Page 13 of Monster's Delight

“I was studying,” I admitted. “I’m not really sure if they bumped into me, or if I walked into them.”

Hazel chuckled. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Apparently save me from myself?” I replied. “Thank you, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

At the endof the day, I curled up on one of Hazel’s bean bag chairs, which were as comfortable as I had imagined they would be, and arranged my mirror on my legs. I performed the spell with Grandfather’s picture that would allow me to call him and waited for him to answer.

I absentmindedly braided my hair, keeping an eye on the mirrored surface to catch any wispy strays and sweep them back.

“How is my favorite granddaughter?” Grandfather’s face filled the surface of my mirror.

I couldn’t help the smile that broke across my face when I saw him. “I’m pretty great, actually.”

“Yes, you are,” he agreed emphatically.

I chuckled. “Not what I meant. I had a great first day. I’m excited about all of my classes. The teachers are interesting.” I went into detail about each class, finishing up with, “Hazel’s only in my afternoon classes with me, because her specialty is so different from mine. But everyone has to take history and spellcasting, and Magical Flora is more her wheelhouse than mine. I’m going to have to work really hard to keep up with her on that one.”

“You can do anything you set your mind to,” Grandfather reassured me. “I have complete faith in you.”

“Thank you.”

“I thought you were taking Mathemagic this year,” he asked. “You didn’t mention it.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot to tell you! There wasn’t enough enrolment, so they’re going to offer it next year. I’m taking Ancient Languages, the third year class, instead. That reminds me,” I added teasingly, “My academic advisor is one of your admirers from when you attended here.”

His eyebrows rose. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

I laughed at that. “You were quite the Romeo, weren’t you?”

“No comment.”

“Her name is Ms. Carlisle. She looks too young to have gone to school with you.”

“I remember Victoria Carlisle.” Grandfather grew quiet. “She’s a vampire, that’s why she doesn’t look old. She was friends with—” He swallowed hard.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, I dropped my smile. “Friends with who, Grandfather?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“The love of my life,” he replied softly. “They were roommates.” He blinked his eyes vigorously, clearing his throat. Injecting false humor into his tone, he said, “Not unlike you and Hazel. Tell me, what mischief have you two gotten up to so far this year?”

Recognizing that he wanted to change the subject, I regaled him with the pudding incident from lunch. “Beyond that, we haven’t had much time to even think about pranking. We’ve only just unpacked!”

“You’ll be bored soon enough. I’ve got a mental list of pranks that Edwin and I never got around to trying. I don’t mind sharing with you.” Grandfather winked at me, a sly grin crossing his features.

“I might take you up on that,” I said with a forced chuckle. I studied his face, wondering what he was hiding.

The love of his life?

He hadn’t met Grandmother until after the Academy.

Who was he talking about?

CHAPTER5

“Who remembersthe magical nexus I mentioned briefly on the first day of class?” Professor Akhtar asked, two weeks into term.

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