To Prevent Clear Paths (Magical Mayhem Book 3) by Emily Martha Sorensen

Author:Emily Martha Sorensen [Sorensen, Emily Martha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-24T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3: The Upstairs

Verge squabbled with verge until Chronos couldn’t take it any longer. She turned to head back up the stairs.

“Oh, no!” Kendra exclaimed, immediately disappearing from the squabble and appearing right in her way. “You’re not getting away from me!”

Chronos sighed in exasperation. “Then why don’t we all go upstairs?”

“Ooh!” the little girl who had introduced herself as Tiffany squealed before Kendra could respond. “I can go upstairs?!”

“N—” Kendra began.

The little girl burst past them, waving her wand wildly as she raced up the stairs. Bubbles shot from the wand and wobbled in the air behind her. “Yay! I haven’t seen the upstairs in years!”

“Good job,” Kendra said sourly.

“I don’t believe in keeping people trapped,” Chronos shrugged.

“You may not,” Kendra said, folding her arms, “but I believe in prisons for people who deserve them.”

“That’s not a very villainish thing to say,” Chronos said.

Kendra glared at her.

Chronos headed up the stairs after the excited little girl. The middle floor was filled with bubbles, spinning in circles and floating up to the high ceiling with the tall chandelier. Despite the clouds of semitransparent spheres, it was still easy to pick out the little girl. She was racing around, a blur of colors that more and more bubbles were emanating from.

Chronos was a little amused. Also, she wondered how many more powers the little girl was hiding. The ability to produce bubbles at a moment’s notice didn’t seem very dangerous, but for all she knew, the same power could produce explosions.

“Can I sleep in a real bedroom now? Huh? Huh? Huh?” the little girl cried, spinning around. Bubbles whirled in a spiral.

“Wouldn’t you . . . rather go home to your family?” Chronos asked awkwardly.

The little girl stopped.

All the bubbles in the room popped.

“Noooooooooooooooooo!” the little girl howled, flinging herself to the floor. “Please don’t make me go back! I’ll do anything!”

Chronos’s mouth opened, astonished. She’d had serious problems with her family, enough that she had left and never gone back once she’d reached the age of eighteen, but this kind of reaction from a child seemed ridiculous.

“What’s wrong with your family?” she managed to ask.

“My aunt and uncle hate me!” the little girl wailed, picking herself up off the floor. Huge tears welled up in her eyes. “Even my cousin doesn’t care one bit!”

An orphan, Chronos realized. She must be an orphan. “You mean they’re the only family you’ve got?”

The little girl hung her head, sniffling. “And they think I’m dead. I saw my funeral years ago. No one even cried at it.”

“But that’s impossible!” Chronos burst out. “You must have had friends! Teammates?”

That last word was a mistake.

“My teammates didn’t want me, either!” the little girl wailed. “Their moms made them include me ’cause I didn’t have any friends!”

Chronos shuddered. She knew how it felt to not have any friends. Her older sister had made sure of that.

A derisive snort came from behind them. Chronos turned, and Kendra was heading up the stairs.

She walked through the door and planted herself right next to the little girl.

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