Page 78 of Monster's Pet

Professor Akhtar shook his head. “The kids put together quite the persuasive argument and have recorded histories from several different families. In this case, myth seems to be reality, not legend.”

“Not to mention that Paige actuallysawthe giant,” Professor Dunlop pointed out. “How can you be so obtuse?”

“She’s not,” Grandfather said wearily. “She’s terrified.” He got to his feet and crossed the office to stand in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. He spoke so quietly I had to strain to hear him, “Do you think we’re any less scared of whatmight happen if he wakes up? Help us prevent the catastrophe, please.”

I held my breath, hoping Headmistress Blackthorn would do the right thing.

“Declan,” she whispered, her head hung low, “I can’t put my reputation on the line based on the accusations of a bunch of students.”

“If you won’t call the ministry to help, at least come with us,” Professor Dunlop urged. “We could use a witch with your power.”

“I need to stay here and protect the academy,” she said.

Bruce scoffed, and Grandfather’s head snapped up, looking at the wall suspiciously.

I bit my lip, suddenly worried that he could see right through the wall to us in the corridor beyond. It was a simple spell, one that Rhiannon had modified to show me the bones of creatures. I signaled to the others silently, and we started creeping back along the corridor.

After leaving the hidden passageway, we gathered together in a huddle.

“What are we going to do?” Paige whispered.

“It looks like we’re going anyway, even without the blessing of the academy,” Bruce said grimly. “Well, if Ophelia won’t give her blessing, I will.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“It’s a Quest with a capital ‘Q’, right? Well, there are steps that can be performed to give those going on it a bit of a boost, as it were.” Bruce shrugged. “Only a Blackthorn can perform the blessing, since we are bonded to the academy. I can still feel the tether in my bones, so even though I’m not the headmaster, I can bless us.”

“Fascinating,” Professor Dunlop drawled from behind us. “Declan, it seems you were correct. Theywereeavesdropping.”

We turned to the older men. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Sorry, Grandfather,” I murmured. “We were anxious.”

“We understand your intent,” Grandfather said. “But I don’t appreciate your lack of trust. How much did you overhear?”

“She’s not going to give her blessing. She’s going to tell the ministry about the pod of manducare heading toward Australia.” I felt frustrated tears on my cheeks. “She doesn’t believe us.”

“She won’t tell the ministry anything,” Professor Dunlop said gruffly.

“What do you mean, Sir?” Aiden asked.

Professor Akhtar shook his head. “We can’t afford the distraction that holding off the Australian ministry would cause. We had to take drastic measures.”

My eyes widened, alarmed.

“Not fatal ones,” Grandfather reassured us. “We put her to sleep.”

“Now, what’s this blessing Bruce was talking about?” Professor Akhtar said. “I had thought it was something that was just said, not an actual spell.”

“No, it’s a real thing,” Bruce confirmed. “It was put in place when the castle was first built, and tied to my bloodline. Are we ready to go now? It’ll last for the duration of our quest, but only if we leave within half an hour of the blessing. It’s draining, for both the caster and the academy.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

“The portal to the Australian Academy should be available to use,” Professor Dunlop said.

Grandfather consulted a tablet that he pulled out of his pocket. “We need to arrive soon. The manducare pod has reached Australian airspace.”

I peeked around his shoulder to stare at the tablet screen. It looked exactly like radar tracking, the outline of the countryvisible in green on a black background, with green circles expanding out from a point in the middle of it. A blob of reddish-yellow was moving slowly in the top right corner. “Is that where we’re going?” I asked, pointing at the center of the circles.

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