The Morrigan's Curse Read Online Free Page B

the car,” Jax protested. “I’m experimenting, to figure these things out.”
    â€œNo experiments that could get you decapitated, Jax,” Riley said. “That’s an order.”
    It wasn’t, though—at least not a magical order. Riley was too busy concentrating on driving to throw his talent at Jax. Rain pattered against the windows, and a gust of wind pushed the Land Rover sideways. “Is this what storms are usually like?” Evangeline asked.
    â€œRegular storms don’t move this fast. And the mainpart of this one hasn’t hit us yet,” Riley said. “When it gets here”—his eyes met Jax’s in the rearview mirror—”it’ll be like Hurricane Sandy, except without any warning for the Normals.”
    â€œAny chance it’ll vanish at midnight along with the Kin who made it?” Jax asked.
    â€œThere hasn’t been weather on the eighth day since the Llyrs were put into Oeth-Anoeth, so who knows?” said Riley. “We can hope.”
    He didn’t sound hopeful, though, and neither was Jax.
Why should things start going our way now?
    Evangeline wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. “I read the newspapers,” she said. “I know what Hurricane Sandy did.”
    Jax rummaged in the duffel bag to find her a sweatshirt. While he was searching, the bag began to vibrate, and a muffled burst of music came from the bottom. “Is that your phone?” Jax asked Riley incredulously.
    â€œGet it,” said Riley. “It’ll be Deidre.”
    Jax dug for the phone. The screen was dark, showing no incoming call, but the ringtone inexplicably continued. Jax stabbed the answer button. “Hello?”
    â€œThat you, cutie?”
    Nobody but Deidre Morgan called Jax
cutie
. Thankfully. It wasn’t something he wanted catching on. “Yeah, it’s me,” he said. “Making the phone work on Grunsday? Prettyimpressive.” Jax knew the Morgan talent was working with machinery, but he’d never really thought of phones as
machines
before.
    â€œTell Riley you guys need to leave that motel
now
,” Deidre said. “Head inland as fast as you can.”
    â€œWe already are.” Jax held the phone out so Riley and Evangeline could hear too.
    â€œArnie said he’ll meet you at the mountain house,” Deidre continued. “Transitioners are leaving the city as fast as they can. I’m sure the storm was meant to attack
us
, but it’s the Normals who are going to get clobbered. Three airplanes that were frozen en route to JFK or LaGuardia have been knocked out of the sky already.”
    â€œThanks for the warning, Deidre,” Riley called out.
    â€œI’ll add it to the list of things you owe me for, sweetie.” Deidre’s reply faded away, and although there was nothing visible on the phone to indicate the end of this magical call, Jax knew she was gone.
    He looked out the rear window. A.J. and Mrs. Crandall were behind them in the truck. The black cloud of doom hovered over the New York skyline like bad CGI in an apocalyptic movie. Jax wondered what the Normals were going to think when they reappeared at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. Seconds ago, by their own timeline, they’d been enjoying a clear summer night. An instant later, they were going to find themselves in the middle of a massivestorm—or, at best, in the aftermath of one. Some of them wouldn’t have time to register the situation before they were, as Deidre said,
clobbered
.
    Riley drove west, heading for Pennsylvania, where they had a cabin in the middle of the Pocono Mountains. He made good progress at first, matching the storm’s speed and staying on the outer edge of wind and rain. He steered the Land Rover around stationary vehicles on I-80 that were frozen in the moment between Wednesday and Thursday. Only once did he clip somebody’s side-view mirror, when an unexpected gust made