little flattered. Boys didn’t usually go around carrying my bag for me.

Especially not big beautiful blue boys.

He held the door to his room open, and I walked out first, suddenly very conscious of the jean shorts and tight t-shirt I wore beneath my robes to class that day.

The weather was warming up, and though I never really got hot at Blackthorn, the robes we wore as our uniform were heavy and quite stifling. Or maybe that was just some of my classrooms. Either way, I wore shorts beneath them when I could get away with it.

Only, right then, I wished I’d worn something pretty. A dress or skirt maybe. Not the unflattering denim that was too tight on my thighs and kept creeping up my butt.

Fuck.

Well, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like Sten was really into me or anything. Hmmm. I thought back on what he said about being mostly nocturnal and decided the time had come for me to ask him some questions myself.

“So, you stay up late?” I asked.

His responding grumble was not actually an answer, but I took it for a yes, and I continued.

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