The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series Read Online Free Page B

tell.”
    “That’s because you were mostly in the other bedroom, sifting through Rita’s mess.”
    “Yuck. Don’t remind me. Are you okay now?”
    “Now that we’re alone, I am.” She touched her fingertip to her lips and kissed it, then placed it on his. “It’s like...it’s like I know the bad feelings are still there, but they’re one step removed, like they’re something rancid that I put in a zippered plastic bag. I can see them, and I know they still stink, but I can’t smell them right now.”
    “I know what’ll make you forget about that.” He sat up, put his arms around her neck, and pulled her face to his, kissing her gently. “How’s that.”
    “I don’t know.” She looked at him slyly. “I’m pretty troubled right now. I think I need much more therapy.”
    “I can take care of that.” He kissed her again and again, until she woke up in her bed and sighed happily, sunlight glowing around her curtains.
    She was home, she was safe, and she was loved.
    * * *
    The demon slowed and stood erect when he saw the dome-shaped tent in the clearing beside the stream he’d been following. A campfire still smoldered nearby, and two pairs of hiking boots stood beside it. He inhaled deeply through his nose and there, mixed in with the smoke and the smell of evergreen trees and mountain laurel, was the scent of flesh.
    It was a flesh he’d never tasted before, but with a delicious aroma — sweet, with a hint of fat. Saliva dribbled from his dagger-like teeth onto his leathery jaw, and he dropped back to all fours and crept supernaturally quiet toward the tent.

Chapter 3
    Carl watched the ball bounce off of the front rim of the basketball goal in Rollie’s driveway and blew out a disgusted grunt. “Dang. All my shots are short today.”
    Garrett Wilkins, Rollie’s father, grabbed the rebound and laid it up and in, then flipped the ball back to Carl. “That’s ’cause your legs are goin’. You get older, your legs aren’t what they used to be, and there goes your jump shot. No legs, no shot.”
    “Yours seems to be okay.”
    “I’ve been doing squats and running on my treadmill some. I’m getting ready to start playing in an adult league, and I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
    “When do you play?”
    “Sunday afternoons. There’s another league that plays on Wednesday nights, but I’ve got church then.”
    Carl launched another poorly aimed shot and frowned as it missed the hoop. “You’re the only person I know who goes to church more than my mother-in-law.”
    Garrett picked up the basketball and held it on his hip. “She told me once that she takes her church with her everywhere she goes.”
    “That sounds like her.”
    “I’m not like that. I need to be in a sanctuary, with a big, loud choir, and everybody wearing their best clothes, and a preacher with an attitude and a message. That’s church, to me.”
    “Well, my mother-in-law’s got enough attitude about religion for all of us.”
    Garrett stepped to the edge of his driveway and took a baseline shot. “Was that your dad’s car I saw in your driveway last night?”
    “He and my mom came over for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Just a small group.” Carl neglected to tell him that the Callahans were there, hoping that Garrett wouldn’t ask.
    They both looked across the street when a dark blue BMW pulled into Carl’s driveway. “That’s a nice ride,” Garrett said. “Who drives that?”
    “Bryce. His dad bought it for him, but he hates it, from what Jamie tells me.”
    “You’re kidding. Something wrong with it?”
    “He thinks it makes him look like a rich snob. His nickname on the cross country team used to be Richie Rich, and he really hated that, I heard.”
    “Hmm.” Garrett stared thoughtfully at the luxury car. “I wouldn’t mind it. He can give it to me, if it bothers him so much.”
    “Apparently, he doesn’t want to take handouts from his dad anymore. That’s why he worked so hard at