Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,115

this afternoon?”

“Um, I’m not sure. That might have hurt more than helped.” But he gave me a gentle boost up again and brushed a hand over my hair as I got out of the car. I threw him the sweetest smile I could muster as we headed toward school.

Amber was waiting at my locker.

“Hi, Tas,” she greeted me. “I was wondering if you want to walk home with me today. Maybe we could study for the English exam.”

Michael leaned down and brushed a quick kiss over my lips. “I’m going to get into class early and do some cramming while you two work out your plans. I’ll talk to you tonight, Tas.”

My eyes followed him down the walkway as I answered Amber. “That sounds good. I can definitely use the extra study time.”

“We could do it tomorrow, if that would be better,” Amber offered, and I could hear the hesitation in her voice and mind. Our friendship was still new, and she worried about asking for too much.

“No, today would be great,” I assured her. “Actually, tomorrow I’m planning to go out and spend the afternoon with Michael. With my mom away, I can use her car, so I thought I’d take advantage of it!”

“Good idea.” Amber threw me an understanding smile. “Okay. I’ll see you at lunch!” She pushed off the wall and moved away through the crowd. As I closed my locker, I caught the very edge of a darkly familiar mind, and I glanced around uneasily.

Just across the walkway, Nell stood against the wall, making no attempt to disguise the fact that she was staring at me. Our eyes met for a moment and for just a split second, I could hear her clearly.

I wonder…

And then the thought noise of everyone surging around us intruded, and involuntarily, I winced and closed my eyes, putting my hand to my head. When I looked up again, Nell was gone, and I was left with a lingering sense of dread that stayed with me the rest of the day.

The next day I drove myself to school in the morning. It was odd to pull into the parking lot without Michael, and I ignored the small voice in my head reminding me that this was what next year would be like.

I had a few precious minutes with him at my locker before we both rushed off to our respective classes. It was only later that I remembered I hadn’t told him about Nell and the weird vibe I’d gotten.

My History midterm was that day after lunch. My confidence in Mr. Frame and his straightforward tests was justified, and I turned in my exam well ahead of the rest of the class. With time to kill, I pulled out my Trig notes and tried to make sense of what Michael had added. I was getting thoroughly lost when abruptly something broke the steady hum of mind-noise around me and caught my attention.

It was familiar, the same chant I’d heard in Nell’s thoughts weeks before. I glanced over at her. Obviously she too had finished her test; she was sitting with her long hair shielding her face.

I carefully avoided any movement that might make her turn, closed my eyes and concentrated on her mind alone. At once there was sharp swell of sound as the anxiety of the other students hit me. I kept my breathing as steady as possible, ignored the other noise and focused.

It was the same circle I’d seen before, in the same clearing, so much more familiar now that I’d been there in person. This time there were only two robed girls, and I saw them standing hand in hand. Then Nell’s perspective shifted, and I saw something else, in the center of the circle. There was pile of rocks, and leaning against it was shadowy figure. Slowly it began to take shape, as Nell’s mind clarified, and with horrifying sickening sense I realized that it was Michael.

The room tilted, just as it had the first time I had listening to Nell’s mind. But this time I fought to keep steady. I gripped my chair and forced my breath to remain even. I didn’t want to lose focus on what Nell was thinking.

The first time was just a trial, and it worked perfectly. Marica wanted to be sure, to know exactly what she could do. And now that we know, it’s time for the main event. She may be able to see the future, but will she see her