Page 14 of Monster's Pet

“What did you hear?” I scanned the forest, but nothing was moving.

“I thought I heard something...”

I moved closer to his back, sweeping my gaze around.

“It sounded like a brat needing her mouth used as a cock-warmer,” he finished with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and slapped at his broad chest. “Stop it. We’re focusing on the animals right now.”

A squirrel chittered above us, racing along one branch to the next as a second animal chased it. Ignoring the squirrel, Aiden took aim at the predator.

His sleep spell hit true, and the animal fell from the branch above into my slow motion spell, dropping gently into Aiden’s arms.

“Nice one,” he said to me, cradling the little creature.

It looked somewhat like a squirrel, but its face was sharper, with predator’s teeth, and it had bat-like wings.

“What is it?” I asked, frowning.

“Don’t tell me the great Siobhan doesn’t know something,” Aiden teased, placing the magic generator on its spine at the base of its neck and flicking it on.

“Animals are Rhiannon’s thing, not mine,” I said, trying to pretend I wasn’t whining. “I can’t be expected to remember every single animal in that book.”

“You could try at least the ones on the island, maybe expand to Ireland and the UK,” Aiden said.

“There’s so many.” I was pouting, there was no hiding it any longer.

Aiden placed the creature on the ground and we hid ourselves before he woke it up.

The animal scrambled to its feet and was up the tree beside us in an instant as if all that had happened was that it had fallen off the branch.

“That was a craiyon,” Aiden said, taking pity on me. “They’re not usually so fierce.”

“So I see,” I said, watching it groom itself on the branch it had chosen. It then flung itself off, splaying its arms and legs out wide as it glided to the next tree. “Cute little thing.”

“Not a good pet, though,” Aiden cautioned.

I laughed. “I’m not interested in gaining a pet. Two dragons in my room are plenty, on top of the plants that Hazel treats like pets.” We started walking through the forest again.

Now it was Aiden’s turn to laugh. “She does talk to them and pet them, doesn’t she?”

“She says that it promotes healthy growth and good bonding.” I shrugged. “Who am I to argue with a dryad over plants?”

“Good point.”

“Are those broken branches?” I asked, pointing overhead. “What could cause that?”

Aiden frowned, his head tipped back. “A big beast. Normally, those aren’t airborne.”

“Could it be a hurt dragon?” I wondered. “Are all of ours in the stables?”

“I haven’t heard about a missing dragon, but maybe it hasn’t been noticed yet,” Aiden said thoughtfully as we followed the debris field.

We avoided walking under any trees with loose branches.

“That looks an awful lot like blood,” I said quietly, pointing at a black smear on a tree at eye level.

Aiden sniffed it, not getting too close, and nodded. “You’re right.”

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