The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and scratched
the bloodhound’s ears.
    A wave of peace washed over me, and it was
then that I recognized what it was.
    I’d never had a father.
    Somehow, I’d come to see Al in that role.
    In just the short time I’d been there, Al and
Betty had become my parents more than my own mother, Maya, ever had
been.
    In some strange way, I’d grown to love them.
And that thought filled me with a strong resolve.
    I wasn’t about to let my new family be turned
into Mesmer playthings.
    I watched Al flip through the pages of his
Neighborhood Watch notebook and stop on a page titled ‘Citizen’s
Arrest’. Wetting the tip of his pencil with his tongue, he began
filling out the details.
    I had to take action.
    I’d figure out what the lizard people and the
Inner Circle were up to myself. But I had to make sure none of us
could be mesmerized again first. I wasn’t sure Jareth’s rune could
protect all of us.
    Leaving Al in the kitchen, I headed towards
Betty’s computer, and sitting down in her white plastic chair, I
typed my question into the search engine.
    How do you protect yourself from mind
control?
    I found lots of articles that stated the best
way to prevent yourself from being brainwashed was to first
recognize that someone was trying to control you. Apparently, you
should look out for people who tried to isolate you from friends
and who actively tried to scare you about things.
    I knew there was something to be learned
there, about not letting myself be scared, so I made a note and
kept searching.
    One article was a long one about fluoride
that claimed it was designed to make people submissive to
governmental control.
    I tapped my fingers on the tabletop, and
after deciding that I didn’t feel particularly in danger from my
toothpaste, I moved on.
    In the kitchen, I could hear Al talking on
the phone. I held my breath to listen and when I heard the name
‘Jack’, I unabashedly got up to eavesdrop.
    Finding a nice vantage point behind Betty’s
mountain of Ebay boxes, I peered into the kitchen to see Al pacing
excitedly in circles, almost tripping over Tigger each time he
looped around.
    Tigger wasn’t threatened. His droopy face
rested comfortably on his paws as he watched Al’s every move with
worshipful eyes. And each time Al’s foot came within an inch of his
nose, he wagged the tip of his tail before heaving a huge sigh as
if the effort had completely exhausted him. Maybe it did.
    “Good point, Jack,” Al was saying as he
furrowed his brows. “Good point.”
    There was a long stretch of silence as Al
paused before the counter and furiously scribbled in his
notebook.
    Apparently, Jack had a lot to say.
    “I see.” Al nodded his head. “Noted. Good
point. Noted. Roger.”
    I scowled. I wasn’t learning very much.
    And then I heard Al ask, “And missing
time?”
    I caught my breath as Jack’s voice
buzzed.
    So, Al was more receptive to the supernatural
than he appeared. That was good.
    But then Al’s frown deepened and he was
telling Jack goodbye.
    I scrambled back into the shadows as he
passed by me and then craned my neck around Betty’s boxes to watch
him disappear into the family room where Betty was still resting on
the couch.
    It was then that the doorbell rang and Tigger
began to bark. Or as much as Tigger barked, anyway. It was more of
a dog comment that there was a stranger at the door that served the
dual purpose of being a greeting, just in case they had a hot dog.
Tigger clearly kept his options open.
    “Is that the UPS man?” Betty called.
    I hesitated, but not for long. If it was a
Mesmer, I knew I was the best one in the family to deal with
it.
    “I’ll handle it,” I called back.
    Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob and
opened the door.
    To my surprise and relief, it really was the
UPS man. They were working late shifts for the holiday season. I
signed for the boxes and had just lugged the last one inside when I
glanced across the street to see Rafael’s tall form