Page 85 of Monster's Pet

“She’s going to be okay!” I gasped.

Aiden gently stroked one finger over the top of Moonbeam’s head. “That’s it, baby. Take what you need.”

His fire burst from his skin in spurts, his magic going wild as it was drawn from his body. I didn’t stop him. He knew what he was doing and how much she could take.

“Almost done,” Rhiannon said. Her forehead was dripping with sweat.

I created a strip of cloth and magically wrapped it around her head, stitching it together to create a headband with the tiny stitches that Una had taught me.

“Nicely done,” Una said, and I half-twisted to look behind me, where our friends were standing, a barrier of power between us and the tornado of manducare surrounding the giant.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Bruce grimaced over his shoulder. “You three were too close to the storm. Your granda’ sent us down here to protect you.”

“What ishedoing?” I asked with a frown. “Where are the professors?”

“They’re doing something to try to tame the manducare,” Clarissa said. “Something about getting them to stop.”

I snorted. “That’snotgoing to happen. These arewildmanducare. They’ve never been trained.”

“Tell that to them.” Hazel pointed back up at the ledge where we had come in.

The three men were standing, arms outstretched. I could see the power they were trying to use to get the manducare to stop. It was getting sucked into the tornado and dissipating.

“That’sreallynot going to work,” I repeated. “Where’s Paige?”

“Here,” she said from my other side. “What’s your idea?”

“How do you know I have an idea?” I asked.

“You always do.”

“You need to try to use the diamond to amplify the professor’s power,” I began. “Wait, no, that’s not going to work.” I looked down at the amethyst and diamond ring I was wearing,the one that had been attuned to my family for generations, the one that was related to the manducare breeding program two thousand years ago. “Ineed to do it,” I said softly.

“Sorry, couldn’t hear that over the wings,” Paige said.

I held up my free hand. “Hang on.” I turned to Rhiannon. “How much longer?”

“Almost.” Her voice sounded strained.

“Do you still need the extra magic?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I held my hand, the one with the Doyle ring, out over Moonbeam, and felt for its inner power. It throbbed in my grasp. “Stop eating Aiden’s magic, please,” I ordered the kitten.

She blinked slowly and turned her head to look at me, letting his finger pop out of her mouth.

“Good girl,” I praised. “I need you to stop your family from draining the giant to death.”

Moonbeam yowled, and Rhiannon glared at me.

“How is she supposed to do that?” she demanded. “She’s still not fully healed.”

“She’s strong enough now that she’s capable of eating the raw ambient magic,” I retorted. “Look at her!”

With every breath, Moonbeam was growing. She was bigger than Aiden’s lap now, spilling out over his legs onto the ground. She climbed to her feet, her large paws now bigger than my hands.

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