Mortal Danger (The Immortal Game) Read Online Free PDF Page A

with the wild revelations that just kept piling up. By this point, numbness took over. I’d process this stuff later.
    Kian went on, “I’ll take care of the registration and travel arrangements. It’s up to you to convince your parents.” He had his cell phone in his hand and tapped away, checking something. “The session I have in mind starts in three days.”
    So soon. I didn’t know if I was ready, but excitement thrummed through me, supplanting the shock. It was three parts terror and one part anticipation, all better than the dread and dejection that had dogged my steps since winter break.
    “I’ll handle them,” I promised. “Text me the flight time?”
    Gold flecks sparked in his green eyes when he smiled at me. Reluctantly I shared his amusement because it was infectious. A laughing Kian was … beyond lovely. But he didn’t explain what was so funny.
    I sighed. “What’d I say now?”
    “It’s cute that you think I’m booking you on a plane.”
    Belatedly I remembered the insta-trip to the mountaintop. “Because this is favor-related, you can port me?”
    “You’re such a smart girl,” he mocked gently.
    “Whatever.”
    “I’ll be back for you in two days, Edie. Pack light. You’ll need a new wardrobe before we’re done anyway.”
    “And that’s part of the deal?” I asked, fascinated.
    “Sure. Clothes impact the perception of beauty.”
    “Sweet.” I’d always hated shopping, but it might be different if I liked looking in the mirror. “You’re like a regular fairy godfather.”
    Pure, ferocious rage flared to life before Kian shut it down. “ Don’t call me a fairy. It’s risky. Dangerous, even.”
    Whoa. What the hell.
    “I didn’t—”
    “Wings, sparkle-dust, mischief. Puck, Oberon, Titania, Tir na Nog, land beneath the hill. That about cover it?”
    “Uh, yeah.”
    “If you call some things, they will come. And then they don’t leave.”
    That sounded scary as hell, and like a certain noseless supervillain. A shiver went through me. “Noted.”
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”
    “No prob. I got it. Don’t call the you-know-whats.” I wondered about the rage-flare, whether he’d had a bad experience with things that didn’t go away, but like his almost suicide, I didn’t know him well enough to ask.
    Maybe someday.
    “I should get going.” Kian seemed subdued, troubled by his outburst.
    I studied him. “Do you … live somewhere?”
    He looked around my age—eighteen or so—but he must be older. How much depended on what his second and third favors had been. What if he’d asked for eternal youth? He could be, like, a hundred. Gross . He didn’t talk like a geriatric, but if he hung around kids a lot, that would keep him current. No matter how hot he was, I couldn’t get past that age gap. Not that he wanted me to.
    “Yes. I live … somewhere.” Faint sarcasm flavored his tone. Regardless of how exotic it was to me, this must seem like a dead-end customer service job to him, explaining the rules to new clients and feeling annoyed when they didn’t catch on right away.
    That didn’t mean I was putting up with attitude, even from the guy who pulled me off the bridge. “Later, Kian. See you in two days.”
    After he left, I went to my room and removed my jacket. Years ago, I’d papered my walls with posters of famous scientists like Madame Curie and Albert Einstein. I had the one with Einstein sticking his tongue out, a reminder that genius should always maintain a sense of humor. I was aware this didn’t look like a teenager’s room. My desk was too clean, organized by type of supplies, and dominated by the high-end printer/scanner plugged into my laptop.
    If I had any friends to invite over, they’d make fun of everything, including the books on the floor beside my bed. I was always reading four different volumes, and only one of them was a novel. At the moment, I had a biography of Lise Meitner, a copy of A Brief History of Time , half