Page 75 of Monster's Pet

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “I think that the mother was hunting for the closest source of magic in order to have her baby. All the nexus points in the north have been compromised thanks to this dam of magic that Paige initiated in Australia. She was drawn to the school, because the nexus point was the last bit of magic aroundandthe school has reserves.”

“That makes sense,” Darragh said.

“If the manducare are drawn to magic, then there’s about to be a migration of them to Australia,” Grandfather pointed out. “If they haven’t started already.”

My jaw dropped. “I hadn’t thought of that. Hopefully, they don’t plan on stopping at many magical settlements, if everyone behaves the way the UK ministry did.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “We’ve already lost one manducare in Scotland. I shudder to think what might happen if they capture too many. We’re going to need every last one of them.”

“I might be able to find them, if they travel in packs,” Grandfather said. “Give me twenty-four hours. That should be enough time.”

“Enough time for what?” I asked. “What are you going to do?”

Grandfather grinned mischievously. “I’m going to hack into NORAD’s radar, modify the code a bit to look for magical hotspots, analyze for flying life forms, and then compare over the last two months. Where the two coincide should be where the manducare are visiting on their way south.”

“Go Grandfather,” I said in awe. “Good luck.”

Grandfather chuckled. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You think I’m going to let you go off to Australia to face off against a giant without me?”

“I’d go with you if I could,” Darragh put in. “I’m glad you’re still a sensible fellow, Declan,” he added fondly.

“All right. See you soon, Grandfather,” I said, and turned the mirror upside down to end the call. “I need to talk to Professor Akhtar,” I muttered, quickly gathering the papers and putting them back in the grimoire where I’d found them. “He needs to hear Paige’s story, and he needs to see these notes.”

I left my study room after a quick goodbye to Darragh and headed for the main part of the library. Paige and Hazel were still sitting at their table.

“Come with me,” I said. “We’ve got to tell Professor Akhtar.”

Paige blanched. “I’m going to get expelled,” she moaned.

“No, you’re not. Because you’re going to help fix it.” My expression softened, and I added, “People make mistakes. It’s how you deal with the aftermath that shows your real character.”

“But I haven’t found a solution!” Paige waved her arms over the books spread on the table. “I’ve been looking for two months!”

I shrugged. “You’ve been looking in the wrong places. Let’s go talk to the professor who studies nexuses like they’re hisspecialty, and his TA, who—oh wait, that’s me.” I grinned. “AndIhave a solution.”

“Really?” Paige gasped. “Already?”

“I’m not going to repeat my plan, solet’s go,” I said again.

Paige got to her feet, looking panicked as she stared from one book to another, and started gathering her things.

I sighed impatiently at the delay.

Hazel skirted the table and stood next to me. “You have a plan?” she whispered. “How are you going to deal with the diamond? The backlash from simply removing it could be catastrophic.”

I winced. “Okay, I don’t have a plan for that part, but I do have one for dealing with the giant.”

“Giant, she says,” Hazel muttered. “A giant drove my family out of their home.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“I’ll start looking for your family in Patagonia,” I said. “Chile is pretty small. Shouldn’t take me long.”

Hazel laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

“I was punning, actually,” I admitted. “Chile, long? I was trying to lighten the mood a bit.”

“That’s terrible.” Hazel patted my shoulder. “But I do feel a little better.”

---