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Chapter 117
As soon as they stepped out into the courtyard, Leesa closed her eyes and turned her face up toward the snow. The air was cold, but the wind had slowed at least a little since her walk and the buildings blocked some of its force. Her layered outfit kept her plenty warm. The giant snowflakes tickled her cheeks and chin as they landed and melted slowly upon her skin. When she opened her eyes, she felt as if she were looking up into some kind of magical fairyland—all she could see was a never ending river of dancing white flakes pouring down at her.
A sudden smack against her chest pulled her back to reality. She looked down and saw the remnants of a snowball sliding down the front of her parka. A few feet away, Cali had a big grin on her face.
“Earth to Leesa,” she said. “Rule fifty-three: when there’s snow on the ground, pay attention! Now get over here and join in the fun.”
Cali had no sooner finished talking when a well-aimed snowball thrown by Caitlin crash
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 118
He breathed a silent sigh. He had been planning to go to Middletown tomorrow to see Leesa, but doubted he would be able to do so now. Snow was the one thing that made it impossible for him to conceal his nature—the circle of bare mud around his feet gave ample evidence why. And the longer it snowed, the longer it would take to melt. Rave decided he would be patient to a point, but if his wait grew too long, he promised himself he would figure out some way to be with her. He smiled, picturing Leesa playing in the snow, probably with her friends. She would be loving it, he knew—she’d been complaining about the lack of snow all winter. He hadn’t had the heart to tell her he was hoping it would never snow, because he knew it would keep them apart. He wondered if she had figured that out yet. He breathed another deep sigh and turned back into the cabin. It was out of his hands, for now. At least the wizard Dominic was with Leesa to keep her safe. Rave returned to his
Leesa's Advent Chapter 119
By the time the snow stopped falling on Monday morning more than two feet of the stuff blanketed the Weston campus. Classes were cancelled for the day and the entire region was at a standstill. The governor had declared a state of emergency, closed all the schools in the state, and urged the public to stay home and off the roads, most of which were impassible by anything short of four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires. Even those risked becoming stuck in the five and six foot drifts which seemed to be everywhere. Many areas of the state were without power, as snow laden tree limbs broke off and fell onto the electrical lines, snapping them. Luckily, the campus had been spared any power outages.The cook for Leesa’s dining hall had been unable to make it to work, despite living barely a mile from campus, so Leesa and her friends had gathered downstairs for a breakfast of toast, cold cereal and hot chocolate heated in the microwave. Leesa thought if the cook had been r
Leesa's Advent Chapter 120
Getting back up onto her feet proved difficult—when she pushed down with her hands to get some leverage, they just sank deeper into the snow. Finally, after much twisting and turning and pushing, she managed to hoist herself back up. She brushed the snow off her parka and looked at her friends. All three had big grins on their faces. Leesa smiled back. She imagined she’d probably looked pretty funny trying to get up.“I wish I had video of that,” Cali said. “I can see it on YouTube now—California girl drowning in the snow.”They all laughed, Leesa included. For a moment there, she had felt almost like she was drowning—or was about to, anyway.“Since you’re so smart,” Leesa said when she finally stopped laughing, “maybe you can explain just how we’re supposed to roll snowballs in snow this deep to build a snowman.”Cali swung her head from side to side, eyeing all the snow.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 121
Late Wednesday afternoon, Leesa was alone in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed and practicing her everywhere/nowhere meditation. She had hoped the technique would be one of those things where once you got it, you could do it almost every time, but sadly, that had not turned out to be the case. About half the time she successfully reached the intended state of emptiness, but the rest of the time she was unable to flush interfering thoughts from her head. Dominic said this was normal and to try to stop fighting it, because fighting it almost guaranteed the opposite result from what she sought. Not fighting it was easier said than done, however.She expected him to arrive any time now to work with her some more. Dominic didn’t have a phone, so of course they couldn’t make arrangements like normal people. Leesa shook her head and smiled wryly. Everyone had a cell phone nowadays—how had she managed to find a boyfriend and now a mentor without one? She wond
Leesa's Advent Chapter 122
Leesa’s eyes widened in surprise. “Ten or twelve thousand dollars? You carry ten or twelve thousand dollars in cash around with you?”“Plus gold and jewels,” Dominic reminded her. “Where else am I going to keep it?”“I hadn’t really thought about that. I guess I thought you might a have safety deposit box somewhere, or something like that.” She studied the wizard closely. His clothes didn’t show any bulges where he could have so much money and jewels stashed away. She wondered if he might have a money belt under his shirt, but his slender form sure didn’t look like it.Dominic stood up and extracted an old brown leather wallet from his back pocket. No, not really a wallet, Leesa thought. It was a little too big to be called a wallet, and it had an inch-wide strap and a brass clasp that kept it closed, like a purse. Yet it was too small to be considered a purse. Whatever it was, it was clearl
Leesa's Advent Chapter 123
They all got out of the car and gathered in the front of the driveway. Dominic pulled a thick wad of cash from his pocket—he wasn’t about to let the man see his magic wallet. Leesa watched Walt’s eyes lock onto the money. Catnip to a cat, she thought.“I’ll tell you what,” Dominic said. “I won’t haggle on the price, if you’ll do me one small favor.”“What’s that?” Walt asked.“Let us take care of the paperwork. Give ourselves a bit of a break on the sales tax, hey?”Walt grinned. “I’m all for that. Damn government takes too big a bite out of everything already.”Dominic counted out the cash and handed it to Walt, who signed the pink slip over to Leesa and handed them the registration papers to fill out later. Dominic and Walt shook hands one more time and then Leesa and Dominic climbed into the Blazer, with Leesa again getting behind the whee
Leesa's Advent Chapter 124
Several hundred miles to the north of Balin’s cabin, Jarubu led his three companions southward through the Green Mountains of Vermont. Melissa loped almost at his side, staying a respectful half pace back. Behind them, Conley and Alexi ran side by side. They moved rapidly through the night, but not at full speed, for they had many miles ahead of them.Only the very edge of the recent blizzard had reached this far north and west, leaving less than a foot of snow behind. The steep, snow-covered slopes barely hindered the vampires, nor did the forest. When the woods grew too thick or the snow drifted too deep, the vampires simply took to the upper reaches of the trees, leaping and swinging from branch to branch almost as quickly as they raced along the ground. Though racing through the trees would make following them more difficult, Jarubu did not fool himself into thinking it would thwart their pursuers. Only distance would do that.He had no destination in mind. H
Leesa's Advent Chapter 125
Jarubu’s curiosity grew. Behind it, a tiny bit of anxiety arose as well. Why was the man unconcerned by the appearance of four vampires out here in the middle of nowhere? Did he perhaps have allies hidden somewhere nearby and was merely acting as bait? Jarubu sniffed the air and scanned the surrounding darkness with his keen eyes and ears. He detected no sign of any other presence.“Who are you?” he asked.“I’m the man you are going to obey,” the stranger said simply.Jarubu’s temper was never buried very deep, and it began to bubble up at the man’s haughty demeanor. A low growl rumbled from his throat. He wondered what the man’s blood would taste like. His three companions extruded their fangs as well, ready to follow Jarubu’s lead.The stranger raised his arm and pointed a bony finger at Alexi. A bolt of black energy shot from his hand, striking Alexi in the chest. A brief hissing sound filled
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