Page 52 of Monster's Pet

“What can I help you with?” I asked, feeling too much like I was trying to talk to a wild animal.

“I had some questions from my homework that I didn’t understand,” she said in a whisper, her gaze fixed on my desk.

“Great!” I said a little too enthusiastically, making her jump. I lowered my voice again, ashamed. “Show me the questions, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“It’s just difficult to understand what the ley lines are like when they’re not here,” Grace said.

I nodded sympathetically. “I get that. I’ll show you how to draw up a diagram to help you visualize better.”

“Thank you!” the girl exclaimed, her face lighting up like I had suggested something brilliant.

I suppose I had, to her. I smiled. “Let’s get you set up.”

Half an hour later, I was alone again, but happier now that I had helped someone else understand how the ley lines worked. I got to my feet and stretched, my hands in the small of my back. I’d been sitting at a funny angle so that I could see Grace’s work properly.

“I need to do something about that,” I said to myself. “Or else I’m going to need to invest in a heat pack spell.”

I sank back into my chair with a sigh and eyed my grimoire, annoyed. “Why couldn’t you have somethinguseful,” I muttered at it.

By the end of my office hours, I was a stressed-out mess. I had quickly scanned through the entirety of the grimoire’s main book and found nothing even related to the Dark Ages. My plan was to go through the hidden compartment once I reached Aiden’s room, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

My optimism was gone.

I didn’t bother shrinking my books before I made my way to the fourth floor and Aiden’s room. I was already feeling drained, and didn’t want to risk the headache from using too much magical energy.

Maybe I should take a nap before dinner?

I sighed. I still had my essay to finish and it wasn’t like I’d have time tomorrow, what with our field trip to Atlantis.

My stomach did a complicated flip at the thought of our field trip. So much could go wrong. We’d have Professor Akhtar with us, of course, and Professor Puddlemoan, the extreme sports education teacher, just in case. It was the “in case” that worried me.

In case of what?

Dangerous creatures?

Magic going haywire?

An attack of some sort?

I shivered, pausing to sit on a couch in the third floor foyer to calm down.

There was no reason to panic. The school was taking every precaution.

I wasn’t sure why that didn’t make me feel better.

I got to my feet in a huff. “Sitting here and moping about it isn’t going to make me feel any better,” I said sternly, drawing curious looks from a couple fourth year students.

I ignored them and headed up the stairs.

Aiden greeted me with open arms, Moonbeam twining around his ankles. “Hi,” I said, feeling my stress leaving me as I hugged him, his arms enfolding me and crushing me against his body. I never felt as safe as I did in his embrace.

“Tomorrow’s going to be fine, right?” I asked.

“Of course it will be,” Aiden said confidently. “You trust Professor Akhtar, right?”

I nodded.

“And you should trust in your abilities.” He fixed me with a glare, and I blushed. “Rhiannon is going to visit Moonbeam to make sure she doesn’t rebel and run amok while we’re gone. If we get stranded on the other side of the world, Lilia and Hazel have agreed to have her stay over, while the dragons go to Brom’s room.”

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