B00JX4CVBU EBOK Read Online Free Page A

when we get home.’
    ‘Jesus, Ember. You better be right. You completely blew your cover back there.’
    Ember winced and tried to think of anything she could have done differently. She put her head in her hands and then pulled her hair back from her face.
    ‘I know. But I had to get out.’
    Chloe patted her sister’s arm. ‘If it really was a Skorn, thank God you did. But using our powers in public is a big no-no remember. Your story had better be good—or Celeste will tear you apart.’
    Ember bit her lip and thought about how her eldest sister would react to all this. An angry Celeste. On reflection, the Skorn at Tesco’s didn’t seem so bad.
    *
    Ember could tell Chloe was worried by the way she sped down the long driveway.
     Chloe punched the steering wheel softly. ‘You realise if what you say is true, we will probably have another Scather battle on our hands?’
    Ember closed her eyes. ‘I know, I know.’
    Nobody answered their calls of hello as they walked through the house. Ember and Chloe found the other three sisters out the back of the manor house. They sat on picnic rugs in the shade of a large elm.
    Ember and Chloe exited through the sunroom and walked down the back steps.
     Celeste waved. ‘Over here.’
    Celeste sat, leaning against the tree reading, Brooke was lying on her stomach with her legs in the sun, and Skye was stretched out on the other rug, drawing a picture of a rabbit, surrounded by a scattering of blue pencils.
    Ember marched across the short green lawn to the edge of the rugs and put her hands on her hips. ‘I was right!’
    Brooke mumbled into her arm, ‘What are you screeching about?’ 
    Ignoring Brooke, Ember spoke to Celeste. ‘The Skorn. I saw him … it again.’
    ‘Yeah, yeah,’ said Brooke.
    Celeste frowned, and placed a brown leaf in her book as a bookmark. ‘Chloe?’
    Chloe placed an arm around Ember. ‘I think it’s something. We should listen to what she has to say.’
    Chloe sat up straight. ‘OK, Em. Tell us about your Skorn.’
    ‘What about Skye? Should we talk somewhere else?’ asked Chloe as she and Ember sat down next to the little girl. Ember placed a hand on Skye’s back.
    ‘Maybe hearing about Skorns and Scathers will shock her back,’ said Celeste.
    ‘Celeste!’ said Chloe.
    ‘What? We’ve tried everything else. Look,’ said Celeste, as she counted on her fingers. ‘Our twenty-two year old sister is a mute eight-year-old girl. She can’t fight. We are not a full Vordene. Skorns bring Scathers.’ She ticked off the last finger on her left hand. ‘So, if we fight, we’re done for.’
    ‘I can still fight. And there are four of us,’ said Ember.
    ‘As a foursome we’re hardly stronger than as individuals. We need the power of the five. Without Skye we aren’t really a Vordene—we haven’t been for over three years. 
    Chloe looked at her hands. ‘Maybe it’s time we …’
    Celeste shook her head, her gaze intense. ‘No, Chloe. We’ve talked about this. We are going to give it another year. If Skye doesn’t come back to us by then, that’s when we start talking about the succession.’
    Yeah, thought Ember, ‘succession’ meant babies. And apart from Chloe, none of them were ready to go down that road quite yet.
    ‘But we might not have a year if Ember’s right,’ said Chloe, bringing the conversation back on track.
    Frowning, Celeste turned to Ember. ‘Tell us.’
    Ember took a deep breath. ‘It was the same guy, but this time in the supermarket. Chloe was waiting for me in the car. I started the shopping, as Mrs Ashton of course, but then I saw him in the rice and pasta aisle, looking at me all weird again. Just as I was about to get the hell out of there I ran into old Mrs Winslow.’
    ‘Ugh,’ said Chloe. 
    ‘Yeah. She started carrying on like she does, then the guy comes up and asks me about what sauce I like or something. Mrs Winslow accuses him of being after my money, but the guy ignores her and get this