Queen Rising Read Online Free Page B

boy spoke, his voice a raspy whisper. “Mother?” he said.
    The spell was broken. The boy didn’t want food alone. He wanted family. And Margot had nothing to give him.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she whispered, before racing away in the other direction.
    Hours passed. Margot walked and wandered. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going when she suddenly realized that she wasn’t alone. There were footsteps all around her. Too close. She counted six or seven boys about her age. And their expressions were not at all welcoming.
    â€œWitch,” one of them said.
    Margot felt herself tense.
    She was not accustomed to being on her own. And among the witches, she had never felt fear. But she knew that there were some people in Algid who believed that witches should stay in the Hollow. And she knew that there were people who believed that witches did not belong
anywhere
.
    Margot felt a rough hand wrap around her arm through her shawl. And she could smell the foul breath of the boy who had grabbed her.
    With her free hand, she managed to retrieve one of the magic vials hidden in the shawl. Margot clutched the potion and whispered into it.
    â€œWhat do you have there, witch? Are you going to put a spell on me?” The loudest boy, who was apparently in charge, laughed and tried to grab her other arm.
    But Margot managed to splash the liquid into the air and the world lit up with a spray of fireworks as bright as the North Lights. The boys scattered in every direction.
    Margot sank to the ground from the effort of the blast.
    She laughed at the irony. She had almost gotten attacked for being something she could no longer be. She tried opening her eyes, but everything was light and shadows.
    Just then, someone crouched down beside her and pulled her to her feet. Her legs buckled beneath her, but she was lifted up. Margot opened her eyes to find herself in a boy’s arms.
    The boy wasn’t handsome exactly, but his features were pleasant and gentle. His hair was dark and shiny with spikes of blue. His eyes were green and arresting.
    â€œYou’re going to be okay,” the boy said as he carried her down the street and into an open doorway. “I’ve got you now.”

11
    Margot clung to the stranger as they wove their way through a boarding house. It was filled with kids around their same age. Some sat alongside a countertop, drinking. Others were playing cards. Still others were dancing in the middle of the room.
    What had she gotten herself into?
Margot wondered as the boy finally stopped inside a bedroom and lay her down on the bed. This felt safer than the square, but her instincts told her to be wary.
    Margot sat up halfway and looked at him, forgetting the pain in her leg, to pepper him with questions.
    â€œWhat is this place? Who are these kids?”
    â€œKids with no place to go.”
    â€œAnd we’re safe here?”
    â€œWe aren’t safe anywhere. But we can sleep here.”
    She wasn’t sure if it was a joke or an invitation. Margot looked up at him, deciding whether or not to repay him for his kindness with a kick. She decided on not. She leaned back against the wall.
    Margot didn’t need rescuing. She just needed to rest. Her eyelids felt heavy. She began to drift off.
    â€œLet me stitch you up,” the boy said, snapping her back to consciousness.
    He placed a tumbler of whiskey at her bedside and ordered her to drink it for the pain. Margot took a sip, and the brown liquid burned as it went down. Usually, she would use magic for these sorts of things, but she didn’t want to after what had happened with the boys in the square.
    The boy grabbed a piece of gauze and a cloth and went to work on Margot’s leg with a level of skill and dexterity that surprised her. Clearly this was not his first time stitching up a wound. It hurt, but she gritted her teeth and took a long swig of the drink. The room tilted, and she wasn’t sure