The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

was going to have to confront him. But not yet. Not until I’d come up with a plan. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I backed through the door when I bumped into something furry.
    With a yelp, I whirled to see Ajax’s dark eyes staring at me, his pointed ears on high alert.
    I locked eyes with the shiny black Doberman.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked. I wasn’t about to keep Rafael’s spy in the house. “Go home, Ajax,” I ordered, pointing across the street. “You can’t stay here.”
    Ajax flattened his ears against his skull and growled in protest.
    A cold draft of air blew through the door and I shivered, not entirely just from the cold. I had previously felt safe from Mesmers with Ajax around. But I couldn’t let him stay.
    “How can I trust you?” I asked. “Go home! I have Tigger. He’ll protect me.”
    Ajax’s lip curled back in displeasure, revealing a row of pointed white teeth. But I wasn’t scared of him anymore. Adamantly, I advanced, and he knew I meant business. Chastened, he backed away.
    “Now!” I snapped.
    But ditching Ajax was harder than it looked. He plainly didn’t feel compelled to take any orders from me. He kept sidestepping me, and he was so sleek, there wasn’t anything to grab onto. His tail was the size of a Twinkie and kept slipping through my fingers.
    It was only when Rafael whistled from across the street that he finally left, but at the edge of the yard, he stopped to send silent waves of reproach my way.
    Rafael was staring at me too.
    I stared back, growing angrier with each passing moment.
    What did they expect?
    I’d just found out Rafael wasn’t a particularly nice guy. I certainly wasn’t going to keep company with his dog.
    We probably would have glared at each other all night if Grace hadn’t come home, pulling up the driveway in Ellison’s Volkswagen Beetle.
    Rolling down the window, Ellison poked out his shaved head and waved cheerfully. “I’ll pick you up for work tomorrow,” he offered. “We’ve almost got the same shifts.”
    I just had time to nod before he was backing out, and Grace bounded up to the porch, lugging a bag of groceries. And as Ellison zoomed away, I glanced across the street.
    Rafael was gone.
    Grace pushed past me to dump the groceries onto the countertop.
    “Sorry I’m late,” she said apologetically. “We went to a fancy restaurant.”
    Dressed in gray sweats and with her black hair pulled back into a severe ponytail, she looked as if she’d just come from the gym. But then, Grace was such a tomboy, she didn’t care to dress up. It was one of the things I liked about her. She was comfortable in her own skin.
    Al came into the kitchen then, and as they began to chat, I suddenly wanted to be alone and escaped to my room.
    Kicking my shoes off, I leaned against my dresser and stuck my hand into Jerry’s cage. I gave the mouse a fond poke in the belly and filled his dish with seeds.
    As I opened my top drawer, my eyes fell on the small metal hand mirror that Rafael had given me. Clenching my jaw, I grabbed it and tossed it in the trash, but in less than fifteen minutes, I was digging it back out.
    Looking into the mirror, I said, “You’re such a jerk, Rafael. I want you to know that.”
    I hoped he’d get the message somehow.
    Irritated, I shoved the mirror into the back of my drawer. I could always throw it away later.
    My eyes fell on my Fae bracelet then. I still couldn’t get the darn thing off. I was getting so used to it that I barely noticed it anymore. I knew it only worked in Avalon. Or at least I hoped that was true. But regardless, I couldn’t do anything about it.
    Leaning my forehead against Jerry’s cage, I muttered under my breath, “Just when I thought I’d met someone nice, he turns out to be a first-rate jerk, Jerry.”
    Jerk was an understatement. He was more like an apprentice evil mastermind.
    To my surprise, Jerry sat up on his haunches and lifted his pink nose in my direction. His little