Page 70 of Monster's Pet

“Or maybe it’s nothing,” she said, flustered.

“Any ideas, no matter how far-fetched, could be useful,” I said encouragingly. “What is it?”

“Well, I just remembered that Paige was going to Australia over winter break. She was telling me about it in the library after exams before she left.” Hazel bit her lip. “She was really excited about it. She even had a tan in January! But she hasn’t been herself since she got back.”

“Invasion of the body-snatchers!” Bruce exclaimed loudly, and then apologized, “Sorry for interrupting. Please continue.”

“I don’t think she’s been replaced,” I said thoughtfully. “But shehasbeen quiet since the holidays. I was concerned about that, actually. I’d hoped she would have been friendlier, especially since she’d been warming up to us after Clarissa’s return.”

“She’s been keeping to herself and spending a lot of time in the library,” Una said. “Even more than you!”

“And that’s saying something,” I joked, but sobered quickly. “Maybe she saw something when she was there, and it upset her.”

“Maybe she was the cause of it,” Bruce said. When we all looked at him skeptically, he added, “What? Just because it would take a massive amount of power that one witch couldn’t possibly wield, doesn’t mean that she didn’t have help while she was down there.”

“Right.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “There are no wrong answers at this point, only theories. And who knows, maybe one of those theories will spark the truth.” It was goodto remind myself as well as everyone else. “Who wants to come with me to find her and ask about her vacation?”

Pretty much everyone wanted to come, but it was agreed that too many people would seem like we were ganging up on her. I chose Hazel, since she had been the one that Paige had told about her trip before the holidays.

“Where do you think she’ll be?” I asked, getting up from the table with my dinner tray.

Hazel shrugged. “Library, probably. Like I said, she’s been there pretty much every time I’ve seen her outside of class.”

“Great place to start. Do you have any homework to work on? We’ll ask to join her at her table.”

“Ialwayshave homework,” Hazel said dryly. “Either mine, or marking for Professor Calderwood.”

I winced in sympathy. “I know what you mean. I usually get my marking done during my office hours, because nobody comes to see me unless there’s a test coming up.”

“I’m always busy, even if there aren’t any students. My professor has me setting up for labs for the other classes. It takes forever to do everything, so I understand why he needs the help, but I really wish he took more than one student. There’s certainly more than enough work to go around. Maybe two, or even three, student teachers would be awesome.” Hazel sighed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were stretched so thin,” I said sympathetically. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Do you know a duplication spell?” Hazel joked. “No, I’ll be okay. I get a bit doom-and-gloom when I’m tired. The best thing you can do for me is clear up this ley line mystery. The boost in energy will help.”

“On it!” I said, giving a salute.

We reached the library, and looked around for Paige. She was sitting at the biggest desk, library books spread out around her.

“I should really focus on Qualitative Spellcraft,” I said. “It’s been a while since I really had the chance to sink my teeth into that course.”

“Do you have an essay?” Hazel asked.

“No, but I like to read ahead on the coursework so I can come up with questions in advance of the lectures.”

“Nerd,” Hazel said around a cough, but she smiled at me. “I have to work on my thesis a bit. Professor Calderwood said that he wants to read my outline in two weeks.”

“Oh, ouch.” I wondered when Professor Akhtar would want to see mine. I still wasn’t sure how to frame my research into the nexus points and what caused the ley lines. “Actually,” I said slowly. “I think that new way of looking at the ley lines might help me with my thesis. The spiral, no, what was it that Aiden called it?” I frowned as I put my books down next to Paige. “The Golden Ratio! That might have more to do with the ley lines than we realize.”

Paige jumped at my words. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“My thesis is on where the ley lines come from, right? Well, I think I might have had a breakthrough! I need to check to see if any other research has been done, cross-referencing the Golden Ratio.” I groaned. “Ugh, math!”

“That’s exciting,” Paige said quietly. “The Golden Ratio is like exponential growth, isn’t it?”

My eyebrows rose. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. But yes, I think you’re right! Professor Akhtar and Aiden were doing something with exponents and calculus in order to find the magnitudes of magic at the nexus points.” I leaned in. “It went completely over my head.”

Hazel chuckled. “I think you’re going to have to understand a bit more math for your thesis.”

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