Page 49 of Monster's Pet

“And how would that divert suspicion from us?” Lilia demanded. “We cause an incident that prevents the capture of a manducare, and suddenly, we’re suspects again.”

Aiden deflated. “I just hate doing nothing.”

“I know.” I stroked his hand. “We all do.”

“I’ll discuss the idea of joining hunts with the others, with the goal of distracting the hunters,” Lilia said slowly. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She climbed to her feet. “Come down for lunch. We’ll meet you in the mess.”

“Okay.” I closed the door behind her and then climbed back into bed, curling up in Aiden’s arms. “What can we do?”

His big hands stroked my hair. “I don’t know.” His chest heaved with a sigh.

“You have to study,” I said suddenly.

Aiden chuckled. “I always have to study.”

“For your underwater test, I mean,” I clarified. “It’s tomorrow.”

“As long as I don’t let Moonbeam lick me, I’ll be fine,” Aiden said. “I’ve tested the bottle spell recently, and it works just fine. So it won’t be a problem.”

I relaxed against him. “That’s a relief.”

“Sooooo…” He trailed off and I twisted around to look at his face. He was frowning. “What should we do about the hunt?”

I hesitated. “I don’t think I could handle it, to stand by and watch as our classmates brought down a manducare. What are the chances they would even find one?”

Aiden’s eyebrows went up. “That’s a good question. We’ve never seen one before, or even had a recorded history of seeing one around here. Why did Moonbeam’s mother come here?”

I silently traced a pattern into the blanket still wrapped around me. “I’m wondering if the nexus points had lingering magic around them,” I said slowly. “Like they took longer to drain than the lines themselves because there was more magic here in the first place.”

“You think that Moonbeam’s mother came here because there was a stronger magical energy than wherever she was,” he said thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Where do you think she was before this?”

“Not near a stronger nexus point.” I reached for his Nexus textbook and flipped to the page detailing the points on the ground. “We can eliminate the ones in the water; the manducare are not aquatic without gills. I think we can eliminate the ones in the air as well.” I traced the lines near Academy Island. “I would guess she came from Northern Scotland. Perhaps on a little island further north, if there are any. They’d be too small to show up on this map.”

Aiden, who had hooked his chin over my shoulder while I studied his textbook, reached over to trace a different ley line. “What about Iceland? Or even Greenland?”

I sighed heavily. “Yes, she could have come from there, too. There’s a minor nexus point off the coast of Greenland. She could easily have traveled here from there. I wonder why she didn’t go to northern Canada instead?”

“Winds,” Aiden said promptly. “It’s easier to travel with the wind than against it, and winds blow west to east, with the turn of the Earth.”

I wanted to smack myself. “Obviously.”

“Are you okay?” Aiden asked, concerned. “That was an easy one.”

I wanted to tell him I was fine, but I wasn’t so sure. “I think this hunt is rattling me more than I realized. It’s just so…” I trailed off. “Barbaric,” I said. “Hunting for food is different. This…” I shook my head. “It’s horrible.”

Aiden tightened his arms around me and rocked back and forth for a minute. “Hopefully, the other manducares stayed where they were, and it was far from here.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said, sniffing a little.

“Why don’t you get dressed and play with Moonbeam a little, tire her out before we leave?” Aiden suggested. “We should meet our friends soon, and we don’t want Moonbeam following us.”

I shuddered. “That wouldn’t be good.”

Moonbeam leapt onto the bed and pounced on my blanket-covered foot playfully. “Mmmrrp?” She cocked her head, her look questioning.

I scooped her up in my arms and cuddled her close before holding her under her arms and looking in her eyes. “You have to stay in Aiden’s room,” I told her seriously. “Stay. Here.” I emphasized each word carefully. “You are safe in here. If you leave, we won’t be able to protect you. Do you understand?”

“She’s a kitten,” Aiden protested. “She can’t understand us.”

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