Secret Of The Rose (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

I saw that it was Duncan calling.
    “Hello?”
    “What’s wrong?” Duncan asked without preamble.
    “How’d you know I was upset?”
    “I’ve told you before— you broadcast your emotions very loudly.”
    “I guess we should add broadcast my emotions far to that,” I sniffled.
    “Whose ass do I get to kick?” he demanded.
    “I am crazy about you,” I said to him. “I hope that ‘broadcasts’ clearly through the cell phone.”
    “I’m coming to get you. Wanna go get dinner?”
    “Yeah, I want out of here tonight,” I admitted. Tucking the cell between my ear and shoulder, I got up and went to turn off the floor lamp. Merlin raced to the open attic door and waited for me.
    “Can you be ready in ten minutes?” he asked.
    “Sure.” I closed the attic door behind me and went down the stairs with Merlin at my side.
    “You can tell me what’s bothering you over dinner.”
    “See you soon,” I told him just before hanging up. I paused inside the door to the hall, eased it open, and saw no one. I let myself out and went straight to my room. I tucked the book into my backpack and grabbed my cosmetics bag off my dresser. I had ten minutes to make myself presentable.
     
     
    ***    
     
    Duncan surprised me by taking me to the park with a bucket of chicken for supper. We settled side-by-side under the willow tree where Ivy and I had broken the spell my father had used to bind my powers, and dug into the food. I thought I might feel uncomfortable there, but I felt right at home.
    I filled Duncan in on my ghostly visit, and my discovery of the trunk in the attic. After we finished eating, he wiped his hands carefully and studied the book.
    “Oh damn, babe.” Duncan studied the family tree page, and pressed a kiss to my head. “I’m so sorry.”
    I wrapped my arms around my knees for comfort. “I guess it’s silly to mourn a baby that I never knew.”
    “No,” Duncan said, and his expression was serious. “No, it’s not silly at all.”
    “I hate secrets. I mean, really, I’m learning to despise them.”
    “I know what you mean. Secrets have caused both of us a lot of heartache.”
    “I swear,” I said getting riled up. “The next person who lies to me is getting punched right in the nose!”
    “Duly noted.” Duncan grinned at me.
    I took the book back and tucked it away in the backpack. “Let’s take a walk,” I suggested. “It’s going to be a pretty night.”
    We threw away our trash in a nearby garbage can and took a walk along the river to watch the sun set. We talked about his progress on the house rehab, my improvement with spell casting, working with Marie on our costumes for the upcoming Halloween Ball, and my classes at the museum. Finally we discussed possible places to search for clues as to where to find the rest of the Blood Moon Grimoire.
    You know... normal things. Well, normal for us.

CHAPTER THREE
    I had exactly fifteen minutes to submit my paper on the history of Natural History Museums via email to my professor. I’d been slaving away at my desk in my room for most of the day, and it was a damn fine paper if I did say so myself. Happy with the results of my hard work, I saved my file. Feeling giddy, I typed in the email address, attached the file and sent the paper in. All done, I sat back in my chair with a sigh and rolled my shoulders. I took off the headphones I’d had on to drown out any noise from the cheer squad who were, once again, in the manor finishing up the Homecoming float.
    I stood up and worked the kinks out of my neck. As I rolled my head around on my shoulders, my stomach began to growl. What I wanted more than anything was a shot of some kind of caffeine and a snack. I caught my reflection in the oval mirror above my dresser as I started out of my room and backed up. Yikes! I appeared slightly insane with my hair sticking up all over the place. My nose was shiny, and my face was pale.
    The door to my room clicked open, and Merlin made the leap