Page 30 of Monster's Reward

They both laughed.

“That works for me,” Mikaela said.

“Yeah, me too.” Jasmine grinned.

“Anyway,” I said. “I’m going to try to finish reading this chapter. Maybe you guys can go to the library and see if you can find out anything more about this guy.” I leaned over and grabbed a notepad and pen from my nightstand. I scrawled a couple lines, tore off the top paper and handed it to Mikaela.

“Lydrel Zowen, dragon,” she read out loud. “Celia Warren, shadow-beast.”

“I doubt there’s anything about her that will help us, since she died long before the Shadow Killer showed up, but just in case.”

“We’ll see what we can find out.”

CHAPTER9

The following week was crazy.With end-of-semester exams approaching, we didn’t have as much time for research as we wanted, and even when we did manage a few hours, we found nothing to help us in our quest for proof.

Meanwhile, every time I saw Jahrdran in the hallways, my heart would drop and pain would saturate my being.

Just like old times, I’d slide back into the shadows and he’d beast-out and go into hunting mode.

This time, though, he’d simply glare at whatever shadow I was sheltering in, as if he knew exactly where I was, before loping away, clearly furious his beast still wanted me.

I was too.

Furious that he’d rejected me.

By now, I was no longer crying myself to sleep at night, and was no longer going out of my way to avoid places I knew he’d be.

Why should I walk ten minutes in the opposite direction, taking the long way around the school, just to avoid that one hallway where I knew his class let out?

So what if he didn’t like having to scent me nearby?

This was on him and if I was going to be heartbroken, he could deal with the discomfort of knowing his rejected fated mate was nearby.

I still vacillated between anger and sorrow, but the anger was more prevalent now.

Exams came and went and I did a fairly decent showing, then the majority of the student body left the school to journey home for the holidays.

I, of course, with no family to visit, stayed behind.

Both Mikaela and Jasmine invited me to go home with them, but I turned them down.

It was nice to have been invited, but I was looking forward to continuing my research in the shadow-room.

I was dismayed to discover the day after the students left, that Jahrdran had stayed behind as well.

It was harder to avoid him when the halls were mostly empty and meals were still served on a schedule.

Every time I saw him, the rage inside me just grew.

Literally, everything about him reminded me of all that I’d lost.

Not just the loss ofhim, my fated mate, but also the loss of any knowledge of my family, my history, my culture, my own beast.

What other supernatural lived in complete and utter darkness about who they were and what they were capable of?

What other supernatural at this Academy had the professors literally working against them, actively attempting to prevent them from discovering their own history?