Jade Moon (Celestial War Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

perfect circle and, right at the center, there’s a rusted metal hatch in the ground.”
    “A hatch in the ground? You want to check out a hatch in the ground? Not steal an ice cream truck?”
    “Hey, I thought this was my don’t-kill-yourself Choose-Your-Own adventure.”
    “Alright, alright.” The cold was really painful by that time. At least a long hike would warm me up a bit. My lips were certainly blue. I wasn’t about to admit defeat.
    “There’s a bolt on the hatch that looks new. We need something to cut it open.” He pointed across the football field to the janitor’s shed.
    “How about a little breaking and entering?” I smiled though I was starting to have serious second thoughts.
    The shed was sealed tight just like the school. It was one of those walk in portable jobs, a metal box. We circled it and discovered some rust on the back corner.
    “Here, lets pry this up?”
    I kicked at it and the solder holding the panel flaked away.
    Together we managed to slide our fingers inside and bent it upward creating a small gap.
    “I’ll hold it. You slide in and grab something,” he said.
    Eyeing the jagged metal, I huffed but folded myself into a tiny ball and wiggled through the small gap. The shed smelled like grease and dirt, not entirely displeasing. It was pitch black.
    “You have a light or something?” I whispered out to him.
    A cell phone slid through. I pushed the button and the glow lit the crowded space. I managed not to snort at the photo of the cute little pug as his phone wallpaper.
    One wall of the shed was all about lawn care, mowers, cutters, trimmers, and slicers. Things no one had much use for in Belize. The small end wall hung with more practical tools, screw drivers, a massive drill, saws, and a ginormous set of bolt cutters. I turned sideways and sucked in to avoid brushing against anything as I made my way toward them. Reaching up, I yanked on the bolt cutters and totally fumbled. They hit the floor with a reverberating clang.
    “Hey you okay!” he sounded genuinely worried.
    “Yeah, just dropped the bolt cutters.” I bent down to pick them up, and saw something shiny on the floor.
    Oily.
    I stepped closer. It looked like big blobs of some kind of thick liquid dripping off the tools above. I shined the light upward. A series of really freaky stuff hung along the ceiling. One was long and pale with a pointy end. One was bone white and serrated like a bread knife. Wait, was it actually made out of bone? Another looked like a black glass knife secured on a carved wooden handle with a strip of leather. All of the strange implements were spotless except for the last one that looked like it hadn’t been hung up properly. It dangled off the edge of its hook as though it were about to fall.
    I tilted my head and leaned in to see better. I would swear it looked like a stingray spine which made no sense. Stingray spines were used in traditional Maya rituals for blood letting. Why would there be a Maya bloodletter in a Virginia janitor’s shed? Sure enough, the tip of the spine-thing was smudged with something dark. The coppery scent of blood hit my nose and I back peddled, crashing into the wall behind me.
    Every single power tool hanging from the wall crashed to the ground with a cacophony of metal clanging on metal. I dove aside, barely making it out of the way of the pruning sheers that landed with a reverberating bang.
    “Harper!” Raf shouted.
    “I’m okay.” I stood up and looked back at the total chaos I had managed to create. Every single tool had fallen, including the bizarre, blood covered stuff. I’d destroyed the place in less than ten seconds. I do have a talent. 
    “There’s,” I searched for the right words. “There’s bloody things in here.” Brilliant description Harper. “I mean, like blades with blood on them.”
    “Okay.” He drew out the word. “Just get out of there.”
    Shoving tools away from the opening, something sliced along my finger and I