Stone and a Hard Place Read Online Free

nowadays.
    He held out the plate, waggling it a little. “Come on. It’s right here. Take it. Think about all the things I could teach you, if you can just—”
    Ethan moved before he finished speaking. Snatching a metal horse figurine from the coffee table, he flung it at Stone’s head, then followed it with a roar and another lunge at his midsection.
    Stone didn’t flinch. He waved a hand in an almost languid gesture, stopping the figurine in midair a foot from his face. He pointed his other hand at Ethan. The boy yelped and backpedaled as an invisible force shoved him backward and down onto the couch next to his mother. The horse figurine landed neatly and gently in his lap.
    “Enough?” Stone asked. The pizza slice on its plate floated with mocking calm next to him.
    Ethan struggled to rise, but the unseen force held him in place. His face reddened. “Yeah,” he said through gritted teeth. “Enough.”
    Stone grinned, dropping the spell holding the boy down. “Right, then.” Unable to resist a grand finale (it was so rare he got to let loose like this—it was considered tacky in magical circles), he switched off the pole lamp again, summoned an invisibility spell, and wreathed his body in crackling blue eldritch lightning. When he turned the light back on, he was sitting in the chair he’d vacated, calmly taking a bite from his slice of pizza.
    “So,” he said after swallowing, “I trust my qualifications are acceptable?”
    If Ethan’s eyes had gotten any bigger, they might have fallen right out of his head. He nodded. “Uh…yeah. Yeah.”
    Mrs. Penrose laughed. “You did ask him to show you what he could do.”
    Ethan didn’t answer for a long time. He looked first at Stone, then at his mother. “So…what do you think?” he asked her. His tone suggested he wasn’t asking for her permission, but for her counsel. Making her part of the decision.
    She smiled a wan but proud smile. “It’s up to you, kiddo. I know you’ve got it in you, but it sounds like you’re going to have to work your butt off to get it. Are you ready for that?”
    “If you need a bit of time to think about it, you can give me a call tomorrow,” Stone said. “It’s not the sort of commitment one should make lightly. Sleep on it, if you like. Give me an answer in the morning. Or next week. I’m not in any hurry.”
    But Ethan shook his head. “I don’t need to think it over, Dr. Stone. This is what I want to do. I accept your conditions. Will you train me?”
    Stone nodded briskly. “All right, you’ve got yourself a teacher.” Rising from his chair, he pulled out a business card, scribbled his home address and phone number on it, and passed it to Ethan. “I expect you at my place next Monday afternoon, three o’clock. That’ll give me some time to prepare a few lessons ahead. Don’t be late. Oh! And—” He glanced around until he spotted his overcoat hanging on the hall tree near the door. He gestured, and a small red book sailed from an inner pocket and landed next to Ethan. “Read this by then. It’ll give you a little grounding, so I won’t have to trot out the whole tiresome intro lecture.”
    For only the second time that night, Ethan’s thin face lit with a smile. “Thanks, Dr. Stone. I won’t let you down.”
    “See that you don’t.” But Stone returned the smile. Maybe this would work out after all.

    To his surprise, Mrs. Penrose got up and accompanied Stone to the door, motioning for Ethan to stay put. She gave Stone a faint, tired smile. “I’m so glad you’ve agreed to take him on, Dr. Stone. He’s a good kid, but he just needs a little guidance. Things haven’t been great for him, losing his father so young and now…this.” She spread her hands, indicating herself.
    Stone nodded. “I’m sure we’ll do fine.”
    Her smile grew wistful. “I miss Matthew terribly, even after all these years. He used to show me the most amazing things. I wish you could have met him—I think