Shadowspell by Jenna Black

Author:Jenna Black [Black, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction > Young Adult
ISBN: 9780312575946
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2011-01-03T23:00:00+00:00

chapter fourteen

Over the course of the next few days, I tried to act as normal as possible under the circumstances. On Thursday morning, I had my regularly scheduled lesson with Keane. I still sensed a bit of strain between us, but on the whole it wasn’t too bad. I manufactured reasons to leave my safe house at least once a day, craving the sunlight and fresh air. Well, this was Avalon, so I got rain, fog, and fresh air instead.

I still hadn’t nerved myself up to calling Kimber, and every day that passed without me calling just dug the hole deeper. In my gloomiest moments, I wondered if I’d been wrong when I’d blamed my mom and her embarrassing addiction for my inability to make friends in the past. Maybe I just wasn’t good friendship material.

On Friday, I started my morning with a trip to Starbucks to replenish my coffee supply. Even though the Erlking had already done his worst, my dad still insisted I not leave the safe house without two guards, so I had Finn and Lachlan with me. I wondered resentfully if it had ever occurred to Dad that I’d had two guards with me when the Erlking had taken Ethan, and that those guards had proved useless.

My mood had sunk to an all-time low. I’d spent hours trying to figure out how I could help Ethan, and I didn’t have a single workable idea to show for it. My mind kept circling back to the same territory, the same useless ideas playing endlessly in my brain. I didn’t know who I thought I was kidding, how I thought I could defeat the Erlking when no one else could. It all seemed so hopeless …

While I was waiting for the nice lady at Starbucks to ring up my purchase, I heard the rumble of motorcycles approaching, and my day went from bad to worse. My stomach clenched with dread.

How did the Erlking keep finding me? Avalon is small, but it’s not that small. It couldn’t be a coincidence that of the handful of times I’d left my cave since he’d arrived, I’d run into him three times.

The other customers all fell silent, as did the baristas. Everyone turned to stare out the large picture windows that looked out onto Avalon’s main road. Finn’s magic prickled over my skin as he and Lachlan closed ranks around me.

“Don’t worry, Dana,” Finn said. “Neither Lachlan nor I will fall for any tricks he might pull.”

That wasn’t what I was worried about, but I didn’t bother to correct him. My instincts told me that the Erlking wasn’t going to attack anyone today. He’d already made his move when he’d captured Ethan. And I knew he was going to rub my face in it, remind me just what my refusal to make a deal with him was costing Ethan.

I should have closed my eyes, turned away, ducked into the ladies room. Anything to avoid letting the Erlking’s strategy work. Instead, I stood motionless by the window and watched as the Wild Hunt came into view.

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