Page 88 of Monster's Pet

CHAPTER 24

It washard to leave Moonbeam behind, but she was happier with her family. Aiden shed a few tears, but nobody thought any less of him for it. I wondered if the pod would stay in Australia, or if it would return to Greenland.

Grandfather was under the impression that once the ley lines evened out, they would find their way back home.

It was top of my list to check out once I graduated, and Aiden couldn’t agree faster.

He managed to get his beast somewhat under control before we left the cavern. I caught a few flares escaping from his temples, but hopefully, any humans that caught sight of us just passed it off as a trick of the light or heat.

The portal back to the school was easy to find. One of the first things I noticed after entering the hallways was that there was magic again.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“I suspect that we will return to full magical potential within twenty-four hours,” Professor Akhtar said. “I am very impressed by both of you.” He turned to Paige, who shrank under his stern gaze. “I am also impressed by you. You managed to complete a very complicated spell under duress, and it not only held forthree months, but didn’t shatter upon release. It takes a different sort of bravery to own up to your mistakes, and I appreciate that you came forward and helped fix them.”

“I didn’t really—” Paige began, but the professor cut her off with a hand.

“Even if it had to be coaxed out of you, you still told them. Would you rather I punish you?”

Paige shook her head.

“Good. I think you’ve been punished enough. I think you should talk to one of the school therapists. You’ve been under considerable stress these last few months.”

“Are you sure that isn’t my punishment?” Paige whined.

Professor Akhtar chuckled. “Talking about your feelings is a form of punishment, I suppose.”

“But worth it,” Grandfather chimed in.

“You’d know, you old goat,” Professor Dunlop teased his friend.

“I’ll have you know, I got very good at communicating my feelings when I was married,” Grandfather said with a sniff.

“And then reverted back after becoming a widower!”

My friends and I left the teachers to bicker with my grandfather. He had told me he’d stick around for dinner, so I knew I’d still have a chance to say goodbye. He wanted to be present when they turned the giant over to the magical authorities, and to tell the headmistress what had happened.

“We should probably get rid of all the kitten paraphernalia,” Aiden said sadly.

Rhiannon put her hand on his arm. “I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you and Siobhan take a moment to yourselves.”

Aiden sniffed. “Thanks.”

I took his arm and led him to his secret room. “We won’t be disturbed here,” I said.

“Thanks,” Aiden repeated thickly.

We barely made it into his room before the big marshmallow burst into tears. I used the returning ley line power to transform one of the mats into a squashy armchair with barely a thought, and pushed him into it.

It was so nice to be able to use magic easily again.

When I didn’t join him on the chair, he looked up at me, his big puppy dog eyes full of tears, and tugged on my hand.

“I was going to go get some treats from the kitchen,” I said.

He pouted. “I don’t need snacks, I need you.”

“How can I resist,” I said, biting back a sigh. I let him pull me onto his lap, running my hand through his hair while he proceeded to soak my shirt with his tears. “You’re going to be a sap when our children move away, aren’t you?”

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