Eternity's Edge Read Online Free PDF Page B

game, and she accused me of sticking my hand too far in the toilet to get Steven's promise ri—” She jerked her fist up to her mouth and bit it. “I think I'd better shut up for a while.” Without even offering Nathan a glance, she hurried to the computer desk. Daryl followed.
    Clara handed Nathan a six-inch-by-six-inch square mirror, now protected by a rubberized frame. “Here's the Quattro mirror. I know you're disappointed about the strange turn of events, but can you get up enough gumption to go to Tony Blue's house?”
    Nathan took the mirror and gave her a half-hearted nod. He wanted to stay quiet, but he would have to get over his funk soon. His parents needed him.
    Daryl's voice piped up again, this time from the Earth Red observatory above. “We'll watch the fort from here. Keep Nathan Blue's cell phone on, so we can text you if necessary.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Nathan leaned toward the desk and scanned its surface. “Where is it?”
    Daryl Blue held up the phone and a Nikon on a strap. “Got you covered. And we have the other camera. Let's get moving.”

3
THE MISTY VEIL
     
    Clara drove Tony's Camry off the interstate ramp and into Newton, Iowa. A cold, steady drizzle dampened the road, just enough to slicken the pavement and make the tires swish.
    As they passed by the local Wal-Mart, Nathan watched an old man with a cane hobble toward a beat-up station wagon, one of the few cars in the parking lot. A scarf wrapped his neck, and gloves covered his hands, but his shivering body showed that his winter garb wasn't quite adequate.
    Nathan shivered with the poor old guy. With the heater barely pumping out enough warm air to melt ice, he had to rub his hands together briskly in front of the vent to keep them from stiffening. He might soon have to play the violin, so keeping everything limber was crucial.
    He checked on Kelly sitting in the backseat behind Clara. With her oversized sweatshirt now rumpled, she looked bulky as she leaned against the door, her eyes closed and her mouth partially open. She hadn't uttered a word the entire trip. Of course, Daryl's effervescent chatter helped pass the time, but occasional periods of silence allowed Kelly to nod off and then sleep through some of Daryl's stories about their antics in elementary school. Kelly had probably heard them before, so her exhaustion held sway.
    Although the bandage was completely hidden, Nathan let his gaze linger on her shoulder. Clara had changed her bandageagain at a rest stop and announced that the stitches had sealed the wound, and the oozing blood had almost stopped. That was good. Kelly had only two bandages left in her bag. Maybe they wouldn't have to change it again.
    Images of Kelly's ordeal reentered his mind— Gordon Blue's stabbing dagger, Mictar's blinding grip, and even her potential death — a vision granted by Patar, Mictar's less-malevolent twin, that showed Nathan what would have happened if he had chosen to save his parents. Her scorched face and vacant eye sockets stared up at him from her quivering body, a fatal victim of Mictar's cruel torture.
    Nathan clenched his fist and lightly smacked his palm. If only he had another chance at that creep, he would —
    “Getting ready for a fight?” Clara asked.
    He looked at his fist and loosened his fingers. “I guess so. If Mictar can stretch dimensional wounds and go through them, he could pop into a room when you least expect it.”
    “It's probably not so simple. If he were able to come and go as he pleased, we would all have sooty eye sockets by now.”
    “Good point.” As they drove between two browning cornfields on the final road leading to the Clarks' Earth Blue home, Nathan scanned the area for any movement. With sleet pellets now mixing with the spattering raindrops in the midst of thickening fog, no one in his right mind would be out in the open air, but this was Mictar they were talking about, so he didn't qualify.
    When the Clarks' house came into sight, memories