Maylin's Gate (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

eyebrow. “How so?”
    “Come sit.” She took Arber’s hand and drew him toward a polished cherry table empty except for Trace’s knapsack. She pulled back a chair and gestured toward it.
    She and Arber sat facing each other with the knapsack between them.
    “What’s this?” Arber said.
    She intertwined her fingers through the drawstring. “It belongs to Trace.”
    Arber’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
    “I’m hoping you might make sense of something inside.”
    “Me?”
    She nodded. “You’re the one person I know who’s spent time with Trace in Zen. And what with your visions, I thought maybe….”
    “That something in Trace’s bag might stir a memory?” Arber said finishing her thought.
    She nodded. “I’ve run out of ideas.”
    Arber’s gaze lifted from the knapsack and their eyes met. “I’m willing to help, but not if it means putting your life in more danger.”
    “What I need is information. Trace won’t talk, and I need a lever that will pry open those tight lips of his,” she said. “If I can find the right trigger among these items, then maybe he’d open up.”
    “Let’s see what’s in the bag,” Arber said.
    She pried open the bag and glanced toward Arber before reaching inside.
    Arber’s stone-faced expression revealed nothing.
    Her fingers wrapped around the item she sought and she scooped it from the bag. With the item clenched inside her fist, she moved her hand across the table.
    Arber’s gaze tracked her balled fist.
    She opened her palm.
    Arber stared at the item and blinked. “May I hold it?”
    A buzz of adrenaline flushed through her arms and legs. “Yes of course.”
    Arber lifted a polished crystal flecked with bits of red and gold.
    Light from Elan’s sphere highlighted the crystal’s deep facets.
    Arber inspected the crystal for a long moment before speaking. “It’s a petrified heartwood seed.”
    “Yes.” Her voice sounded heavy with desperation. “You recognize it?” She held her breath and prayed Arber might offer a clue no matter how tiny.
    Arber placed the seed on the table. “I’m sorry Danielle. I’ve never seen it before.”
    “You’re sure? Why would Trace carry it with him? It must be important in some way.”
    “I’m sure you’re right, but it’s not sparking any memory.”
    She scooped up the seed and reached for its center like she had a dozen times before. She sensed nothing from the kernel. Whatever life had once flowed through its center ceased a long time ago.
    “If you don’t mind my asking, what else is in the bag?” Arber said.
    She tipped her head toward the bag. “Go ahead and see for yourself.”
    Arber pulled the bag around, reached inside, and pulled free a second object.
    A chunk of gleaming obsidian rested in the former guardian’s palm. With brow furrowed, Arber turned the rock over inspecting each side.
    She tracked Arber’s eyes waiting for the expected reaction.
    Arber’s head snapped up. “Is that who I think it is?”
    She nodded. “I don’t know who else it could be.”
    A chiseled image of Trace and Elan standing arm in arm adorned the obsidian’s flat surface.
    “Couldn’t you use this against him? You could threaten to destroy it,” Arber said.
    “I’ve tried. When I make the threat he shrugs it off.”
    “He’s probably faking it Danielle. He’s had plenty of experience controlling his emotions.”
    She shook her head. “As far as Trace knows, its already gone.”
    Arber held her gaze wearing a puzzled expression.
    She tipped her head toward the bag. “There’s more. Go ahead and look.”
    Arber reached inside and pulled free an age-worn silver pendant. At its center an empty socket stood where a jewel once appeared. “What’s this?”
    She shook her head. “It means something to him, but he’s not talking. I tried to use it against him, but like the engraving, he didn’t care what happened to it.”
    Arber set the pendant on the table beside the obsidian engraving.
    She laid the