LEMNISCATE Read Online Free PDF Page B

wondering, laughing . . . they didn’t know what it meant.
    But I did.
    One voice came to me. The voice from my dream. The voice that belonged to the arms and wings that held me all night, comforting me.
    It didn’t belong to Garreth. I was right about him not coming to my room.
    An unbidden name came to my lips and I felt my mouth shaping it, making it real, rushing it out of my lungs with the breath I had been holding tightly inside my chest.
    I heard the whisper with my own ears.
    “
Hadrian.”

Chapter Eight
     
    A mid the laughter ringing in my eardrums, I was caught by a strong pair of arms, which appeared out of nowhere before my head hit the locker. I looked up, dazed, into Ryan’s concerned face.
    “Are you okay, Tea?” he asked quietly, ignoring the little circle behind us that had stopped to watch the theatrics.
    I nodded quickly, eager to regain my composure.
    Behind us a shrill, familiar voice rang out above the muffled audience. Day two of misery had officially begun. Her footsteps clicked closer as she forced her way through the crowd and drew in an exaggerated breath of shock.
    “Oh, Teagan, are you okay?” she cooed sarcastically.
    “Leave her alone, Brynn,” Ryan answered on my behalf. “This isn’t the time or place.”
    “Oh, but it is. Can’t you see? You’re such a hero, Ryan, saving Teagan like you did. Why, did you know she’s practically my step-sister?” She nodded her head as if declaring an utterly juicy tidbit to us all. I cringed at the mere idea of what the future held . . . perhaps someday being “related” to her.
    “Break it up, everyone. There’s nothing to see.” Mr. Herman had stepped out of his classroom to break up the nosy little group that was growing in the hallway. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cool locker to steady myself.
    “Like I said, there’s nothing to see,” Mr. Herman repeated for our benefit. “Be on your way, Miss Hanson.”
    Being dismissed was something Brynn loathed. She was supposed to be the “queen” of the senior class. As I turned to face her, she gave me a steely glare and uttered one last comment.
    “Another girl falling at your feet, huh Ryan?” She did a little wave with her fingertips and added a mocking smile toward Mr. Herman as he turned his attention back to me and Ryan.
    Assuming this was another student ploy to get out of class, he eyed us with suspicion. When he saw my pale, sweaty complexion his expression softened.
    “Do you need to go to the nurse, Teagan?”
    I shook my head, “I think I’m okay. I . . . I didn’t eat any breakfast this morning.”
    “Mr. Jameson, why don’t you escort Miss McNeel to the vending machine in the cafeteria and make sure she fills up on something decent. I’ll inform your homerooms that you’re present and accounted for.”
    “Thank you, sir,” Ryan spoke for both of us.
    With a nod and a concerned smile for me, Mr. Herman turned around and walked back to his own homeroom class, which by the sound of it was getting a little too comfortable without his supervision. His voice boomed, restoring order to the chaos I felt responsible for and he shut the door behind himself.
    “Are you dizzy?” Ryan was still holding my elbow, afraid to let me stand on my own.
    I shook my head to answer “no” and began searching the floor for the black feather. It was nowhere to be found. Who knows how many feet trampled it? But still, I looked for it, unable to take my eyes off the floor. I was so sure it still had to be here, somewhere.
    “What are you looking for? Did you lose something?” We were walking toward the cafeteria for my “breakfast.”
    “Yeah, my mind.”
    I felt foolish wasting time staring at the floor, knowing we would only be excused from the short ten minutes it took to take attendance. Asking Mr. Herman to give me a hall pass to look for a lost feather from yesterday’s rainstorm was not only pushing it, it was insane.
    We entered the empty cafeteria,