Children of Poseidon: Rann Read Online Free PDF Page B

was the most primitive creature Jewel had ever met. She appeared to operate purely on instinct.
    “I don’t know.” Rann picked up his glass and stared at the contents. “Sleep on it? See if there’s any change in her tomorrow. Talk to a few people. She’s wearing nullsilver bracelets, so she shouldn’t be dangerous.”
    “She looked sick,” Jewel said.
    Rann propped his elbows on the table. “I told you my mother thought someone had forced the death magic into her. Probably not a healthy situation for her.”
    “I don’t know much about death magic either.” Maya pursed her lips. “It’s not something we learn about. It’s forbidden to the covens.” Her voice faded for a second. “It’s a death sentence if you’re caught using it.”
    Moni pushed her plate away and stood up. She picked up one of the bowls of soup and a bottle of wine. “I’ll see if I can persuade her to eat, Sealord.”
    Silence settled over the table as everyone contemplated Maya’s words. Jewel wondered if Rann would take the same view as the covens. There were huge taboos round some types of magic. Dark magic, blood magic, and especially death magic usually meant an automatic death sentence for the practitioner. It did seem that this seawitch hadn’t been using death magic, rather it had been using her, but Jewel didn’t know for sure. Tamsin had never mentioned the forbidden rites to her; she probably thought she’d been taught all she needed to know in her London years. She glanced at her teacher, who had kept silent throughout the meal. She’d not said much since her involuntary vision a couple of days ago. Tamsin stared down at her plate. She barely touched her food.
    Everyone finished eating. Tethani and Lini cleared the table.
    Maya sighed. “It’s so nice here. It’s completely dark, but it’s still warm.” She leaned across Rann to speak to Jewel. “You’re so lucky.”
    Jewel glanced at Rann, who stared at her challengingly. She looked away again. She needed to tell Maya about her plans.
    “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something important.” Maya pushed herself to her feet. “I’m sorry, Rann. I know it’s rude, but this can’t wait. I have to talk to Jewel. Coven business.” She stepped round him and grabbed Jewel’s arm. “Come on. Let’s walk down to the beach.”
    Jewel pushed her chair back, shrugging herself free from Maya’s grip. What on earth could be so urgent? She hadn’t seen Maya for over a year and there were things to catch up on, but her friend’s tone made her nervous . She’d never known Maya to give a fig about coven business.
    As she passed him, Rann touched her arm. “Tomorrow we talk.”
    Jewel shivered and followed Maya through the house and down to the beach. She would rather avoid that conversation.
    The night would have been dark, but the full moon cast a pale light, and the sky sparkled with a silver foam of constellations. The dark mass of the sea merged into the darkness of the sky, where it met the horizon and surged forward restlessly at the pale sand of the moonlit beach. Maya tugged her high heels off and left them by the path to the house.
    The two women made their way along the water’s edge to the low cliffs. Maya sank down onto the sand, pulling her knees into her chest. Jewel sat beside her, resting back against the rocky outcrop. The stillness of the night pressed down, until a rustling in the lush vegetation at the top of the cliff stirred her into speech.
    “Maya . . .”
    “Jewel . . .”
    They both stopped.
    “You go first, Maya. You’ve come all this way to bring your news. What’s going on? Is something wrong?” Jewel’s own problems would wait. She’d been on the island for nine years; another few weeks weren’t going to make any difference.
    Maya huffed out a deep sigh. “It’s Kara.”
    “My mother?”
    “The coven asked me to come and talk to you. I don’t know why. They all know you and Kara haven’t spoken since you were