Darkness & Discovery (The Bespelled Trilogy #2) Read Online Free Page A

seconds.” Joey paused just a moment to look at me. “If I were you, I’d just
grab a couple things that have sentimental value. The rest you probably can’t
save, not if they find this place,” he said. And then he, Carrie and Ted were
out the door.
    Alastair and I locked
eyes. “God I’m sorry,” he said, anguish in his eyes. “I’m going to go upstairs
and pack some clothes for you. Grab whatever you want to keep.” And then he was
gone. I heard him tossing things around upstairs a second later.
    I looked around
frantically. My whole life was in here. I grabbed the photo of my Aunt Claire
that was on the Christmas tree, and my favorite quilt that she’d made, which
was over the back of the sofa. I was already wearing the bracelet she’d given
me and the necklace from Alastair, I wanted to save both those things as well.
    And then I made a
decision. I didn’t try to grab anything else. I let the rest go, and rushed out
of the house.
    Alastair was beside me
on the porch a moment later, having shut off every light in the house and
doused the fire with the tea on his way out. “If it looks uninhabited, they
have less reason to burn it down,” he explained.
    I shut and, for
whatever reason, locked the door behind us (as if that would keep out a band of
murderous half-angels). We hurried to the Impala, where Joey had the engine
running. He had pulled a couple big swords from the secret compartment in the
trunk and was putting them in the back seat. Alastair tossed in the four bags
he held (I recognized his and Joey’s among them), and I set the quilt and framed
photo carefully in with them before slamming the trunk.
    I dove into the
passenger seat as Joey climbed behind the wheel. The Cadillac was idling off to
the side of the driveway, Ted’s concerned face peering out the window at us.
“Why haven’t they gone yet? What are they waiting for?” I exclaimed.
    “I told them to follow
us down, because we can drive much faster than they can. We’d all be sitting
ducks if we were stuck behind them on that one lane road when the Order found
us,” Joey said. Then he looked past me and yelled, “Allie, what are you doing?
Get in the car. We’ve got to go!”
    “No,” Alastair said,
shaking his head. “I’m going to wait for the Order and defend Lu’s home. I’ll
catch up to you when this place is secure.”
    “Like hell you are!” I
yelled. “Allie, get in the car!”
    “But –”
    “But nothing. I don’t
need you to defend my house. I need you to stay alive! So get in now or I’m
getting out with you!”
    He hesitated before
jumping in beside me and slamming the door. And then Joey took off like a drag
racer, the Impala’s big engine gunning as he hurtled toward the dirt road
leading into the forest. I had only a moment to verify that Ted’s car was
following us before I lost sight of them.
    Joey drove like an
absolute maniac, flying down the narrow, rutted road. He’d been turned at the
age of fifteen, which probably meant he’d never actually gotten his driver’s
license. And why I had to have that super comforting thought right then, I didn’t
know. He took the turns so quickly that I was knocked around like a pinball,
until Alastair pulled me onto his lap and fastened the seat belt over both of
us. I pressed my eyes shut and muttered, “Tell me when we’re off the mountain,”
as I buried my face in my hands.
    In only a couple
minutes the car slowed. I peeked out from behind my palms and saw that we were
calmly cutting through a residential area. “How on earth did you get us down
here so fast?” I asked Joey.
    “By having mad driving skills.
And also awesome vampire reflexes. Admit it,” he said, shooting me a grin.
“You’re impressed.”
    “I almost threw up,” I
told him. “And if I had, it would totally have been your fault.”
    “You know, I’m
underappreciated,” Joey said, pulling up to the stoplight on Siskiyou
Boulevard. “Here I am, saving your bacon, and what