Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy Read Online Free PDF

made her remember being in London for the first time, holding her dad’s hand and enjoying the novel sensation of having nobody know her name or her entire life history, having nobody even notice she was Asian because it was an everyday unremarkable thing there. She’d heard someone shout out “Jared!” and spun around, stood up on the stone parapet of Blackfriars Bridge, and looked for him.
    But Kami wasn’t a child anymore, to search for him in every crowd. It was a name like any other. She still found herself feeling possessive. Jared was hers, his name was his, and it annoyed her that it was shared by some delinquent.
    “Hey, he’s cute,” Holly said, looking after Ash. “Actually, they’re both cute. The new guys, I mean. Ash is cuter, but crazy Jared might be more fun.”
    “Yeah, getting expelled from school and spending your life in a chain gang: such fun.” Kami grabbed Holly’s elbow and steered her back inside. “I need to talk to this guy.”
    Holly blinked. “Because he’s cute?”
    “Because he’s crazy,” said Kami. “And that’s news. Besides, he’s a Lynburn, and I want to know about them. That Lynburn seems a little busy just at present. But can you snag him and bring him to me tomorrow?”
    “You know,” Holly drawled, “I’ve never had a problem snagging them.”
    Kami felt Jared reach for her, as if he knew she was thinking about him.
I’m bored
, he said.
What are you doing?
    Talking about hot guys
, Kami informed him.
    Jared said,
Oh my God
.
    You did ask
.
    It’s a topic of absorbing interest
, Jared said.
I’m sure. Obviously, as a hot guy myself, I wouldn’t know
.
    Kami laughed.
    I find your skepticism very hurtful
, Jared said.
I’m extremely hot. Except not so much in the face
.
    If you’re saying a lot of people want to buy tickets to your imaginary gun show
, Kami said,
I’m very happy for you
.
    His amusement rippled through her, making her smile, as she and Holly reached their classroom. Holly was giving her a strange look, which made Kami realize that she had been communing silently with the empty air for too long and had also just laughed at nothing.
    “Well, thanks, Holly, you’re a pal,” Kami said hastily.
    Holly hesitated, as if expecting something else, but Kami peeled off and headed for her usual seat beside Amber Green.
    Amber gave her a brief smile through the curtain of her fox-red hair and then returned to reading
The Nosy Parker
. Kami beamed at Amber’s bent head.
    How do you deal with it?
Kami asked Jared.
The laughing at nothing and occasionally stopping dead in your tracks
.
    I have a system where when I stop, I lean casually against something
, Jared told her.
It makes people think I’m a bad boy. Or possibly that I have a bad back
.
    Kami laughed again and Amber gave her a familiar look that said she was worried Kami was crazy. Kami’s laughter subsided and she flipped open her notebook to start plotting her interview with the delinquent.
    Holly was bringing him to her tomorrow. She had to be prepared.

    It was dark by the time Kami got to Angela’s house to discuss their future of unstoppable investigative journalistic teamwork. The Montgomerys had bought their house because they thought Sorry-in-the-Vale was quaint and would be a great place to raise the kids. One year and two extensions on their house later, they both got so bored they seized any excuse to go up to London and leave the kids on their own. Angela never talked about it and never seemed to miss them.
    The house had once been pretty but now resembled a sad little donkey with two oversize saddlebags. Light shone from one window, and the gate was hanging open, which was a mercy because Angela always took forever to get up off the sofa and buzz Kami in. Kami pushed the gate open farther and headed for the back door.
    It had gotten very dark, very fast. She could only make out the pale side of the house and the stir of leaves that was the yew tree by the wall. Even walking