Page 7 of Monster's Reward

Wrong scent.

Great. Jasmine probably had company again.

Well, we don’t have to socialize. We’ll just sneak in.

Like usual.

I glanced around to be sure no one was nearby, then let my monster out, just a little, enough so that we could become mist and shadow, capable of sliding under the door.

Once inside the room, I slid from the shadows by the door to those in the closet, Shadow at my side.

Yes, I know it’s a cliche—a monster in the closet—but frankly, it’s a cliche because it works. For shadow monsters anyway.

Closets were full of shadows, which made them the perfect hiding spot for me, and also provided a space from which I could peek into my dorm room and take stock.

Jasmine and Mikaela were sprawled across the two beds, chatting.

Okay, that was unexpected.

Shadow was used to Mikaela visiting and never snarled when she was around, but right now was pacing inside the closet, tail swishing back and forth.

It’s just Mikaela, Shadow.

Not Mikaela-scent. Other-scent.

Maybe they already left.

Shadow let out a low, rumbling growl, which was somewhat concerning.

I peeked out into the room again, but nope.

Still just the two of them—Jasmine sprawled across her bed and Mikaela across mine.

I suppose some people might be annoyed at Mikaela for hanging out on their bed, but the truth was I never slept there.

I much preferred the shadows beneath it.

Shadows, I now realized, that werenotempty the way they should be.

How annoying that I hadn’t noticed until now.

Time to roust the intruder, Shadow.

Finally!

I slid from the shadow in the closet to one just outside it and slowly eased around the room, sliding from one shadow to the next until I reached the one at the end of the bed.

I immediately sensed that the person hiding there wasn’t truly using the shadows to hide so much as they were simply using the bed.

So, not a shadow monster like me.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t Jahrdran.

Truthfully, if it had been him, Shadow would probably have been under there with him, rubbing against him by now.

For some unknown reason, she was as obsessed with him as I was.

It wasn’t Jahrdran though.

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