Page 73 of Monster's Pet

“Well, that explains where the ley lines went,” I said, sitting back with a shake of my head. “Was the giant even waking up?”

“I didn’t stick around to find out!” Paige exclaimed. “I figured out that my spell was the reason that the ley lines vanished, but I don’t understand why! Diamonds are supposed to amplify, not remove.”

I took a deep breath to control my impatience. “There’s a limited amount of magic in the ley lines. It has to come from somewhere, right? Matter is never created or destroyed without a balance in the universe. Even the simplest chemical reaction will balance, producing heat. So you used the diamond to amplify the ley lines, and they had to get that magic from somewhere. A magical dam, indeed.”

CHAPTER 20

I neededa moment to breathe after Paige’s revelation.

I can’t believe she used a fucking diamond to magnify the ley lines’ effect.

I headed to my family’s hidden study room.

I can’t believe it worked.

The silence in the hidden corridor that led to my room was welcoming. I mentally drew that energy into myself, hoping to calm my brain. “How are we going to fix this?” I whispered to myself.

We had promised to help Paige, but I didn’t have the faintest clue where to begin.

Onewitch had managed to drain over seventy percent of the ley lines in the world.

My stomach clenched in anxiety.

What could that much magic in one place do?

I unlocked the room, the lights turning on in my presence.

“Hello, my dear,” the portrait of my ancestor Darragh greeted me. “You look troubled.”

“I am. Hang on, let me call Grandfather, so I don’t have to repeat myself.” I pulled my mirror out of my purse and enlarged it.

Grandfather answered quickly. “You don’t usually call mid-week. What’s wrong?”

“You both know me so well,” I said weakly. “Here’s the gist.” I explained the situation to them.

“Phew,” Darragh said. “Makes me glad I’m not alive.”

“Comforting,” I said dryly.

“That is quite the pickle,” Grandfather said. “I don’t think there’s anything in the grimoire about fighting giants.”

I fiddled with Grandmother’s engagement ring he had given me at Christmas, twisting it around my finger. “Not that I’ve found.”

“How far back have you gotten?” Darragh asked, his eyes glinting with mischief.

“Before the school’s inception, but I don’t think I reached two thousand years,” I said. “Why?”

“Were you wearingthat?”

I looked down at my clothing, a simple skirt and button-up shirt. “I don’t pay that much attention to my clothing while I research.”

“No,” he said impatiently. “That!” He pointed at my hands.

“My ring?” I frowned, trying to remember. “I don’t usually take it off unless I have to, so maybe? What does it have to do with the grimoire?”

“It’s a very old family heirloom,” Darragh said. “I assume you gave it to her, Declan?”

Grandfather nodded. “Yes, I had a dream that she was wearing it at the end of last year, so I gave it to her for Christmas.”

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