Soul Seekers03 - Mystic Read Online Free PDF Page B

sludgy gray.
    “I’m afraid it will never be the same, flower.” Auden swerves into a space, kills the engine, and pulls me against him so tightly, the ribbing of his heavy wool sweater imprints on my cheek. His voice reduced to a whisper, his lips tickling the curve of my ear, he says, “But we have to go on. Whether we like it or not, we have to adjust.” He kisses my temple, my cheek, my lips.
    “And what about Cade?” The words are muffled against him but I know that he heard. “What if he shows up? What then?” I curl my fingers under the hem of his sweater, and flatten my palm against a warm patch of skin.
    “I wouldn’t worry about that.” Auden leans into me, his lips teasing mine. “No one’s seen him since that night. But if he does show, we’re ready for him, right?”
    I pull away and tilt my face toward his, relieved to see a stream of orange flowing from his mouth. He believes what he says. He’s not trying to humor me.
    “Just because we haven’t seen him doesn’t mean no one else has.” My voice rings with certainty, despite having no tangible evidence with which to back it. “At the very least, I bet his creepy Coyote has seen him. And since his dad, Leandro, doesn’t seem the slightest bit concerned, I can only assume he’s seen him too. Besides, let’s not forget that Cade is not just a demonic psychopath, he’s also a complete and total egomaniac who would never deny himself the opportunity to gloat. It’s one of his greatest pleasures. He pretty much lives for it.”
    Auden starts to speak, but he’s stopped by a knock on the driver’s side window, accompanied by a female voice calling, “Hey—any room for a third wheel?” A moment later the door opens and closes as Lita’s energy fills the backseat of the car. “Sheesh, it’s totally freezing out there.” She claps her mitten-covered hands together in an attempt to warm herself up. “Makes me wonder if this snow will ever stop.”
    I sigh. Auden mumbles in agreement. And we all fall quiet again.
    It’s been snowing steadily since Christmas Eve, and even though we like to complain about it and all the inconveniences that go along with it, deep down inside we dread the day it will cease. As long as the flakes continue to fall, we have a connection to Daire. But if she doesn’t return by the time the earth warms, the snow melts, and spring is sprung, well, what then?
    “So, any news? Any news about, you know, anything?” Lita asks, reluctant to actually voice what all of us are thinking: What happened? Where are they? Will we ever see them again?
    We’ve spent countless hours poring over the most minute details of that night. Attempting to piece it together and discover some hidden clue we might’ve missed at first glance. But the fact is, we all saw the same thing: Daire sprinting into the club, warning us to run, to get as far from the Rabbit Hole as we possibly could. The sky was bleeding fire, she said. The prophecy had begun. Her last words to me being: “I’m going to stop this. Fix this. If it’s the last thing I do.” Then she jerked free of my grip, made for the vortex, and no one ever saw her again.
    I shake my head, clearing it of the memory as I twist toward Lita and say, “No news in the two hours since we last spoke.” I do my best to chase it with a grin, though it doesn’t come as easily as it should.
    She breathes a sigh so heavy and deep, I’m instantly reminded of just how much, and how quickly she’s changed. It wasn’t long ago when she was the undisputed queen of Milagro High. The uber-popular, snooty, mean girl everyone openly admired and feared. The kind of girl who would never even consider acknowledging someone like me. But then Daire came along and brought us all together. Her arrival in Enchantment may have incited Cade’s actions, but it also changed our lives in some really good ways.
    “So, what do we do? How do we handle this?” Lita asks. The question chased by the click