Song of the Ancients (Ancient Magic Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

"Actually, I just needed an excuse to come over and apologize in person for the other night. I was much too presumptuous." He stood up and stepped behind the chair. "Look, could we just start over? Maybe go to dinner?" He put a hand up. "Or if dinner is too much, maybe lunch?"
    I found myself grinning back at him. The fumbling Adonis seemed much more attractive than the cocky one I'd first met. "Sure. Dinner would be nice."
    Nuin edged his way to the door. "Great. I'll call you next week."
     

Chapter 5: Weaving the Web
    I called Nicholas to let him know we'd be visiting Jerome the next Sunday and would like to see his aunt's house. He said any time after noon would be fine.
    The cloudless sky was such a bright blue it made me squint and scrabble in my purse for sunglasses. Rumor, of course, looked perfect with a paisley-fringed scarf tied around her dark hair, and oversized movie star shades. She was hard not to hate.
    To kill some time, we made a quick U-turn when we spied a roadside taco wagon next to the Verde Hay Market, just before the turn-off to Jerome. We sat on the convertible boot, feet in the backseat, and ate killer tacos, slathered with grilled jalapeños, onions and thin radish slices. While we ate, I pulled an auto club tour book out of the glove compartment and read up on Jerome. The old mining town clings to the side of a mountain in the middle of the Arizona Black Hills. During the boom 15,000 people lived here. Now it is home to a much-dwindled population of artists, hermits, gift shop owners and landlords of fallen-down buildings.
    The book didn't exaggerate. Every structure we passed teetered on the slant of the hill. Black Cat Road, a single-lane dirt and gravel mining road, zigzagged relentlessly up the mountain on a rut so narrow that every blind curve was terrifying. The miners had named it after one of Jerome's many brothels, the Black Cat Saloon. The saloon was long gone and only a few houses remained on its namesake road. I dug my fingernails into the arm-rest at every corner, praying we met no oncoming traffic.
    Nicholas' house stood at the very top of the hill, a lavender-gray Victorian with weathered black shutters and a tall black front door. Along the front porch ran a riot of withered red roses, giving way to ivy further up, which partially covered the second-floor balcony.
    We crossed the front lawn toward the house. The back yard slanted into a hedge of sycamore trees blanketing the space in deep shadows. Beyond them stretched the Verde Valley, two thousand feet below.
    Taped to the brass knocker, a hastily scrawled note read, "Sa-mantha, unexpected business, will have to reschedule. My apologies, Nicholas. I berated myself for not giving him my phone number. We rang the doorbell anyway, but there was no answer.
    "Let's take a look around anyway," Rumor said. "It won't hurt anything to walk around the house." She stepped off the walk into the calf-deep dry grass and headed around the corner. "I can't believe Nicholas is thinking of selling," she called from the back of the building. "This view is stunning."
    "It's a shame the place has gotten so run down." I joined her in the neglected back yard. Dead blackberry vines twined through the wooden rails surrounding what had probably once been a vegetable or herb garden. "I can't see him living here and taking care of this huge house and yard, can you?"
    Rumor laughed. "He does seem a little… genteel …to mow the lawn and shovel snow." She went to a large side window and cupped her hands around her face to see inside. "This looks like a library or study." She motioned me over. "I could see him in here, puffing on a pipe and reading some leather-bound first edition."
    I walked to the window and noticed the grass underneath seemed flattened. "I don't think we're the first ones…."
    A glint on the ground near the window caught my eye. A knife with a black handle lay in the weeds, the blade pulled partway out of a leather sheath.
    Leaning down,