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Chapter 200
By the time Balin returned, Leesa and Rave were sitting in front of the fireplace, holding hands and talking quietly. The slow burning fire was mostly embers now, but neither of them had felt the need to add any wood. A pewter mug of water—half empty now—rested on the chair beside Leesa. The bearskin rug was back in its usual place in the middle of the floor. To Leesa’s disappointment, Rave had put his shirt back on.
True to his word, Balin knocked and waited to be invited in before entering.
Once inside, his eyes swept the interior of the cabin before fastening on Leesa and Rave. Leesa was sure he noticed some kind of change in his sleeping mat and in the position of the bear skin. If he did, he didn’t say anything about it.
“I trust you two enjoyed your time alone?” he asked, smiling.
Leesa returned his smile. She was pleased to discover she did not feel awkward at all.
“Yes, Rave was very comforting,&rdq
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Waiting with Rave on the side of the lightly traveled highway, Leesa spied her mom’s car approaching in the distance. A moment later, she could see Bradley behind the wheel. She smiled and waved to him.Bradley swung the car in a tight u-turn and pulled over on the shoulder in front of Leesa and Rave. He switched off the engine and climbed out. He was wearing a jeans and a gray sweatshirt, which he zipped halfway up against the chill.As soon as he came around the front of the car, Leesa bounded forward and enveloped him in a tight hug. She hadn’t seen her brother in almost a week and as usual, was happy to see him. Until Rave, Bradley had always been the most important person in her life. Ever since his return from the vampire caverns, her time with him had become especially precious.Finally, she let go of him and stepped back.“Thanks for coming to get me,” she said.“No problem.” Bradley nodded hello to Rave
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Thousands of miles away, the Necromancer pushed his heavy body away from his magical table and leaned back in his favorite chair. Unlike Leesa, he was having no unusual problems with his magic, but he was just as frustrated and impatient. Sensing his mood, the four novitiates watched him closely, hoping he would not take his discontent out on them. Each had felt his wrath before, and it was never pleasant.The Necromancer had just listened to his black waziri lieutenants report that although they remained on Dominic’s trail, the wizard was still managing to elude them. Apparently, a hundred years on the run had taught Dominic a number of tricks that the black waziri had so far been unable to overcome.The Necromancer decided it was time to make an adjustment in his plans. He turned to two of the novitiates, Makenzi and Matthew.“You two will be joining your masters in America,” he said. “I am bringing Viktor back here, to help me with my
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Sunday evening, Leesa was alone in her room, studying her psychology book. She wondered if there was anything inside that would tell her why she was missing Rave so fiercely already, when she had just seen him the day before. She was used to going days without seeing him, but guessed that her feelings had something to do with having no idea how long it might be until she saw him again.A soft knock sounded at her door. She wondered who it might be—she wasn’t expecting anyone. She knew it wasn’t Cali, because Cali’s knock was louder and faster, as if the door was an obstacle that needed to be removed as soon as possible. Leesa closed her book and crossed to the door. When she pulled it open, she found herself staring into an unfamiliar face.The woman was a few inches shorter than Leesa, with long, wavy silver hair cascading down across her shoulders. She was wearing a knee-length, dark red knit sweater jacket over black pants. Her unlined face w
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“You can trust me, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Leesa said.Jenna nodded. “Yes, I think I can.” She stood up and turned her back to Leesa for a moment, pacing a few short steps before turning back around. “Has anything happened to your magic in the last day or two?” she asked quietly.Leesa looked up at the witch. Things were beginning to fall into place. She thought she knew now why Jenna was here. Still, Leesa felt it best to proceed carefully.“Why do ask? Has something happened to yours?”Jenna grinned. “You are cautious. I like that. I’m quite cautious by nature myself.” She sat back down. “One of us has to begin. Since I came to you, I guess it should be me.”She sucked in another deep breath and blew it out slowly. “For some reason, my magic has suddenly weakened greatly. I have no idea why. So I wanted to know if something similar has be
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Leesa lifted her hand from Jenna’s and crossed to her dresser, where she grabbed her cell phone.“Do you want to trade numbers?” she asked. “So we can stay in touch?”Jenna’s expression turned wistful. “I wish I could, but I don’t have a phone.”Leesa almost couldn’t believe her ears. First Rave, then Dominic, and now Jenna. How was it that so many people she met didn’t have a phone? The answer was obvious—because they weren’t people, of course. They were a volkaane, a wizard and a witch. Still, it would be nice if at least someone else with magic had a freaking phone. After all, she owned one, and she had magic. She put her cell back down onto her dresser.“Really? Why not?”Jenna shrugged. “A couple of reasons, I suppose. I’ve always kind of kept to myself, so I’ve never really had the need for one. I live in a pretty isolated old house. It
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“Oh, this?” she said, grinning. “I just grabbed the first stuff I saw.”“That’s what it looks like,” Leesa teased, “except that somehow the colors all match.”Andy’s arrival interrupted their banter. He was wearing bleached jeans and an open brown suede jacket over a darker brown T-shirt that proclaimed “Thank God It’s Fry Day” in big gold letters. In between the Thank God It’s and the Fry Day was a picture of giant fried chicken leg, dripping grease. No wonder he and Cali got along so well, Leesa thought, not for the first time.“
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Leesa had to give the guy credit. He didn’t seem to let the catcalls and groans bother him. He either had the thickest skin in the world, or he thought the derision was in some twisted way an approval of his act. His jokes were new, but were equally as dumb as the last time. She wondered if he wrote the stuff himself or got it from some website—stupidjokes.com, maybe.The big guys up front heckled him mercilessly after every punch line. It was mean and obnoxious and most of their comments were only funny to themselves. Finally, the biggest guy, a brute with shoulders as wide as an SUV, yelled something really crude, something not fit even for the liberal college crowd.Andy leaned over and politely told the guy to keep it clean, that there were ladies present. Leesa cringed as the giant pushed his chair away from the table, his features twisted into an
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