Secrets of Atlantis by Kate O'Hearn

Author:Kate O'Hearn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2023-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

15

RILEY KNEW SHE SHOULD PROBABLY sleep. Maggie, Pea, and everyone else kept telling her she should. But every time she did, Oleander was there. Calling her, taunting her, threatening her. How was she supposed to rest with that happening?

Instead, she dozed, woke, dozed, woke, and dozed again. Finally as the sky started to lighten, the large group stopped. The gargoyles gathered in a tight cluster, and each faced outside the group to protect wings and tails and anything else that would stick out and risk breakage.

Riley stood before Gideon. “We’ll keep you safe,” she said softly.

He smiled at her. “I know you will. Just stay near us today; rest if you can. And if anyth—”

Gideon was caught midsentence as he turned to stone.

“We’ll be careful,” Riley answered as she patted his arm.

Alfie stood beside her. “You know, no matter how many times I see that, it still freaks me out.”

“A lot of stuff is freaking me out now,” Riley said.

Maggie slipped her arm around Riley’s shoulder. “This is a challenging time for you, my love. But we’ll see it through together.”

“Indeed, we will,” Pea agreed. “No matter what happens, we are in this together.”

Miss Pigglesworth whined while sitting beside her, and Kevin snorted in a sound that Riley was learning meant “yes.”

Despite knowing they probably couldn’t help her if it came down to a fight between her and Oleander, their words did help how she felt. Their support meant everything to her.

With the long day spread out before them, they gathered together and sat down in a spot that was close to the gargoyles but was dappled with streaming rays from the rising sun. Riley was achingly tired but fought sleep with every fiber of her being.

Instead, she looked around at the trees—and as though seeing them for the first time, she saw more in them than just a trunk, branches, and leaves. There seemed to be a glow emanating from them. And if she concentrated hard enough, she could hear a hum. The trees were—talking! Riley gasped.

“What is it?” Pea asked her. “Do you hear something?” He stood up and made tiny fists, ready to go into battle.

Pea was trying to look fierce but ended up only looking sweeter. “No, nothing like that,” Riley said. “But look around you at the trees. Do they seem different to you? I’m sure I can hear them humming.”

“Humming?” Alfie said. “Shorty, you need to get your hearing checked. There are birds whistling and stuff like that, but there’s no humming.”

Riley looked away from Alfie, having that strange otherworldly feeling again. Maggie slipped her hand into Riley’s and gave it a squeeze. “Since I turned, I hear many things now that the others do not. You will get used to it.”

Alfie frowned. “Does that mean Shorty is really hearing the trees talk?”

Maggie nodded. “I would imagine so.”

“Whoa…,” Alfie said. “What are they saying?”

“I don’t know,” Riley said softly. “It’s just humming.”

Storm was standing farther back, constantly sniffing the air. He started to paw the ground and snort.

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