Traitor (Creepy Hollow, #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

spell that involves an eye-shaped tattoo? I wander around the library, reading the labels on the shelves, hoping for something to jump out at me.
    “ Is someone back there?”
    Oh, crap. I guess Amon’s returned from his tea break or wherever he went. I slip behind the far end of a bookshelf and crouch down. I hear his footsteps as he walks past the shelves, checking down every row. He stops. I wait several seconds before risking a glance around the edge of the shelf. He’s neatening a row of books, pushing them from behind so the spines line up perfectly with one another. When he’s satisfied, he walks away. I hear the door to his office close.
    I puff out a breath of air hard enough to lift a lock of hair from my forehead. How am I supposed to find out what this eye on Nate’s back means? If only I had the ability to locate things instead of people, I could easily find whatever book has that symbol in it. I take a step forward, then stop as something dawns on me: I can find people . So if I can’t find the spell that involves an eye-shaped tattoo, then I should be looking for the person who cast it.
     
    *
     
    The moon is lost behind heavy clouds, but Nate’s bedroom is brightly lit tonight. The overhead light, the television, the bedside lamp, the desk lamp—it’s almost blinding after the absolute darkness of the faerie paths. I tiptoe across Nate’s bedroom floor to where he’s working at his desk. The rain pattering against the window helps conceal the sound of my footsteps. I stop directly behind his chair and quickly cover his eyes with my hands.
    “ What the—” He jerks in fright, leaving a line of pen across his page. He reaches up to touch my hands. “Jeez, Vi, you trying to give me a heart attack?”
    “Let’s go somewhere,” I whisper in his ear without removing my hands from his eyes.
    “Uh, sure, why not?”
    I was expecting a little more enthusiasm, but ‘why not’ will have to do. I grab Nate’s hand, quickly open a doorway on the wall beside his desk, and pull him in after me. He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my neck. For a second, I forget where we’re going.
    Focus!
    Right. Yes. The destination. I move to his side, never letting go of his hand. “Don’t freak out when we get there,” I tell him. “I’d hate for you to plummet to your death.”
    “ What?” He grips my hand tighter. “What do you—Whoa!” The forest appears around us. He grabs hold of a tree trunk on his other side and looks down. Down, down, down all the way to the forest floor.
    “ The night we met, you asked me why I’d choose to live in a place like this, and I told you that without creepy creatures I’d have no job.” Nate nods, unable to look anywhere except down. “Well, I also live here because I find it incredibly beautiful.”
    “Right. Beautiful. And it’s a really long way to the ground.”
    “ So don’t look down, Nate.” I raise his hand to my lips and kiss it. “Look around .” I take my own advice and allow myself to soak up the wonder of this forest canopy world. Colors shift like smoke within the branch beneath our feet. Sprites jump from leaf to leaf, leaving sprinklings of glittery dust in the air behind them. Droplets of water are strung like pearls from the silver strands of a spider’s web. Bluebottle glow-bugs stick to the leaves and branches, lighting up the night with their blue-green bodies. And high above us, clouds are draped like sashes of color across the sky. Amethyst, azure, jade.
    “ You’ve had a few bad experiences in my realm,” I say softly, thinking back to Drake and Zell abducting us, and the night we spent trapped in the labyrinth. “I thought it would be nice to share something beautiful with you instead.” He squeezes my hand in response. “Follow me,” I whisper.
    Many of the branches are wide enough to walk along, while the thinner ones make good handholds. We cross from one tree to the next, gradually climbing higher, until