The Earl's Childe Read Online Free PDF Page B

nightgown.
    He looked away first, turning around tightly, tail whipping back and forth. What if we don’t leave the castle? If you stay here, would that be breaking your word? We must hurry if we are to do this! He paused. And if your father is salting the house for the sole purpose of keeping us out, he certainly should not attend this meeting!
    I considered. “I’m telling them what happened in the morning.”
    Fine, whatever! Where’s that book you use for spells? The one you tried to summon me with before?
    â€œMum’s office, I think.”
    Let’s go there .

    We went down to Mum and Dad’s office. I glanced over my shoulder at my parents’ bedroom door and Rowan’s door, feeling guilty. As if that guilt wasn’t bad enough, I got a good picture in my head of Joe when he found out I’d snuck out to Faerie. He’d chided me as badly as my dad had, and made me promise him I wouldn’t do something that thick ever again. Ever!
    I wasn’t leaving the castle, though, I told myself. I would definitely tell my parents in the morning. Depending on what Tom wanted to show me, or the nature of the spell, I could even run back upstairs and wake them if I had to.
    I kept quiet going down the stairs. I didn’t want to wake the twins, Ivy and Ash, either. Five-year-olds would be difficult to deal with at the moment.
    I carefully put Mum’s desk lamp on the floor. No one else would be up at this hour, I thought, but I didn’t want to be interrupted if any of the McInnises, our nanny, or Ginny saw the light on. Mr. McInnis, our groundskeeper, loved this castle as much as my family did, so it wasn’t that unusual for him to walk around the grounds, making sure everything was secure, if he couldn’t sleep.
    Fortunately, Isis wasn’t around anywhere, either. When my dad wasn’t doing well, she (and her brother Osiris, who’d been killed when we fought the kelpie) had always slept in my parents’ room. My stomach twisted, remembering it was my fault Osiris had been killed by the kelpie. Isis tolerated the two cats we owned, but who knew what she’d do to a fey cat.
    The book Tom wanted was A Wicca Guide to Faerie , and it was well-used. Besides writing fiction about faery-anything, Mum also wrote research articles about folklore, history, magick, and the like. But I knew she’d used spells in here before.
    One time, when Rowan had gotten scared by a movie with goblins, she had the family help her with a spell that would keep goblins away from him. It worked really well. So well, in fact, it worked on all faerie, not just goblins. Tom still didn’t like even going near Rowan. After seeing how Dad was with the salt, I counted my blessings he hadn’t made Mum do that spell on all of us!
    The book was near the top of a precarious pile between my parents’ desks.
    â€œWhat am I looking for?” I looked at Tom as I carefully leafed through it.
    A projection spell of some sort. I know where we’re supposed to go .
    I found a spell for a meditation that was supposed to take me on a walk through Faerie.
    That’ll do .
    I skimmed the description. “So, I need—”
    No time. Just read over the incantation . He paused. And…let me give you a vision of where we need to be .
    I frowned. “What exactly does that entail?”
    Tom hesitated. You know how you and I speak? It’s like that, only…more .
    â€œSo, I need to let you into my head?” My lips tightened even more. It was bad enough Ehrwnmyr seemed to get in and out of my head easily enough. And I knew it was bad to let in any daoine síth, the “Folk of the Hills,” who seemed to be faery nobility.
    Yes . He paused, as if sensing my discomfort. You have my word that I will not take advantage of your trust . I still hesitated.
    Have I ever broken my word to you or left you in danger when I promised otherwise?
    â€œNo,” I said