Blue Violet Read Online Free PDF Page B

to pass the time while she waited. She didn’t know if Griffin would
be home any time soon, but decided to make enough for him, too. She was just
mixing in the milk when the phone rang.
    “Hello?” She
picked it up without bothering to check the ID. Very few people had the number.
    “Hi, Ellie,
it’s Adelaide.”
    “Oh, hi!”
Ellie grimaced. I wonder what this is about.
    “I’m so sorry
to do this, but we need to cancel our study session this week,” Adelaide said,
her voice ripe with contrition.
    Ellie frowned.
“Oh! Why?” She was proud of how she pulled off the right mix of surprise and
casual interest despite her thumping heart.
    “With Alex
home from college, we’ll be doing family stuff most of the week…sorry we have
to flake.”
    “Oh, no prob.
We’ll do it some other time.” Ellie hoped the relief she felt wasn’t obvious as
she spoke.
    “Thanks,
Ellie!  Gotta go.”
    “Okay, bye!” Ellie
put the phone back on the receiver.
    Phew!
There’s one complication avoided… at least for now.
    She fleetingly
wondered why Alex had suddenly come home, but assumed nothing serious had
motivated the decision. He’d looked perfectly relaxed at the school that
afternoon. Ellie’s mind drifted to that moment. The first moment she’d seen
him… and then when their gazes had locked. She’d never experienced anything
like it.
    I wonder if
he’d felt anything too, or if I just looked like any other high school girl to
him? Other than her eyes, she knew she really wasn’t a stand-out beauty.
Alex, on the other hand, was gorgeous. Dark, brooding, yummy. Why would someone
like him be remotely interested in someone like her?
    Ellie gave
herself a mental shake. Not gonna happen, Ellie ... Let it go . 
With that, she deliberately put all thoughts of Alex from her mind and finished
making her hot chocolate. She then settled down on the couch in the living room
to work on her math homework. She’d finished several problems when she heard
Griffin making his way into the house.
    “Hey, Griff,”
she called.
    She didn’t
look up when he walked into the room, until she realized that he stood directly
in front of her, patiently waiting for her attention. Slowly, she raised her
head and then her eyebrows.
    “Do you want
something?”
    “I just spent
the last few hours listening to the Jenners… You were right about Adelaide’s
ability,” Griffin said. He leaned against a chair crossing one ankle over the
other.
    Ellie bit her
lip. “She thought about today?”
    “Yeah. She
sees relationships between people. She saw strong relationships between herself
and you, as well as between Alex and you. But she didn’t think about the
specifics. They did seem to be positive relationships in her mind, though.”
    “That’s a
relief.” Ellie smiled, and then gave her brother a very direct look. “Why did
you listen in on the entire family tonight?”
    “Because when
I felt that shock earlier today, I also managed to hear a little of Adelaide’s
thoughts when you touched her. And what I heard made me think that she was
beginning to wonder about you.” He dropped into the chair he was leaning
against and propped his feet up on the coffee table, looking deceptively
relaxed.
    “Oh.” Ellie
cringed.
    “Exactly.” He
gave her that utterly Griffin look that she hated…a look that stated
quite clearly here you go again, Ellie .
    “…So I figured
a little reconnaissance wouldn’t hurt.”
    Ellie waited a
second for him to continue. “And...?” she prompted when he remained silent.
    “Well, the
mother’s name is Lucy. She and her husband Hugh are te’sorthene ”
    Ellie’s eyes
lit up at this bit of information. Her mind reeling. Ellie remembered her
mother telling her about te’sorthene as a child. The word literally
meant a friend bonded by heart or sprit. But the Svatura used the term to refer
to what equated to soul mates. Rare, because of how few Svatura existed, but
more common in their large clan due to