Scarred (the Spellbound Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

“We’ll be working closely in the future to go over your responsibilities, and talk about any changes you’d like to make as the new leader.”
                  This is all so much to take in, that I don’t know what to say. I don’t want the position that’s being offered to me. As it stands, I don’t feel fit to lead anyone. I still have a lot of learning to do. And besides, I have a score to settle before I dedicate my life to taking charge of anyone else’s. I clear my throat, and ask, “Is that all?”
                  “Actually, no. I’m going to have to ask you to lie low.”
                  “What do you mean?”
                  In response, Agent Rivera pulls a phone out of his pocket, and presses play on a video that’s already been loaded. It’s security footage of Times Square, the night that Lily and I fought on the streets where anyone could see. I watch as Lily waves her hand, and a silver car flies through the front window of an Olive Garden. I can almost feel the pain of what happens next ripping through my abdomen all over again.
    “We’ve been keeping tabs on Krystal,” he explains, “and by extension, everyone she’s connected to. So we know of your movements, and we know you’ve come very close to exposing the world to the existence of metahumans several times.”
                  “Yeah? And?”
                  “We created hunters like your friends Emma and Jenna for a reason, Ms. Santos. To make sure that we can keep the secrets that must be kept. And if you continue endangering those secrets… we won’t hesitate to have you neutralized.”
                  I glance at Nick, before fixing Agent Rivera with a deadly glare. “Agent, are you threatening me?”
                  “That all depends.”
                  “On what?”
                  Agent Rivera turns, and pulls open the door before answering. “Whether or not you decide to behave.”

3
                  What little time I spend waiting at the cemetery is short, but silent. I’ve got too much on my mind, and I assume that Nick does as well. Either that, or the entity replacing him is already gloating over their “successful” return. In any case, I’m glad for the silent respite while he travels his preferred non-magical way. I need a little time to think things through on my own.
                  Of all the things that came to light in my discussion with Agent Rivera, what confuses me the most is that Krystal would actually choose me, of all people, to lead the clan in her stead. I have absolutely no leadership experience. I don’t know the first thing about teaching others. Hell, I’m still a student myself. I’m young, and stubborn, and prone to following dangerous impulses. She knew all of this, and made sure to tell me when I wasn’t living up to her standards. So why would she pick me?
                  Alyssa would have been the much smarter choice. She’s everything I’m not. Calm and collected. Analytical. And most importantly, experienced. But what’s done is done. Now, I just have to figure out some way to tell my only surviving clan member that I’m now her superior.
                  Before long, Nick’s cab slows to a stop near the Kensico Cemetery. He steps out after paying the driver gawking at my wings, and we turn to observe our surroundings. I have to admit, this looks like a lovely place for my body to spend the rest of its existence. Well kept grass expands over hills in every direction, dotted with trees all along the driveway and scattered among the headstones. The cab dropped him off within walking distance from a small congregation near the lake, the very same people that we’re late to see. Nick offers me his hand, but I walk right past him, my eyes on the small crowd by the lake.
                  Surrounding a