Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,79

makes absolute sense when you consider what I saw her thinking and what I heard today.”

“But what if it’s just—kind of wishful thinking on Nell’s part? Just something that crossed her mind, not a real plan?”

I shook my head. “No. Not this time. When she first thought about a blood sacrifice, it was new. It had just occurred to her. Last week, it was less… formed. It was something that she was considering. Today there was real intent. It was a concrete plan.” I rubbed my hand over my forehead, remembering. “And even more, there was a sort of madness there I hadn’t really seen before. She’s beyond reason now.”

Michael took a deep breath. “So what do we do? We’re back to that. Nothing has changed as far as evidence.”

I nodded my agreement, but something had occurred to me that morning. “The thing is, now we do have a clue as to the timing. Something in what Nell was thinking—it was a strange way to phrase it, but I remember it clearly—the fullness of time is within the fullness of the moon. That sounds like something she might have read—or maybe a spell?” I tilted my head questioningly.

“The fullness of time is within the fullness of the moon…” Michael mused. “So you’re assuming she plans to do something to Amber during the next full moon.”

“Something that involves spilling blood. When is the next full moon?”

Michael laughed, without humor. “It’s this weekend. Remember, the Harvest Moon Dance?”

I groaned. “I didn’t know they actually timed the dance according to the moon.” Then I perked up. “Hey, if we have to worry about watching out for Amber, that means we’ll have to miss the dance, right?”

“Now how can you say that, after I know you spent yesterday dress shopping? Your mother would be crushed. No, we’ll still go. It’ll probably be a really good opportunity to keep our eyes on both Amber and Nell. Didn’t Anne say Nell was on the planning committee? So she’ll almost definitely be there.”

I sighed in resignation. “Yes. Oh, well. Do we know if Amber is going? I could ask her, but it’s a safe bet she wouldn’t answer me.”

“Can you pick it out of her mind?” Michael questioned.

“I can listen to see if she’s thinking about it, but no, you know I can’t just go around getting random information from people’s minds.”

“I can probably ask around and find out. So that’s our plan? Watch Amber during the full moon? I’ll need to check a lunar calendar to see how many days the moon is going to be full, when it starts. And of course technically the moon is only full for one night, so it would be good to find out if Nell’s idea of the full moon is scientific or mystical.”

“What do you mean, technically?”

Michael looked at me, shaking his head in mock sadness. “Science, my dear. Astronomy. Although the moon appears to be full more than one night each month, actually only on one night is it technically considered a genuinely full moon. So if Nell is going by science, we’d have to find out which night is the true full moon.”

“Can you do that?” I queried.

“Of course I can. But how can we be sure whether or not Nell will go by that?”

“We can’t. We’ll have to find some way to keep an eye on her each of the nights that the moon is full, scientifically nor not. I’ll keep listening to her this week, too, to try and narrow it down.”

Michael scowled. “I don’t like that idea. Messing with Nell’s mind isn’t good for you.”

“But it’s our best way of getting information and keeping track of what she’s planning. And she just might give me something that’ll narrow down that window of time.” I reached across the table and laid my hand over Michael’s. “Really, I’ll be careful. She won’t know, and now that I’m more prepared, I can deal with it. I didn’t even almost lose consciousness today.”

“Maybe not, but you’re still very pale—don’t think I didn’t notice—and you’ve hardly eaten anything. It makes me crazy to think about you putting yourself at risk.” He glanced at his watch and expelled a long breath. “Lunch is just about over. You’ve got to get to class. Listen, be careful this afternoon, and we’ll talk more after school. I’ll see you at my car.”

He looked so troubled that my own resolve faltered a bit. I climbed off the bench and leaned over to touch