Midnight's Jewel (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free PDF

down to her heart once she recognized him. “Don’t scare me like that! Today has been bad enough,” she scolded.
    “Sorry. I just couldn’t take listening to those two banter old-fashioned insincere pleasantries anymore. It was sickening. He agrees to let us stay here tonight, but he wants Eleanor to tell him what she is hiding. He has even offered to hide it for her. She’s not pleased but doesn’t have a lot of choice. The safe houses are being watched. Well, so says Thorpe,” Clay relayed. He rolled his eyes and made a gesture that resembled hanging himself.
    With his tongue lolled out to one side and head hung over in response to the imaginary rope, Sabrina was unable to hold back a giggle. Her stress combined with his funny face was more than she could take. The giggle turned into loud, uncontrollable laughter. She grabbed her ribs and nearly doubled over. The lights on the balcony began to glow brighter. Dark rainbows emanated from the pendant’s facets. The more she laughed, the brighter they became until a high-pitched hum preceded the lightbulbs exploding simultaneously. Glass shards flew in every direction. She let out a squeal and covered her head. The word “no” shouted in her mind, and the tinkling sounds of flying glass stopped. She peeked between her arms.
    The first thing she saw was Clay’s face. His mouth was hanging open in shock. Behind him were Eleanor and Brandon Thorpe, looking equally stunned. She removed her arms from her face. Floating around her were thousands of shards frozen in midair. Some still rotated in place. Others were completely still. In the center, where she stood, there was nothing but empty space shaped like a bubble.
    Eleanor raised one hand and pointed at the shards. Her lips moved in silence. She slowly lowered her pointed finger to the ground. All the needle-like glass followed her movement. When they almost touched the floor, she released them. They made a harmless windchime sound as they hit the concrete balcony floor.
    “What the hell was that?” Brandon’s surprise had worn off. He was looking back and forth between Sabrina, Clay, and Eleanor. “I’ve never see someone fold time. Did she do it or did one of you?”
    Eleanor spun sharply to face him. There was a widening of stance and a shifting of weight to her back foot. A hard look of appraisal was on her face, tension around her eyes. She was sizing him up as a threat. Sabrina had seen that look countless times over the last ninety-eight years. It made her want to run and hide, even though none of it was directed at her.
    “I told you. She is special and needs a good deal of looking after. Her magic is unstable. How can I possibly leave her here with you? Luring the Army of Light away is a good idea, but I was charged with her protection. That includes protecting her from herself,” Eleanor said. Sabrina noticed Eleanor did not answer all of his questions but rather deflected them with a generic response. Typical.
    “I understand that, Eleanor, but if you stay here, they are going to find out. If you take a decoy glamoured to look like her, you will be able to lead them to a battleground of your choosing. There is a great deal of uninhabited countryside not far away. Let them gather there and turn on them. They will be surprised, and you can kill them while maintaining our secrecy. She’ll be safe. The secret’s safe. Assassins are dead. Everyone gets to be happy,” he rationalized. He shrugged his shoulders with his palms out.
    Eleanor looked as though she were weighing his words. Clay, however, did not look satisfied. He stepped between Sabrina and Brandon.
    “How can you keep her safe? What if something like this happens again?” He sounded worried. “You’re all asleep during the day. If she were to have another outburst, there would be no one here to stop it.” Clay covered her completely. She had to lean over to look around him to the others.
    Brandon gave him a hard stare. The predator was