Becoming Monsters: I'm Blue 13

Justin didn't have much to say to that. How do you ever respond to a statement like that? When she left the store, he felt a profound sense of... something. Perhaps purpose. Perhaps determination. Certainly, he couldn't stand by and accept the cards he'd been dealt. They weren't good enough, not for this particular pot. He couldn't afford to run as fast as he could just to stay in the same place.

And so, he got out a pad and pencil, and began to write.

Back at the beach house, Ghata walked out the ocean-facing door some minutes later. Todd was on the dock, looking up at the starry sky. "Almost to the full moon, Todd. Beautiful night: where are May and Song?"

He took in a lung full of the ocean air before releasing it in a rush. "Alex got to sleep a bit early, so they both decided to pass out right with him. Can't blame them, either, though I hope the baby's hungry when he wakes up. Didn't hear May pump."

"He's either going to drink deep, or he's going to learn to swim in a large puddle of milk."

"Yep. Now, the pink elephant in the room." Todd fixed her with one of his Looks. They had become significantly more effective over the years. "Care to tell me why two potions that were close to decomposition suddenly disappeared from my stockpile? I had a couple things I was planning for them, but when I opened the bag I had an empty compartment where they usually hide."

Ghata grinned, her canines flashing in the moonlight. "Our hosts needed a hand, and I decided to give them one or two."

"I could have sworn I heard Abbey asking you not to do that this morning. You know, before the dragon showed up."

"Oh, you did. Then again, she just wanted him to not get distracted by one of his art projects. I think I got him on the right track to avoid that."

"For both Abbey and Justin's sakes I hope so. They have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. I did the math, Ghata. The gap between where they are and where they need to be is not exactly small. Both are going to need to take some drastic steps to get on the right track, or our stay might be a bit limited."