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Chapter 430
For his part, Jeremy knew he had screwed up. Brit's furrowed brow and closed off body language told him more than any words could say. Hoping he had not irreparably damaged the rest of night, he reached out to touch Brit's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, okay?" He did not know what else to say. Luckily. he was saved from having to come up with anything else by Ryan and Lexi's arrival. They were a good looking couple. Ryan's dark, athletic look and build contrasted beautifully with Lexi's blond hair and petite frame. The kids at school had even nicknamed them Ken and Barbie.
"Wow, this is some gorgeous spot," Lexi said, peering out over the edge of the cliff to the river below, which snaked like a dark silver ribbon through the black woods.
“It's breathtaking."Seeing that Jeremy had switched off his light, Ryan turned his off as well. A moment later, a band of thick clouds floated in front of the moon, making the night darker and even more ghostly. The wind seemed to
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 431
Brit took a deep breath and then hesitantly placed her fingers on the pointer as well. She did not know whether she was imagining it, but the wooden triangle seemed to feel warm under her fingertips. She hoped the damn thing would stay right where it was.Instead, it began to slide slowly across the board a few inches before stopping."I," Lexi said, reading out the letter where the pointer had stopped. The pointer moved again. Lexi continued to call out the letters. "A...M." She hesitated a moment, then read. "I am..."Brit stared hard at the board, wondering what name the guys had planned to spell—and hoping that it WAS the guys who were doing it."I am who?" Ryan asked when the pointer started making slow circles around the board without stopping on any letters.The wind suddenly ceased blowing. Everything had gone deathly still. Only the gurgling stream broke the silence, and even that seemed to have quieted a bit, as if nat
Leesa's Advent Chapter 432
Leesa could not help smiling as she relaxed in her comfortable rope and canvas hammock and watched Rave and Ralin playing around in the backyard. The early June sun felt wonderful on her bare arms and legs, while a floppy-brimmed straw hat shaded her face. A gentle breeze that barely rustled the leaves of the trees kept the air from feeling too hot. Father and son were taking turns cupping their hands under one another's foot and then hurling him as high into the air as they could. Already, Rave had tossed Ralin higher than the tallest tree in the yard, a height of nearly forty feet. Leesa had long ago stopped worrying about how her son might land after being tossed to such a height. For his part, Ralin was determined to throw his father up just as high, but so far his every effort had fallen a few feet short. Ralin was not one to give up easily, though. When he set his mind to something, he could be as determined and stubborn as anyone Leesa had ever met. Rave would say it was a trai
Leesa's Advent Chapter 433
“What is it?” Leesa asked. “What magic do you think I only might be ready for?” Her words came out a bit more sarcastic sounding than she meant them to. Dominic raised his eyebrows. A bemused smile curved his lips. “Feeling a bit full of yourself, are you?” he asked. “Like there’s no magic left that could possibly pose a challenge to such an experienced wizard as yourself?” “I’m sorry,” Leesa replied, meaning it. “I didn’t intend for it to sound like that. I’m actually really excited you have something new and challenging for me. Especially with the blah way I was feeling before.” “I’m glad to hear that, because what I have in mind will definitely be a challenge. I have no doubt it will take some time before you are able to succeed.” Leesa’s curiosity ratcheted up another few notches. Dominic seemed completely certain this new magic would prove difficult for her to master. She wondered again what it could be as she watched him reach one hand behind his back and pull his magic wall
Leesa's Advent Chapter 434
Rave turned and raced off into the trees. After all these years, this was still Leesa’s favorite way to travel by far, the closest she came to feeling like she was flying, even more so than levitating and pulling herself toward some immovable object with her telekinesis. Moving in that manner was much slower—more like floating than flying. And this way she got to snuggle against Rave’s muscular chest, too.In a few places where people might see them, like crossing roads, they walked hand in hand like an ordinary couple, but for the most part they remained in the woods and Rave carried her. Sooner than Leesa would have liked—it always seemed much too brief when Rave carried her—they were speeding up the tall ridge toward their spot above the Moodus River. Despite the steepness of the slope, Rave did not seem to slow his pace at all. When he reached the wide rock outcropping he lowered Leesa gently to her feet near the edge of the ledge.Leesa stared down to where the slow-moving Moodus
Leesa's Advent Chapter 435
Leesa's ride back home in Rave’s arms did not feel as wonderful as it should have. She had managed to push her concerns about the dead weeds to the back of her mind while she cuddled with Rave on their bench, but when they left the outcropping, they had to pass close by the dried out clump again. The brittle, shriveled stalks looked so out of place amongst the natural beauty of the ledge that it brought her worries back. All the way home, she could not shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong back there. Why she felt it so strongly, she had no idea. It was just a clump of dead weeds—wasn’t it?She wondered if Rave was feeling the same way, but decided to wait a bit to see if he brought it up himself. After all, he was the one who had smelled the blood. He did not say anything about the matter, though. If it bothered him, he was not saying. She knew him well enough to know he might just be sparing her his worries, since there was nothing either of them could do about it.W
Leesa's Advent Chapter 436
That night, a terrifying dream visited Leesa’s sleep. It started out perfectly pleasant, before turning dark.She walked hand in hand with Rave through a dense copse of trees. Specks of sunlight filtered through the foliage and danced like tiny motes of magic on the forest floor. The air was almost perfectly still, but the shade kept the temperature from feeling too oppressive. Overhead, birds whistled melodious tunes as they flitted among the leafy branches. Closer to the ground, bees buzzed from brightly colored flower to brightly colored flower, collecting sweet nectar to bring back to their hives.Leesa sighed contentedly. It was such a perfect day. She turned her head and smiled at Rave. He returned her smile, then brought her hand up to his lips and kissed each finger tenderly, one at a time. She sighed again.They resumed their hike, and soon reached the bottom of a steep ridge.“How about yo
Leesa's Advent Chapter 437
Leesa hurried down the sidewalk of Middletown's main street. She was meeting Cali at Giovanni's Restaurant, a favorite place since their college days, and she was already running late. The late afternoon summer sun shone down on her from a cloudless sky, and the heat was beginning to make her pale blue shirt stick to her back. She resisted the urge to slow her pace, because she did not want to keep Cali waiting any longer than necessary.Even though a few days had passed, her dream about the world’s destruction and Rave fading away into nothingness still weighed heavily on her mind. Practicing magic with Dominic had not helped distract her much at all. Unable to focus completely, she was no closer to decorating her ivory box—let alone attempting to fashion an avatar—than when she first attempted the new spell. She needed to talk to Cali, to tell her about the dream and her fears. It was one thing to talk to Rave and Dominic, but they were too close to the si
Leesa's Advent Chapter 438
She described the details of the dream, how it had started out as a perfect summer day and how Rave carried her up the path to the ledge the way she loved. She told Cali about the Noises rumbling and how the apple decayed in the palm of her hand and how things got progressively worse from there. “Then, everywhere I looked, things were dying or dead and rotten. And I can’t get the sound of the wind out of my mind—it seemed almost like a freight train rushing by it was so loud. I turned to Rave and…” Leesa stopped. How could she explain the next part of the dream to make Cali understand how terrifying it was? He vanished? He faded from view? Even in her own mind, those words did not nearly do justice to the way it made her feel. “So, what happened then?” Cali prompted. “Rave disappeared. I know it doesn’t sound like much saying it like that, but it was like he was fading away right in front of me. I tried to grab him and hold on to him, but I couldn’t. I could
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