Alchemist Academy: Book 2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

silent for a long time,” Jerry said, raising his hands. “If I made one stone in this city, they’d find me. I’m afraid my part in this expedition ends here. But if I may, I’d like to add one pearl of wisdom. Don’t go back to L.A.”
    Jerry said his goodbyes and left in his box truck. His departure swirled up dust and left us standing in the parking lot of Cheers. I scanned the horizon and saw that the only notable structure nearby was a freeway, carving its way up into the mountains.
    “Mark, you look better.” Sarah shot a glance at me. The last time we’d spoken, she’d given me one mission—to get a life stone and cure her son.
    “Allie cured me.” Mark answered her unasked question, but couldn’t bring his eyes to meet mine.
    “Allie, thank you so much.” She moved closer to me, but I took a step back.
    “I did it for Mark.”
    I saw in her eyes that she knew the price of the stone. Flashes of the boy being sundered by the two stones played out in my mind.
    “Well, thank you all the same,” Sarah said.
    “My question still hasn’t been answered.” Jackie crossed her arms. “How are we going to get the rest of them out of there? A bunch of those kids have parents. They must want to help.”
    Sarah took a deep breath and looked at the black pavement under her feet. The sun was near mid-sky, casting down its radiant heat on us. “Things aren’t that easy.” She shook her head and locked her attention on me. I frowned, half-expecting some shattering news. “Allie, your mom is alive.”
    Her bomb had been dropped and she waited for the fallout.
    “I know. She broke into the Academy to get me.”
    Sarah shook her head and looked as confused as I must have been when I first saw my mother. “She broke into that place?”
    “She and a couple of other people,” I said.
    “They weren’t the first, either. A man dropped in and was taken prisoner. He was searching for his son.” Mark touched his stomach. He glanced at me and I sank under the weight of his look, wondering if he saw me differently now.
    “We had to fight our way out of that place,” Jackie said. “We used some stones on the teachers, and Allie stole a life stone from them.”
    “Oh my. I had no idea.” Sarah looked around. “This is even worse than I thought. They will be sending everyone after you.”
    A motorcycle rumbled on the freeway below, turning off the ramp. I squinted and leaned forward as the white motorcycle with red and blue lights veered up the ramp toward the restaurant.
    “Is that the alchy cop?” Mark asked.
    “Yes,” I said after a quick glance in confirmation.
    “To the café, quick,” Sarah said. She pushed us, and soon we were jogging to the door.
    It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light inside the diner. A long bar ran down one side, where a few men wearing flannel and t-shirts, keeping to themselves mostly while watching TV and eating their hamburgers.
    “How many?” an elderly woman with an apron asked.
    Sarah moved closer to the woman with a bright, inviting smile. “Pam, is it?” She glanced at the woman’s name badge. “You’re a spitting image of my dear Aunt Erin. I’m Sarah.” She extended her hand for a shake.
    Pam took a deep breath and stuffed a pen into her apron pocket before accepting the hand. Her expression changed from slightly annoyed to a blankness I hadn’t seen since Mark and I had frozen that thief in the farmer’s market.
    “Now, Pam.” Sarah held Pam’s hand on both of her own and raised them closer to her chest. “I want you to take us to the back room. In a minute, a police officer will arrive looking for us. I want you to kill him.”
    “Mom, no,” Mark said.
    Sarah took a deep breath and sneered at him. The sound of the motorcycle rumbled near the front of the diner and then silenced. Sarah turned to us with a new urgency. “Don’t kill him, then. But I want you to act as normal as you would with any customer walking through those