Page 11 of Monster's Melody

Damnit!

CHAPTER2

I was lyingacross my bed, sulking because I didn’t have any wine to drown my lack-of-a-mate sorrows in when Mikaela texted to say they were headed to the cafeteria for dinner if I wanted to join them.

Well, it wasn’t wine, but food sounded good.Unless?—

Vorzak isn’t with you, is he?I texted back.

Dots appeared and just hovered there for a very long time, before Mikaela’s response finally came through.

No.

Seriously?It took her five full minutes to type a two-letter word?

I glared at my phone suspiciously.She was up to something.I knew it.

However, I also knew that Mikaela wasn’t a fan of snakes, so I could probably trust that no.

Ten minutes later, I joined my friends at their table.

“So what happened after I left?”I asked quickly, hoping to stave off the questions about why I’d run away.“Did you guys go back inside the stables to search for the wine cellar?”

“Nah, the dragons were a little too riled up to risk it,” Elliot said.

“Besides, Vorzak kept us busy asking questions about you,” Mikaela said.

“Me?What’d he want to know about me?”

“Honestly, it was a little strange,” Mikaela said.

“Yeah, I’d swear he didn’t actually see you because by the time he got his serpents settled, you were long gone,” Kasi said.

“He still seemed to know her name, though,” Elliot said.

“Vorzak knew my name?”We’d never once spoken and he’d never seemed even slightly aware of me in the two and a half years we’d been at the Academy, so it seemed unlikely at best.

“Sort of,” Mikaela said.

“Yeah, that was weird too,” Kasi agreed.

“How could he only sort of know my name?”I demanded.

Mikaela shrugged.“He just seemed a bit uncertain.Then he wanted to know where you’d be next.”

“What did you tell him?”I asked suspiciously.

She just smirked at me.

Before I could demand further details, Jahrdran asked, “So what’s up with you and the gorgon anyway?”

“Jahrdran!”Kasi exclaimed.

“What?I’m just curious why she ran away like that.”

“Nothing’s up with us,” I said.“I’ve never even met the man.”

Elliot snickered while Jahrdran’s jaw dropped.