Page 21 of Monster's Pet

Aiden cocked his head as if considering my suggestion, and he looked so much like his pet that I almost laughed.

He held out his hand. “Give paw,” he said, reaching out with his free hand to pick up her paw and put it on his fingers. He repeated this a few times. “Give paw.” He waited as Moonbeam sniffed his fingertips. Then she patted his fingers with her paw. “Yes!” he cheered, startling her.

I chuckled.

“Sorry, Moonbeam,” he said, giving her two treats and cuddling her to his chest while she ate them.

“We should really look into what kind of creature she is,” I said, watching them. Moonbeam spent half the time crunching on her treats, and the other half licking Aiden’s fingers. “She’s grown so fast in just two days. What if she gets to be the size of her mother in a month? You won’t be able to keep her, and she won’t have grown up in the forest, so she wouldn’t know how to survive.”

Aiden sobered. “There’s always the stables, I suppose. Or I could send her home.”

“Would your parents be okay with looking after a giant flying cat?” I asked skeptically. Aiden’s parents’ house was massive, almost as big as Doyle Manor. My eyes widened. “Grandfather would do it!”

“That’s a great idea,” Aiden said enthusiastically. “If she gets too big for my room, I’ll send her to your grandfather.” Moonbeam butted her head under his chin and he visibly melted as he slid his hand over her back. “Don’t grow too fast,” he whispered.

I sighed and closed the grimoire. “Nothing yet. I’m not really surprised. There wasn’t anything else on soul bonds in here, other than Grandfather’s spell to sever one.”

“But you’re not giving up,” Aiden said.

“Of course not! But maybe we should focus more on the library instead,” I said. “My family is all witchy.”

“You be-witchme,” he teased.

“That was terrible.” I laughed anyway. “Are you ready for the testing?”

“Let’s ace this.”

Professor Akhtar had enlistedthe help of Professor Puddlemoan in order to test us on the underwater portion. He was the extreme sports education teacher, so I’d only ever seen him at a distance before this.

Professor Puddlemoan had a severe expression that told me he expected nothing less than excellence from his students.

I swallowed down my fear.

“We will split the class in two,” Professor Akhtar was saying. “Half here, with me for the signing portion, and half with Professor Puddlemoan for the swimming portion. Once youhave completed one test, please go immediately to the other. Don’t bother the other classes, or you will not be attending this field trip. Do I have your attention?”

“Yes, professor!” everyone chorused.

“Excellent.” Professor Akhtar waved a hand, and green and purple dots floated over each chair before affixing to the student’s forehead. “Purple with me, green to the pool. After you’ve finished both tests, you have free time. Don’t waste it. You still have research on the ley lines that needs to be done.”

My dot, and that of Aiden’s, was purple, so we stayed seated along with half the class.

“Everyone take out paper and a pen. I will recite several words in sign. You need to write them down. After that, I will take each one of you into the next room for a quick assessment on your signing. Questions?”

There were no questions, so once everyone was ready, he started signing slowly.

Help. Caught. Problem. Look. New. Hurry. Wait. Watch. Safe. Danger. Yes. No.

After that, he signed the alphabet, out of order. He said it was important in case we met an Atlantian, so that we would be able to spell out our names.

“Excellent.” He waved a hand and the papers floated into his hands. “First name, Siobhan. Are you ready?”

I stood up from my desk slowly and blew out a breath. “Yes. I’m prepared.”

“Good.” He led me into the office next door. There was a one-way mirror between it and our classroom so he could keep an eye on the other students.

“No noise now. Sign only,” he signed.

“Yes,” I responded. “Look forward trip. Excitement.”

---