Page 81 of Monster's Mystery

“If it helps, I looked over the math,” Aiden put in. “It all checks out. The spell shouldn’t drain anything from us. ‘Life’ can be interpreted to mean ‘fire’, after all.”

“What’s the plan if it does start draining their soul?” I asked Bruce. “How are you planning on monitoring this?”

“Excellent question,” Bruce said. “Your magic flow spell will be used by me, and if you’re willing, you can be ready to cast the shield spell. Hazel will sever the connection between the fruit and the beasts, and I...” He took a deep breath. “If it comes to it, I will destroy the statue.”

I put my hand to my mouth. “You shouldn’t have to do that.”

“I will let no one else take on the weight of that responsibility,” Bruce snapped.

My gaze dropped to my feet. “I understand.” He had obviously thought about this moment a lot over the past few years. As much as it pained him, he didn’t want to cause the death of twelve young beasts just because they had volunteered to help him.

“We should get ready,” Hazel said quietly, getting to her feet and crossing to the first door. She knocked and called through the wood, “It’s time.”

“Shall we avoid the rush?” Aiden suggested, holding his hand out to me.

I nodded, and we took the stairs back down to the large open space on the first floor. Bruce followed quietly behind us and disappeared into the adjoining room. I tried to get a glimpse inside, but he closed the door behind him too quickly for more than a glimmer of sunset purples and reds to shine through.

“I hope this goes well,” I said, rubbing my arms with my hands.

Aiden took over, standing in front of me. “We’ll be fine. We’ve gotyounow.”

I leaned into his touch, meeting the statue’s eyes. “How far are you willing to take this? To save her life, and save Bruce’s sanity?”

“The others and I have discussed it,” Aiden replied quietly. “There’s a chance of needing to give more than our fire. The gift of life is such a nebulous concept. It could mean fire, it could mean soul, it could mean saliva...”

“Cum,” I added teasingly.

But Aiden didn’t laugh. “Exactly. We have agreed that we can each spare a few years off our life, if it comes to that.”

I bit my lip, not wanting to think about that. My eyes filled with tears anyway. “You’re very brave,” I managed to say.

“It’ll be all right,” Aiden murmured, pulling me closer and tipping my chin up. He bent down the last few inches and connected our mouths tenderly.

What started as a light brushing of lips deepened into a full on makeout, Aiden crushing my body against his and tangling my hair around his fingers.

A slight cough separated us, and I pulled back reluctantly to find that the room had filled with people while I was distracted.

“Oops,” I mumbled, my face heated with embarrassment.

Hazel winked at me from across the room. “All right, let’s get this started. Everyone in your positions. Siobhan, come stand by me, so you’re out of the way.”

The twelve beasts stood shoulder to shoulder around the statue, none close enough to touch her. There were ten men and two women, all of who had disappeared over the past few days.

It was such a relief to have solved the mystery. I waved at Geoffrey, grateful that he was all right after what had happened to his roommate. He was even willing to help out another!

Bruce came out of the other room, a plate in his hands with a shining golden fruit on it. His face was ashen. “It’s ready,” he said quietly into the silent room.

Everyone’s attention was on him as he put the plate down on a table. He magically lifted the fruit and split it into twelve equal pieces. Each one traveled to a beast, who took it mid-air. As one, they popped it into their mouths.

My heart was pounding unnecessarily hard. This was it. I swallowed, noticing the aroma of the golden fruit that lingered in the air as it made its way over to our corner. It smelled like the sweetest fruit imaginable, but it soon became overpowering and cloying, making me want to gag. I grabbed Hazel’s hand and squeezed it, hoping for reassurance that everything was proceeding as expected so far.

Hazel lightly returned the pressure and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Twelve throats swallowed in unison, and then they raised their hands toward the statue and sent their fire streaming at her.

I was used to seeing Aiden’s fire, and intimately knew its color and how it was shaped. His fire now was tinged with gold.

Even though Bruce had said that he’d be watching the flow of magic with my spell, I couldn’t resist casting it on myself.

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