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Chapter 216
Leesa’s eyes were glued to the window as she rode the train southwest from New Haven toward New York City. This was her first time ever aboard a train, and while it wasn’t as amazing as her first plane ride—had that really only been seven months ago?—it was still pretty fun. They rumbled through the heart of several cities and skirted the edges of suburban towns. Occasionally, the train passed though open or wooden areas. A couple of times, she even got a glimpse of boats docked in crowded marinas or of the blue-grey waters of Long Island Sound.
It was nearly ten o’clock Monday morning, and the train was barely half full, allowing Leesa easy access to a window seat. The earlier trains were much more crowded, she knew from her research, filled with commuters heading into New York for work. Since she didn’t need to be in Grand Central Station until noon, she had been able to take a slightly later train. This one would get her there at eleven-
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 217
Dominic reached into his back pocket and pulled out his magic wallet. He glanced around the subway car to make sure no one was watching. None of their fellow passengers appeared to be showing any interest in a couple they probably guessed to be father and daughter—they were all lost in their own private worlds, faces stuck behind newspapers or listening to music with their eyes closed.Even so, Dominic turned his body sideways and held the wallet between him and Leesa before sticking his hand inside. Leesa watched, no longer surprised but still amazed, as Dominic’s arm disappeared into the wallet halfway up to his elbow. When he withdrew it, he was holding a beautiful rectangular box slightly smaller than his hand and no more than two inches deep. The box looked like it had been carved from ivory, with engraved silver plates reinforcing each of its eight corners. A ninth piece of silver joined the top of the box to the bottom. From its position, Leesa thought it w
Leesa's Advent Chapter 218
Leesa blinked, not sure she had heard Dominic correctly. “What do you mean, I have to activate it?” she asked. “How? Why? I don’t understand.” Before Dominic could answer, the train pulled into another station and lurched to a stop, the seventh or eighth such stop since they had boarded this train. “I’ll tell you in a moment,” he said. “But first, it’s time for us to change trains again.” Leesa didn’t really want to wait for his answer, but she had no choice. The doors slid open and they exited the car. At least they didn’t have to go above ground to make the transfer this time. They simply hurried across a wide, dimly lit platform and boarded an identical looking train getting ready to head in the opposite direction. Once again, they managed to find a seat that afforded them at least a little bit of privacy. “Now, to answer your question,” Dominic said after they sat back down. “The avatar is activated simply by opening the box, but the box c
Leesa's Advent Chapter 219
Leesa’s brain was a jumble of thoughts and emotions as she rode the train back toward New Haven. Unlike her earlier ride into the city, she paid little attention to the scenery flashing by her window. She had way too much on her mind right now.An hour or so ago, she and Dominic had changed subway trains one more time, ending up in Penn Station instead of Grand Central to avoid any chance of backtracking and running into his pursuers. While not as impressive and ornate as Grand Central, Penn Station was even busier and more crowded. On the final train, Dominic had showed her how to open the box to activate his avatar. It was amazingly simple. All she had to do was place her finger on the silver square and send any kind of magic into it. She could use the illumination spell, the energy beam, even the plant growing spell. Anything would do. Since the vibrations of her magic were the same as Dominic’s, the box would open to the magic and the avatar would be activated
Leesa's Advent Chapter 220
Tuesday morning, the witch Jenna paced back and forth across the wooden floor of the living room in her small, secluded home. All her life, she’d had a thirst for gathering knowledge of all kinds, a quest made easier by her shape-shifting abilities, which allowed her to observe things unnoticed, and by her ability to put herself into other people’s minds, which allowed her to learn things even without being physically present. Most of the time, she simply filed the information away in her head, never using it for any specific purpose.Sometimes, though, her accumulated knowledge proved valuable, like when she had followed Leesa home and later used the information to visit her and ask whether her magic had also been weakened. That had proved useful indeed, taking a load off Jenna’s mind by reassuring her that the weakening was not an attack directed at her. It was a perfect example of how you never knew what information might one day prove useful.But
Leesa's Advent Chapter 221
Jenna had the cabdriver drop her off at Gillette Castle, a normal enough destination. The strange looking hilltop castle looked like it had been constructed out of papier-mâché, but was actually made out of thousands of stones gathered from the local hills. It had been built for an eccentric actor early in the twentieth century and was now the centerpiece of a state park whose other main attraction was its spectacular views of the Connecticut River. The vampire caverns were hidden in the forest a mile or so north the park. She would walk the rest of the way.The air was chill, with the sun hidden behind a thick layer of gray clouds that had moved in since the morning, but the cold seldom bothered her. She skirted the edge of the park surrounding the castle and headed north into the trees.She had learned the location of the vampire lair the same way she learned many things—by carefully watching the world below her in the guise of an owl. Years ago, s
Leesa's Advent Chapter 222
Early Wednesday afternoon, Leesa was hanging out in Cali’s room. They had both just gotten back from their classes and were catching each other up on their respective days. Cali had turned on her stereo and Gotye was whining about “being cut off” by somebody that he “used to know.” Leesa liked the song’s catchy beat and especially liked Kimbra’s vocals when she cut in near the end. Leesa had tried to keep herself busy since getting back from her meeting with Dominic. Unless she was mentally rehearsing her part in the upcoming mission, which she did many times a day, she didn’t like to think about it; staying busy and enjoying her friends was the best way to try to put it out of her mind. Spending time with loved ones was especially important now in case things turned out badly. For that reason, she’d had dinner with her mom and brother the night before. She was pretty sure she had hidden her anxiety, although Bradley had looked at her funny a couple of times. Cali wa
Leesa's Advent Chapter 223
Leesa pulled into the parking lot of the diner Dominic had told her about. When she turned the engine off and looked up the road, she saw him standing on the opposite side of the highway, a hundred feet or so away. He gave her a curt nod to acknowledge her arrival and then poked his head and arms into his car through the driver’s side window. A moment later, the car began rolling slowly forward, coming to a stop on the shoulder of the road about ten paces from where Dominic stood watching. As soon as the car stopped rolling, Dominic gave Leesa a quick thumbs up—the signal they had agreed on that she should proceed as planned. She grabbed the ivory box from her bag and got out of the car. After waiting for a truck to flash by, she hurried across the road and found the spot Dominic had described to her. The old oak tree—almost twice as thick as any of its neighbors—was just barely visible from the highway. Its gnarled branches spread wide in every direction, and Leesa could im
Leesa's Advent Chapter 224
What on earth was Dominic waiting for, Leesa wondered? From her hiding place among the mountain laurels, she had watched the whole thing. The black waziri had seemed powerful and confident as they first approached Dominic’s avatar. Then she had seen the look of uncertainty bloom upon their faces as their magic was suddenly sucked out of them. The uncertainty had been replaced by expressions of fear when Dominic appeared behind them. So why hadn’t he attacked, destroying them with the full force of his magic now that their powers were weakened? She saw no reason he should be hesitating—the black waziri were his sworn enemy. Two quick bolts of yellow-white magic would wipe them from the face of the earth. Whoever the other two were, they could not be nearly as powerful as the black wizards. Dominic could choose to destroy them or not—but destroy the renegade waziri he must. He was farther from her hiding place than the others, so she had difficulty seeing his face. There was s
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