The Sovereign Era (Book 2): Pilgrimage Read Online Free PDF Page A

just wanted to lay this down to give him an idea of what I’m shooting for.” He stared into space for a couple of seconds, then raised his index finger.
    “There. It’s kinda Hüsker Dü…Have you listed to Candy Apple Grey yet?”
    Car had loaned me the record the week before.
    “No, not yet.”
    “That’s cool. Here…wait…right here…”
    I nodded and stuck my lower lip out in an expression of appreciation I wasn’t a hundred percent committed to. There was so much distortion on the guitar—or guitars—I could barely make out any notes. And if anyone could, it would be me, after all.
    “Yeah, totally.”
    Car sat on the floor playing invisible bass strings against his thigh while the demo played on for another minute or more until it ended in a waterfall of feedback.
    “You wanna read the lyrics…?” Car slid the composition book across the carpet to my feet. “Oh—shit, what time did you get here, Nate?”
    I didn’t wear a watch. “I…I’m not sure…”
    Lina moved back so she could see the clock on the kitchen stove. “You gotta go.”
    “Crap.” Car stood up in a fluid unfolding motion. “Gotta go pick up Tim. Won’t be long.” He walked past us to the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen and grabbed keys from an ugly bowl that looked like it might have been a school project. “Nate, you sticking around for practice?”
    “You bet.”
    “Awesome. Be back. You guys have fun.”
    He was headed out the door.
    “I’ll tell you about the show later!” I called to his back.
    “Later!”
    He pulled the door shut, leaving Lina and me alone in the house.
    “The show!” Lina bounced. “Screw the song—tell me all about the show!”
    I knew she was mostly joking, but I liked the sound of that.

From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Four
    Lina’s bright eyes cheered me up. I took her hand and we sat on the long couch across from the fireplace in Carson’s living room.
    “You saw it,” I said. “What did you think?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Tch! I think Hank Azarrio must be an asshole.”
    “Yeah. He’s like a circus ringmaster.” I laughed and shook my head. “Dude can’t lose, when you think about it. No matter what happens, he can get some drama out of it.”
    “Seems like he managed to do that with you and Byron’s dad.”
    “It’s pretty easy to push Marc Teslowski’s buttons. My mother wasn’t happy with how I handled it.”
    Lina edged closer to me. Her fingers lazily traced random paths on my thigh through my dress pants. “You mean the growl.” Her eyes narrowed as she smirked.
    “Yeah.”
    “I bet they play that on the ‘best of’ episode.”
    I shrugged. “She wants me to be a good little boy. She’s freaked out that if people think I’m some kind of…you know…they’ll think even worse of my dad, and that’ll work against us in court.”
    Despite finally getting the spotlight on me and off of Car’s new song, rehashing the whole ordeal was a drag.
    This was one of the few times Lina and I were alone together in Carson’s house. I found myself thinking about when Car’s parents had died, about a year before I’d met her, and what might have happened between him and Lina around that time.
    What might have happened on this very couch…
    I stood up.
    “I mean…” I looked down at Lina. Her face was open and attentive. “Well…what do you think?”
    She smiled up at me. “I think you should be you. Who else?”
    I wasn’t sure what that meant. “Right.” The idea irritated me, like “being me” was one more role I was supposed to play.
    Lina’s smile faded. She leaned forward on the couch, her elbows on her knees. “What’s up, Nate?”
    Instead of looking at Lina, I glanced in the direction of the front door. “I didn’t expect the door to be locked.” I wanted to sound all casual. It wasn’t a very good performance.
    “Heh. Funny story about that.” My tension must have been contagious; I heard it in her