Page 118 of The Howl
Megan laughed.
“Give them hell, then,” she said.
“Oh, I plan to.”
“So, other than your mom staying, how are things back home?”
My stomach dipped as I thought of Ashlyn’s disappearance.
“Not too bad,” I said quickly. “I found some brownies who were willing to take Piepen in. He was a little upset, but I think he's adjusting. I'm planning on visiting him later today. And, Elbner is making great progress on your house. For being such a grumpy, unkempt thing, he sure has that place looking nice. He's even started scraping the loose paint off the outside.”
“Wow. I'm impressed,” she said. “He knows that it’s winter, though, right?”
“It doesn’t seem to bother him.”
“Other than that, anything new?”
“Nothing worth talking about,” I said quickly, thinking of Ashlyn again. “How about you? Is it true that a druid was involved in the deaths?”
“Yes. That would be Zayn. He’s not wicked, though. That much I could sense.”
“Be careful around him, Megan. It's not safe to trust druids.”
“It's not safe to trust most of us.”
“Isn't that the truth.”
We talked a bit about New York before I had to leave so I could make it to the Academy on time. I didn’t care about classes as much as I cared about looking for the druids and getting answers about Ashlyn.
However, there was no sign of them in the pool bathroom before school or in any of the halls. I struggled to behave normally as I waited for time to move so I could get to Self-Discovery.
Fenris sat in his usual seat, the room once again empty except for us.
“Any luck finding the druids?” I asked, sliding into my seat.
“Nothing yet, but I’ve been putting the word out that I’m looking for them. Quietly, as promised.”
I sat back in my seat and stared at the clock. Where was Ashlyn? Was she safe? Was she running out of time? Was it already too late?
“You okay?” Fenris asked softly.
“Not really.” I scrubbed a hand over my face and turned my thoughts to an annoyance Fenris could help me with. “Piepen crawled through my window at dawn, turning a really good dream into a nightmare.”
“What was the dream?”
I blushed a little.
“I was eating cake like a pig. It was so good, though. I love that dream, and he wrecked it with his nasty lust smell.”
Fenris’s grin widened.
“It’s not funny. I woke up to him propositioning me. And that’s not the worst of it. He brought me breast pumps, Fenris. He still thinks I’m pregnant. What do I need to do to get through to him that I’m not now or ever will be his baby mama?”
Fenris smoothed a hand over his mouth in an effort to stop his erupting laughter.
Sitting there with him, having a “normal” conversation, I realized something had changed. His scent. I breathed it in, trying to figure out what was different. It still smelled sweet and spicy, reminding me of my cake dreams, but it wasn’t as overpowering. Had he found a way to control it to make things easier on me?
“We’ll pay Piepen another visit after school and talk to him,” Fenris said, having reined in his humor. “If he’s not reasonable, maybe his new guardians will be. It’s not safe for him to be wandering anywhere outside of the marshes. His new family will help convince him of that.”
