Page 76 of Monster's Melody

She beamed at me when we arrived in front of them.“I’m Yukiko,” she said the minute we reached her.“I’m so happy to meet you, Jasmine.You are Jasmine, right?”

“Of course, she is,” Vorzak said.“Like The Hissies haven’t already told you that.”

Yukiko tilted her head to the side and started dropping kisses on The Hissies’ heads like I always did.

When she straightened, she no longer looked as excited as before.In fact, she looked like she might cry.

“Yukiko?”Vorzak reached for her, but she shook her head.

“I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”She held her hands out to me.

I grasped them in mine and she squeezed gently.“I’m so happy to welcome you to our family.The Darlings are clearly delighted with you.”She giggled as The Hissies began twining their way around me.

Hissies.

Happy.

Jazzy.

Kiko.

Zak.

I smiled.“They’re happy to be back here, with all of us together.”

“Of course, they are!”She beamed at me.“This is my best friend, Ember, by the way.”

Ember was the most intriguing-looking supernatural I’d ever seen.She looked entirely human, except for the black mask she wore that covered the top part of her face.

It stretched from ear to ear and from forehead to nose.It wasn’t solid, but instead was mesh with patterned holes in the shape of feathers.

The nosepiece was in the shape of a beak and the lower edge of the mask had two small claws on each side, curling down across her cheeks.

The entire effect gave her the appearance of a raptor, which was somehow enhanced by the feathers in her hair and the adorable, gray owl sitting on her shoulder.

I wanted to know so much about her, but more importantly, I wanted to meet her owl “Who’s your friend?”

She smiled.“This is Ash.She’s my spirit companion.”

“She’s adorable.”I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Vorzak and The Hissies were entirely too close for me to rave about how much I loved her owl and how I was now thinking maybe an owl would make a good familiar for me.

Obviously, my restraint wasn’t fooling The Hissies, who hissed their displeasure.

Owls.

Eat.

Hissies.

No.

Like.

“Good point,” I said to them.