The Blue Door - By Christa Kinde Page 0,70
up her phone. “All they have to do is call, and we’ll tell them where we are!”
Feeling stupid, Prissie mumbled, “Obviously.” Margery headed straight for the main entrance, and she had to lengthen her strides to keep up. “Where are we going?” she finally asked.
Her friend didn’t answer. She was too busy waving to someone leaning against the wall just inside the bank of sliding doors. “Elise! You made it!”
“I pulled it off,” she said.
Margery turned to Prissie and smiled sweetly. “It turns out Elise could come, too.”
“It’s not like you guys were excluding me on purpose,” Elise said.
At a loss for what else to say, Prissie lamely said, “Hello. It’s nice to see you again.”
Hooking her arm through the other girl’s, Margery demanded, “Where were you all morning?”
“Out.”
“Doing what?”
“Stuff,” Elise replied with a haughty glance that suggested she wasn’t going to say anything while Prissie was in earshot.
Although she’d thought Margery was being unusually quiet, Prissie felt sick when her best friend suddenly transformed into her old, chatterbox self, gushing with news as she led Elise toward the glass elevators. Her steps lagged as the other two girls boarded. Elise quirked a brow. “Are you coming, or what?”
Prissie shot a pleading look at Margery, who knew about her fear of heights. The message carried across, and Margery exclaimed, “Oh! That’s right!” However, instead of getting off, she nodded toward the high-end department store at the far end of the mall and said, “We’ll be up in the makeup department. Catch up to us there.”
“Or not!” Elise added with a smirk. And the doors slid shut.
Too stunned to move, Prissie watched the elevator soar upward without her.
“That wasn’t very nice.” Prissie turned in surprise to find Adin standing nearby, also watching the elevator’s ascent. His gaze slanted her way, and he mildly inquired, “Friends of yours?”
“Not so much,” she murmured, grateful that God had again seen fit to send reinforcements. With a wan smile, she asked, “Are you here to keep me company?”
Glancing around, he remarked, “Since you’re suddenly on your own, how can I do otherwise? It’ll give us the chance to catch up!”
“I’d like that,” she admitted, grateful that Adin had showed up right when she’d needed him most. Only Koji would have been more welcome right now. Unlike Margery, he was a friend she could count on.
As if he could read her mind, Adin remarked, “I hear you’re keeping an Observer around the house these days.”
“Koji,” she replied warmly.
“I see he’s endeared himself to you,” he said with a soft laugh.
Smiling readily, she explained, “We’re friends.”
“I’m surprised he isn’t with you.”
Prissie looked away sheepishly. “Oh, he would have been, but it’s just girls today.”
Adin leaned down in order to get her to meet his gaze. “Are you regretting that choice?”
“Just a little.”
His brows lifted, and she blushed.
“Okay, maybe a lot.”
They strolled along companionably. “The two of you must be close.”
“I guess.” Was it possible to be closer to Koji, someone she’d only known for a few weeks, than to Margery, someone she’d known for years? That’s certainly how she felt. Prissie suddenly realized why Adin’s assessment rang true. “I trust him.”
“Naturally,” Adin rejoined. “The Faithful are faithful, after all!”
“Oh, right,” she murmured, embarrassed to have taken so long to come to such an obvious conclusion.
“I’m sure he trusts you, as well.”
“I suppose.” Prissie wasn’t so sure Koji could count on her, not when she was so frightened by what friendship with him might lead to. The Faithful were one thing, but the Fallen were another. Getting mixed up in an invisible war sounded like a very bad idea.
“Prissie?” She nearly bumped into Adin, who’d swung around to face her. “You’re not listening to me,” he scolded in sing-song tones.
“Sorry. What?”
“I was only saying that good friends often trade secrets.”
Color rose in her cheeks as Prissie recalled some of the secrets she’d entrusted to Margery. Would the girl keep them even if their friendship ended, or would they be betrayed to the likes of Elise?
Adin’s brows lifted inquiringly. “Is that a yes?”
“Naturally,” she murmured, unconsciously borrowing his word. “The longer you know someone, the more secrets you share.”
Suddenly, something bright zipped between them, and they both stepped back in surprise. More dazzling lights arrowed past, like so many shooting stars. Prissie gasped in delight and backed up even further to watch a cluster of yahavim spiral toward the ceiling far overhead. “Did you see? I wonder what they’re doing here!”
Her companion laughed lightly and said, “It seems a