Twisted Sister of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page B

more. You don't want someone who bores you."
    He huffed out a breath. "Poison, man." A shrug. "Don't get me wrong. Bella ain't bad. Sometimes she scares the hell out of me, and I don't even know why." He flinched. Looked at me. "Don't you dare tell a soul I just admitted that."
    "That you're intimidated by a woman?" I laughed. "Elyssa intimidates the crap out of me sometimes, dude. And I'm not ashamed to admit it."
    "How in the world did you drag us into talking about relationships and feelings?" He shuddered. "Someone must've slipped estrogen in the damned coffee this morning."
    I sighed. "Well, I don't think it's any secret Bella digs you. Either that, or she's a masochist for hanging out with you and your grumpy self this long."
    Shelton gave me a hurt look. "Hey, I ain't grumpy. Just antisocial. But you know, maybe Bella—"
    Thirty feet away, the doors leading inside the Grotto opened, and a young blonde girl stepped out, skipping merrily along in front of a matronly woman with long, silvery hair. A shock of cold fear drowned out Shelton's words.
    Self-preservation claimed my reflexes and triggered a panic event racing from my brain all the way to my toes. I gripped Shelton and jerked him behind the ticket booth, cutting him off mid-sentence. Sheer terror commanded me to flee this place at top speed. I glanced at Shelton's pickup truck, some hundred yards and a million miles away in the parking lot. We'd never make it without being seen.
    "What the hell?" Shelton grumbled.
    I peeked around the corner. Shelton peered in the same direction. I didn't know the silver-haired woman from sight, but judging from the company she kept, I could take a good guess.
    "You afraid of that kid?" Shelton said.
    I trembled as I pressed my back against the ticket booth and said in a low whisper, "That girl is my sister."
     

Chapter 5
     
    Shelton's mouth dropped open a fraction. "That's Ivy?"
    I nodded.
    "She's the one who almost wiped out every vampire in Maximus's compound with a spell too powerful for most Arcanes to even dream about pulling off?"
    I nodded again.
    He let out a low whistle. "Hoo-boy. I just recognized the woman with her. It's old lady Conroy. Man, I wouldn't mess with that woman if you gave me an army of ninjas and pirates with laser guns."
    "Jeremiah tried to kill me the first and last time I saw him. I have no doubt Eliza wouldn't hesitate to finish the job." I risked another peek and took a good long look at the woman who I'd once thought was my grandmother. Shaking off the horrific feeling, I took note of where my sister and Eliza were headed—not toward the parking lot, but the stable. Instead of walking inside, however, they veered toward the back of the long, wooden structure where it sat against the rocky cavern wall. I frowned. "Where are they going?"
    Shelton moved to the back corner of the ticket booth and looked. "They ain't going to pick up an elephant, that's for sure."
    A man wearing yellow-and-black-striped Arcane robes appeared at the rear corner of the stable and gave Eliza a deep bow. He said something I couldn't make out over the noise of the menagerie housed in the stable and motioned for Ivy and her grandmother to follow.
    "Dude looks like a bumble bee," I said, snickering.
    "That's a utility Arcane," Shelton said, narrowing his eyes.
    "Utility?"
    He nodded. "Arcanes who perform public works like aether power, arch maintenance, and all that jazz wear those clown suits."
    With the threat to my existence out of sight, I took a deep breath. Swallowed the knot of panic in my chest and fought down the urge to flee. This was a golden opportunity to spy on my beloved relatives, but mustering the courage proved harder than I thought.
    You have to find out what they're up to. The fate of the world depends on it.
    When my subconscious put it like that, it felt like I had no choice. I sighed. Steeled myself with the knowledge I could run really, really fast if necessary and said, "Let's go."
    I headed toward