Earth Read Online Free PDF

savoring the
flavor, allowing myself time to wake up. The house was totally
quiet, my parents having taken off for the day to go the Indian
Casino about two hours away. The house was colder than usual, with
a slight bite in the air, letting me use my robe for the first time
in almost a year.
    I took my time getting ready, taking a long
hot shower and eating a huge lunch, not sure if I’d have time later
for dinner. My mom called at some point to let me know they were
doing well at the casino so they’d be staying for the rest of the
day and probably have dinner there. When I reminded her I’d be out
tonight, she sounded strangely disappointed but didn’t press the
issue. I was in a hurry to get off the phone and prep my supplies
for tonight.
    When I was a kid my dad built me a tree house
in our backyard. Much to their surprise I still used it frequently,
mostly as a cache for our casting supplies. I scurried up the tree
and through the trap door with my bag from The Oak, Ash and Thorn
clamped in my teeth. After latching the trap door I took a deep
satisfying breath, smiling to myself and exhaling in a sigh. My dad
had taken care not to damage the tree by not cutting down the
branches and building around them, allowing thick branches inside
the space, giving it an earthy smell. I pushed open the huge window
he’d built into the south-facing wall that opened to a view of a
large orange orchard.
    I set to work charging the candles and
crystal I bought last night and left them sitting on the window
sill to absorb the sun’s energy. I turned to cleansing my pentagram
and my sacrificial knife – an athame – I pulled from a chest I kept
up there. Although I was by nature a control freak, I did trust the
other two to do this work just as well as I would do it, but I was
the only one out of the three of us with a decent hiding place for
our tools.
    Jodi would have to hide them under her bed or
in a dresser drawer where she ran the risk of her sisters finding
them when they went in to steal clothes. As for Steven, his mother
still frequently cleaned where she wasn’t wanted and picked up his
laundry and put it away for him, which completely ruled him out. We
could handle blackmailing siblings but not a freaked-out Catholic
mom who still chose to pretend Steven was just going through a
phase rather than admit he was actually gay. After a little over an
hour my cell phone went off loudly, shattering my peaceful
reverie.
    “Hey, Steven.” I answered absentmindedly as I
polished the blade of the athame.
    “Hey! Did. You. Hear?” He was punctuating his
words again, he had juicy gossip. I could practically hear him
salivating.
    “Probably not. What?”
    “Nick Braver!” he breathed. I smiled,
silently congratulating myself.
    “What about him?” I tried to ask lightly.
    “Oh you witch! You do know!” His voice rose
excitedly.
    “Know what?” I asked.
    “Ooooh you did it didn’t you?”
    “What? Steven, spill!”
    “Well he’s telling everyone that he was
mugged last night when he and Tracy left the party and was beaten
up so bad that they broke his collarbone.” He was bursting to
laugh. “But the funny thing is you’d think he’d have some bruises
or a black eye maybe or even a fat lip, but just the collarbone.
That’s weird, right?” He was fishing.
    “Absolutely bizarre.”
    “Shay!” I could feel the red in his
voice.
    “What?” He was silent, waiting for me to
spill this time. “Oh fine,” I conceded. “Remember when I left?”
    “Yeah?” His voice took on a hungry tone.
    “Close your mouth. Anyway, I heard Tracy
begging him to leave her alone in his truck, so I simply… separated
them.” I packed all our necessary items into a backpack and slung
it over my shoulder.
    “And just accidentally broke a bone?”
    “Can I help it if he was literally falling
down drunk?”
    “Fine, but you’re telling me and Jodi
everything later. Swear!”
    “Fine.”
    “Hey, want dinner before? My