I still wonder where Owen is. I catch an occasion glimpse of him here and there, but he’s rarely in class.
I nod up towards the clock on the wall. “I think we should go to Helsing’s office before lunch.”
“So you were serious?” Piers says, a slight smile touching his lips. I try to steel my heart against how perfectly beautiful his face is when he does it. “You really want to be partners?”
“Of course I was serious!” I focus on his black eye, remembering why I gave it to him, what my plan is.
“Well … we have a little time before we have to go down there.”
“Not as much as I’d like,” I tell him truthfully. “I want to go ahead and get it so we can start planning. Who knows where he’ll send us?”
Piers nods thoughtfully. “Okay. After class is done, then?”
“Yeah. See you then.” I head to my desk and sit down next to Erin, satisfied. Erin is focusing on her notebook, but I see the disapproving purse of her lips.
I meet up with Piers after class, letting Erin hurry off to the dining hall on her own so she won’t be late to see Luiza. He smiles at me as we fall into step together.
“Nervous?” he asks.
“A little,” I say honestly. “I’ve never had to hunt something on my own before.”
“You fought the Al last year,” he reminds me.
I laugh. Last year, on what was basically a dare, I snuck out of the school to try to fight a monster in the nearby village.
“That was different. I didn’t plan that.” I playfully punch his arm, maybe a little too hard.
It is very satisfying.
Piers had been the one to dare me to go, saying that if I brought back something to prove I’d seen the Al, he, Owen, and Bennett would stop bullying me until after Christmas. Everything about last year circles back to them somehow.
He rubs his arm with a grimace but doesn’t reply. We arrive at Helsing’s office and the door is already open. He glances up as we walk inside. His eyes flit from me, to Piers, back to me, and he raises his eyebrows.
“Here for your assignment?” he grunts.
“Yes, sir,” I tell him. “Piers and I will be partners.”
He gives me an odd look before he finally nods and turns to his computer. “You’re both from the United States, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Got a couple North American monsters for hunting here,” he says. “Not many. Couple of kids snatched up most of U.S. monsters before class. Good thing you came in so early.” I glare at Piers and nudge him as Helsing pauses to scratch his chin. “Ah, here. This agropelter in Oregon is probably your best bet. Might be able to get it and still make it home for Christmas.”
Oregon; distant, remote—perfect.
He starts printing out some information for us, and I glance around the office. It’s only the second one I’ve ever been inside since I started attending Saint M. Last year, not counting the headmaster’s.
The party where Erin and I met Luiza was held in Professor Waldman’s office. The old creature studies professor had a neat, spacious, and cozy office, including a lounge area with low couches and a drink cart. Helsing’s is somehow sparse and cluttered all at once.
His corner desk is piled with stacks of papers. There’s a lot of empty space, but at the back of the room there’s a myriad of weapons lying on the floor, leaning against walls, and hanging on pegs. There’s a bit of everything; spears, crossbows, longbows, swords, knives, even a double-barreled shotgun.
Helsing snatches two papers from the printer and hands one to each of us. “Don’t lose those,” he growls. “I won’t give you another. It’s already too much as it is.”
I glance down at the paper. It contains exactly three clues to lead us to the agropelter.
“Thanks, Professor,” Piers says, folding his and tucking it into his pocket. “We’ll be on our way.”
“Sure,” he says as we turn to leave. “Black, hang ba