“How did the humans find out about us? I thought we were still mostly myths to them?” I asked.
“We aren’t sure,” Sakura said. “Most do still believe us myths, but there are more and more who are learning we are real.”
“Are our spells less effective?” Frances asked. “Are they seeing through them easier somehow?”
Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. “We really don’t know. We’ve been trying to figure this all out for months.”
“Do you think the werewolves are involved or is it just coincidental timing?” Tsukiko asked.
Sakura growled. “We also aren’t sure about that. We’ve considered it a possibility, but if that is the case, we would have to wipe out all of the werewolves.”
“There are hundreds of werewolves,” I whispered.
“Thousands,” Tsukiko corrected.
My eyes widened, and I looked at Sakura for confirmation.
She nodded. “They’ve been able to work their way into the human’s world easier than most and have even formed relationships with the humans. There are now thousands of werewolves. They spread more easily since the child needs only a tenth of a percent of the blood to become a werewolf.”
That was incredibly disturbing.
“Ladies,” a deep voice called.
We turned towards the entrance to the massage rooms and I stared at the incredibly sexy demon there. He had thick black horns that curled behind his head and sharp as sin cheekbones.
“I wouldn’t mind cutting my face up on those cheekbones,” Frances whispered as she leaned closer to me.
I choked on a laugh and shoved her away from me.
“This way, please,” he said.
Sakura sauntered passed him, and he bowed as she passed.
As I passed him, he lifted his eyes and winked at me.
I felt my cheeks warm and turned so my hair fell over my face to hide my blush from him.
This room had six massage tables and ten massage chairs with foot basins for pedicures.
“Pedicures first,” Sakura instructed us when we finally caught up to her. “Then massages.”
We nodded our understanding and got into three of the available chairs.
Frances immediately turned on the massage options on her chair and stuck her feet into the warm water with a sigh.
I chuckled.
“Stressed?” Tsukiko asked her as she slid her feet into the water of her chair.
“A little,” Frances said, her eyes closed.
Right. Why would any of us be stressed? Just because humans were attacking monsters and we were going to be fighting against each other as well.
Everything was great.
Four demonesses came in and started getting their rolling carts ready with all of their supplies for giving us pedicures.
The demonesses all wore black dresses and had their hair slicked back around their horns, almost hiding them.
“Do you do a lot of work in the human world?” I asked the demoness in front of me.
She tensed a moment before finally nodding. “Did you pick a color?” She asked.
I held out the nail polish, and she took it and set it on her cart. Then, she grabbed a bottle of wash and a pumice stone and started working on my calloused heels and the bottom of my feet.
I closed my eyes and relaxed as she went to work.
After our nails and massages, we all felt a bit more relaxed.
We sat around the living room floor on the fluffy carpet eating pizza and drinking sodas.
Tanjiro joined us a bit after we had started eating and sat down and shoved half of a piece of pizza in his mouth without speaking to us at all.
Frances, Tsukiko, and I all exchanged glances and then looked at Sakura who was staring at Tanjiro.
He finished his piece of pizza and lifted his eyes to us. His eyes widened when noticed us all staring. “What?” he asked.
“That’s what we want to know,” Sakura said. “You came in looking like a zombie without even speaking to us.”
“None of you were speaking either,” he countered.
“Because we were stuffing our faces,” Tsukiko said.
He rubbed a hand down his face. “Everyone is on their way here. I’m just dreading the arguing that will commence soon.”
“Are we going to eat together?” I asked with a cringe. Joint family meals usually ended with someone thrown through a window and part of the house on fire.
“No,” Sakura said. “You girls will take food up to your room so you don’t have to deal with any of the drama of having all of us old people together in one room.”
That was perfect. We could go to our room and then sneak down to spy on our families.
“Did you girls have a relaxing day?” Tanjiro asked.
We nodded.
He smiled. “Good. I’m sure we will be able to figure something out soon, so you can return to school.”
Tsukiko tensed slightly before shoving pizza in her mouth and looking down at her lap.
We knew she was embarrassed about what had happened with Rathik, but there wasn’t really anything Frances and I could say to make it better.
Knowing Rathik, he would talk to her when we got back and let her know that it was okay.
We finished our pizza and a few minutes later someone knocked on the front door.
“That’s our cue,” I whispered to Frances and Tsukiko.
They both nodded, stood, and we ran up to our room.
Once the door was shut, Tsukiko faced me and asked, “What’s the plan?”
I smiled. “I’m going to shadow walk us to the room and we’re going to eavesdrop.”
“Won’t they smell us?” Frances asked.
“They can’t smell us while we are in the shadows,” I reminded her.
“Oh, right. I always forget that,” she said.
“You know they’ll be down there for hours, right? Can you hold us in the shadows for hours?” Tsukiko asked.
I nodded. “I practiced it a lot over the summer.”
“Seems like we all gained some new abilities over the summer,” Frances said with a smirk.
“What did you gain?” I asked.
She shook her head, grinning wide. “Not telling. You’ll have to find out when I use it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Alright, keep your secrets. Anyways, I think we should wait at least an hour after they start, because we all know they’re going to spend that first hour making small talk about the past year and nothing useful will be said then.”
Both nodded.
“We’ll have to leave fast once they’re done. They’ll come looking for us or call us down so they can talk after they’ve finished,” Frances reminded me.
I nodded. “Yes, I’ve got it all planned out.”
“I hope they come up with something good. Something that doesn’t require us to have bodyguards stalking us around the school,” Tsukiko muttered and dropped onto her bed with a sigh.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But knowing them, their answer will be to triple the guards and set traps around the school grounds. They’ll successfully trap us at the school.”
“Which means no more parties,” Frances said with a pout.
“And every move we make will get reported to our parents, which means no alone time with boys,” I said.
Tsukiko fidgeted with her shirt.
“Hey, you know Rathik understands your fear. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”
“You’d be embarrassed, too,” she whispered.
“I would,” I acknowledged with a nod. “But, I wouldn’t let that stop me. I’d still go after him.”
“Like you’ve gone after Bogden?” Tsukiko shot back with an arched brow.
I glared at her. “You know why I can’t go after him.”
She rolled her eyes. “Your parents would get over it.”
“Are you forgetting his family?” I asked. “They’ll kill me.”
“Now you’re being dramatic,”
Frances said. “They wouldn’t kill you.”
“I’m not taking my chances. Plus, he’s immortal and-”
“Perfect for you,” Frances said, interrupting me. “I swear, you’re so stubborn and for no good reason. Just go on a date with him.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “If I go on a date with him, you have to let me set you up with someone.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You have someone in mind already?”
I smirked and shrugged.
“Hey, it’s about time to go,” Tsukiko said.
I looked at the clock, and my eyes widened. It was. Where had the time gone?
“Gather up, creatures. We’re going on a trip,” I said, smiling wickedly.
“Spy time!” Tsukiko cheered softly.
Spy time, indeed.
Sixteen
TSUKIKO
I would never get used to the spinning and swirling vortex of shadow travel. Loralie moved us from our bedroom down to the conference room where our families were gathered to discuss the current situation.
She found a somewhat large, shadowy spot on the wall nearest the table and the spinning thankfully stopped.
Frances and I held onto Loralie’s arms and we all focused on the adults at the table.
Loralie’s grandfather sat in his usual cloak, but had his hood down, exposing his skeletal head. He could transform to give himself a face, but said that the skeleton was his true form and he preferred it. Beside him was Loralie’s father, his hood down, but with a human-looking appearance on—the one he wore most of the time. Loralie’s mother was a petite demon with thick horns that curved up almost a full foot above her head. She was one of the most powerful demons, reporting directly to Lucifer himself. She sat between the two reapers, but despite being smaller in stature, her aura made her seem as large, if not larger, than the males.
Beside them sat Frances’s parents, both monsters created by Dr. Frankenstein. They had green skin, a side effect to Dr. Frankenstein using decaying body parts to create them. Frances was created with fresh parts originally, but she said she didn’t mind the green skin, since it let her look like her parents.
Next to my parents sat my grandfather, his body more wolf than human, but his speech was perfect. I never understood how he did it.
Together, they were the leaders of the monsters, the most elite creatures in all of the world.
Grandfather sniffed loudly and turned in our direction, but then he looked back at Dad and said, “We should homeschool them.”
Mom sighed. “No. The girls need to be out among their own kind. They need to experience the other races.”
Grandfather harrumphed, but did not argue with her.
“We should triple security and assign two bodyguards to each of the girls,” Frances’s father said.
I almost rolled my eyes. So predictable.
“We need to figure out how they are getting into the school and other protected areas undetected. How they got by three chupacabras is bothering me more than anything else,” Dad said.
Same.
“Their knowledge is too strong,” Grandfather said. “There is someone on the inside feeding them intel.”
“We suspect the same,” Frances’s dad said. “But we have no idea where to start looking or who it could be.”
“Satan has been trying to do some probing,” Loralie’s mom said. “So far he is coming up with nothing and that is royally pissing him off. He doesn’t like not knowing things.”
Grandfather rolled his eyes. “Yes, we all know how pissy the dark angel gets when he’s left out of things. I’m surprised he isn’t here right now.”
“I am here and that is all that is needed,” Loralie’s mom said with a shrug.
Grandfather narrowed his eyes. “You report everything to him?”
She smiled. “Do not get so worked up, friend. I know when to withhold things.”
I rolled my eyes. Here we go. The fighting was about to start.
“That’s enough of that,” Mom said, snapping her fan open to cool herself and gain their attention at the same time. “I think we should call in reinforcements.”
Dad groaned and dropped his head back against the chair. “No, not her. Anyone but her.”
“She’s our best defense against humans,” Mom said calmly.
“She’ll wreck everything,” Grandfather snarled. “She is a menace and should not be allowed anywhere near the children.”
“She knows when to behave,” Loralie’s mom said. “I think she is our best choice.”
Who were they talking about? Who was “she”?
“I say we still increase security,” Dad said.
“What news do you have about the werewolves?” Frances’s dad asked.
Grandfather growled. “They are trying to fight us peacefully, trying to institute a democracy.”
“They want a human democracy?” Frances’s mom asked with wide eyes. “Are they morons? Have they not seen the turmoil that democracy is having?”
“They insist it is more equal,” Grandfather said and the disgust in his voice told everyone in the room all they needed to know about his viewpoint on that.
“Then we should avoid assigning werewolves to the school,” Loralie’s dad said.
“What about the chupacabras? Are they siding with anyone yet?” Loralie’s mom asked.
“Not that we can tell, though I am rather suspicious after the one almost let a human into the room where Kiko was,” Dad said and growled softly.
“Do they truly possess the ability to mask their scent?” Loralie’s dad asked. “That seems rather unlikely for the humans.”
“Perhaps they are being assisted by magical means,” Grandfather said. “It wouldn’t be the first time that a human and creature worked together.”
“If that is happening, we need to find out who it is as quickly as possible,” Mom said and snapped her fan closed.
“I shall make the call to her and we should allow the children to return to school in a day or so, once we have the additional security ready,” Loralie’s mom said.
Without warning, Loralie returned us to the room. We fell onto the floor, panting and dizzy.
“Who were they talking about?” Frances asked between gasps.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Me, neither,” Loralie groaned.
Someone knocked on the door, but we were too tired to jump into position.
Mom opened the door and arched her brow when she found us on the floor. “I’m not going to ask. Your presences are requested downstairs.”
“Yes, Mother,” we all answered and stood on shaky legs, reaching out to each other to steady ourselves.
She sighed, shook her head, and walked away.
The three of our gazes locked, and we chuckled, but quickly covered our mouths to keep from laughing too loud.
“Busted,” Frances whispered and shook her head.
“Yeah, but she won’t tell anyone,” I whispered. “She’s cool like that.”
We hurried downstairs and were hugged by each of the family members.
Grandfather pulled me aside and into the smaller living room. “I heard a rumor that you were with a naga.”
I tensed. “There are nagas at school.”
“I’m talking about over the summer,” he growled. “Nagas are not trustworthy, Kiko. You know what they did to me and our family. Keep your eyes open and do not trust them.”
The urge to tell him that he was ridiculous was very hard to resist. Rathik was not untrustworthy. He was one of the nicest and most trustworthy creatures I knew.
“Kiko,” he growled.
I bowed. “Yes, Grandfather. I will remember your warning.”
“Good. Also, if you are becoming interested in boys, I can recommend some very nice wolves.”
I jerked upright. “I do not want to be match made.”
He raised his clawed hand. “Easy. I did not say I would match you. Just that I could recommend t
hem. I know how you and your parents feel about matchmaking.”
“I appreciate your offer, but I’m okay for now,” I whispered.
He sighed. “Very well. Stay alert while at school. I think you should keep your claws out. Just in case.”
“I’ll keep them out when I’m walking around, but they’re frustrating when I’m brushing my hair or using paper because they tear things so easily.”
He chuckled and patted me on the head. “You’ll learn how to do things with them, but you do what is most comfortable for you.” He placed a kiss on my head and we returned to the foyer where everyone else was chatting.
Mother looked at me and I gave her a small smile to let her know that everything was okay.
She returned to her conversation with Frances’s father.
“Girls,” Grandfather said loudly.
Everyone stopped talking and turned to face him.
“We have decided to allow you to return to school, but there will be additional security and we are calling in a human expert,” he said.
“Bodyguards?” I asked, frowning.
He shook his head. “Not this time, but if things get worse, then yes. But, you will be allowed to go back to school tomorrow.”
Frances, Loralie, and I cheered and rushed to hug him.
“Hey, we all agreed to this decision,” Loralie’s dad said. “We should get credit, too.”
With a chuckle, we made the rounds, giving them all hugs.
Tomorrow, was going to be the start of my school year ignoring Rathik. I could do it.
I could totally do it.
And I would only cry a little.
Seventeen
FRANCES
We walked into the school and felt the tension that permeated the air. Something had happened while we were gone. I needed to find out what.
Bogden walked towards us and Loralie tensed, her stride faltering when she saw him.
He smiled and stopped right in front of her. “Hey, Loralie. I was wondering if you were going to be able to return.”
Monster Academy Page 8
