Chosen Read Online Free PDF Page B

breath.
                  “It’s not every day we’re summoned to see Persephone.  I need you to behave.  We won’t be here long.  Just long enough-“ She stopped abruptly when she peered over her shoulder at me.  I held my breath and suppressed a snicker.  She put her hands on her hips and glared in my general vicinity. “Finn Morrison, if you don’t uncloak yourself right now, I’m going to change you into a piece of lint and stick you in my pocket for all of eternity.”
                  The laugh I had been holding in fought its way out, sounding more like a snort. This time she crossed her arms, smirked, and lifted an eyebrow. “Suit yourself.  But it’s going to be hard to surf next week without a surfboard.”
                  “Aw, Mom!  Come on!” I uncloaked myself and pleaded one last time.  “Persephone won’t know I’m there and I’ll still listen to whatever you guys talk about.  The only difference is I won’t have to talk to her.  Everybody wins.” I gave her my best puppy dog eyes.
                  “Except when she catches me talking to thin air and assumes I’ve lost my mind,” she countered.
                  “Everybody assumes that already,” I joked, and jumped out of the way as she swatted at me playfully.  We walked the rest of the way down the path and soon approached the front entrance. The Queen wasn’t known for being very welcoming, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  Mom gave me a weary look and knocked on the heavy wooden door.  The house itself was covered on all sides with thick, golden vines.  It was as if the forest floor was slowly devouring the entire structure. 
                  After two more attempts, the door finally swung open and a stunning woman stepped out into the light.  Or maybe she was the light.  It was hard to tell since she looked like she was glowing.  She reminded me of a roman candle me and my friends had lit last year at the Summer Solstice event on the Isle.  Except she didn’t have sparks flying out of her head.  That would have been much cooler. 
                  I experienced something like a red hot whip slam into my heart as her golden eyes met mine.  I jumped in front of mom; immediately on the defensive.  I could feel the darkness that everyone from down there had, but the sense of powerful rage simmering below her surface was overwhelming. If Mom felt it, she gave nothing away.
                  “It’s alright, Finn,” she reassured me and touched my arm gently.  Not taking my glare off of Persephone, I backed away only slightly.
                  “And you must be Finn.” Persephone’s blazing golden eyes dissected me in mere seconds as her mouth curled up into a smirk.  My entire body tensed as I sensed the full force of her hidden anger when she spoke.  I narrowed my eyes at her in an effort to let her know that whatever dealings she had with my mom, she would have to get through me first.  I felt my own darkness flare and spread as Persephone chuckled.
                  “I mean no harm to your mother, son.” I bristled at her use of the word ‘son’ and then realized she had known what I was thinking. Could she read minds?
                  “Then what do you want?” I growled at her, moving in front of Mom once again.
                  “Finn, honey, Persephone only wants to discuss certain…administrative issues.  You have no reason to fear for my safety.” I could tell she was trying to be reassuring but she still wasn’t convincing me.  No one with that kind of resentment and anger could do anything out of the goodness of her heart.  My father once told me that hate binds the heart.  People like her always had hidden agendas.
                  Persephone ushered us into a large foyer and then up a flight of stairs into a solarium.  It was