Page 16 of Monster's Melody

They all stared from me to Vorzak and back again, the looks on their faces clearly expressing they thought I was an idiot.

Well, they weren’t the ones who had mooned over the man for two and a half years, only to have him ignore me the entire time.Like I was supposed to fall all over him now that he’d finally deigned to notice me?I didn’t think so.

“Well?”I demanded.

Elliot shrugged.“We could try a different branch, I guess.”

“We’ve already been down here at least an hour,” Mikaela said, peeking over Elliot’s shoulder to eye Vorzak warily.“It could take us weeks or even months to explore all the branches.”

“What are you looking for?”Vorzak asked, his voice a deep rumble that set off sparks inside me.

Damnit.

Even his voice was sexy!

Was there nothing about the man that was unappealing?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of his serpents glide closer.

It nuzzled my shoulder and deep inside, I melted.

Unable to resist, I lifted my hand and gently stroked the top of its head.

Two other serpents appeared, yanking Vorzak closer and demanding my attention.

I gave them each a quick stroke and a pat, then belatedly answered Vorzak’s question since it appeared no one else was going to.“We’re on a hunt for the professors’ hidden wine cellar.”

“They have a wine cellar?”Vorzak exclaimed.

“Supposedly.What are you doing down here if you’re not looking for it?”

“I sneaked into the stables my first month at the Academy.I wanted to meet the dragons.Unfortunately, the little bastards and the dragons weren’t as eager for that meeting.One of them tried to stamp us out and I stumbled into the stall above us, trying to get away.Fell practically right on top of the trapdoor.I’ve been exploring these tunnels ever since.”

“Find anything interesting?”Jahrdran asked.

“Nope.So far, every tunnel I’ve tried just winds around and around and eventually brings me back to this trapdoor.I keep trying, though.I figure eventually, one of the tunnels has to lead somewhere exciting, right?”

“So how many tunnels have you tried?”Elliot asked.

“About half of them.”He started off down the main tunnel.

We followed and a few moments later, we reached the first branch.

“I’ve eliminated all the tunnels to the left.”He waved an arm to the two branches on the left.“And I’ve eliminated about half the branches straight ahead.I haven’t touched any of the branches to the right yet.”

Well, that was just great.

Becausewe’dchosen one of the tunnels to the left.

Glancing around, I saw everyone had the same expression I was sure I had on my face.Damnit.

“Wait.You’ve been trying these branches for two and a half years and you’re only halfway through them?”Kasi demanded.

He shrugged.“It’s not like I’m coming down here every day or even every week.Mostly I explore when I have nothing better to do.”

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think buying a bottle of wine sounds like a much better solution than traipsing around the tunnels all night long,” Mikaela said.

“We should at least try one of the tunnels Vorzak hasn’t tried yet,” I said.“Otherwise, we just wasted an entire hour exploring a tunnel he’d already eliminated.”