Page 76 of Monster's Mystery

Bruce put his arm around my shoulders, and I gripped his hand firmly. “Leave us,” he ordered, fury in his tone.

Once my shock wore away, I realized she had caused the perfect distraction. I took advantage of it.

Paige left, and Bruce turned me to look at him.

“Nobody believes that of you,” he said fiercely. “I’ll meet you at Dunlop’s office. I’ve got to go, but I will see you later.”

I nodded silently and watched him leave the room, the bright trail of magic clear in my vision.

CHAPTER21

“What are you up to?”I muttered to myself, trailing after Bruce. I made sure to stay far enough behind him that he wouldn’t see me if he happened to glance backward, or at least I did until I realized that I could just cast an invisibility spell.

I blushed.

I was too used to using that spell to hide when having sex, not when I was tailing people.

Bruce led me to the back door of the kitchen and then slipped outside.

I had to navigate the chefs in the kitchen carefully. I didn’t want to cause an accident.

By the time I left the academy, Bruce was nowhere to be seen.

I closed my eyes and whispered the spell enabling me to see when magic was used, this time remembering to account for the overpower of the ley lines.

There he is.

I chuffed in satisfaction. My spot of power was bright on the back of his arm, just out of his sight. His outline shimmered, and I frowned.

That’s an interaction between two powerful spells.

What...

It was subtle, but I could see that he was shrinking the closer he got to the forest.

My stomach felt sick and I regretted eating today. “It has to be him,” I whispered. “I have to stop him.”

I waited until Bruce was truly out of sight before I activated that spot of power I’d left on him, calling it back to me through his footsteps.

Bright blue power lit up the forest floor, and then the clearing, all the way to my feet. It took the form of his footprints.

I said a prayer to every god I could think of, and took the first step, careful to remain inside the outline of his shoe print.

My mind raced as I thought about what might be waiting for me when I got to his secret hideout.

Worst case, he’s been draining the beasts he kidnapped in order to bring his wife back to life. I won’t find anyone, or I’ll find dried shells who used to be people.

I swallowed hard and paused, wobbling slightly. Bruce’s stride was quite a bit bigger than mine, which made tracking him difficult.

The next footprint was closer, though, so I pulled out my grimoire and recited the spell I had lifted from Jim’s ancestor’s journal. Hopefully, the spell would recognize itself and let me pass through.

I took the next step and was delighted to find that I was a little shorter than I had been before.

Best case,I thought, trying to come up with one to stay optimistic.

Best case, he needed additional power?

But why include Hazel?

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