An Army of Good Read Free

pulled out a chair and sat herself at the table beside Christian.
    â€œHi, my name’s Grace, remember me?” she said sarcastically, holding her hand out for an introductory handshake.
    â€œYeah, yeah, I know. I’m sorry, but it’s not every day you get to swim with a dolphin, is it?”
    â€œI’m only teasing you, Chris,” Grace said, lowering her outstretched hand. “It’s been good to see you having so much fun. I was worried about you when we first got here. You were really quiet, and that’s not normal for you, is it now? You’re usually very loud and very annoying.” Grace laughed.
    Zavier was seated at the head of the table, with Jazmine and Aaron seated on either side of him. When they’d arrived at the beach, Zavier had sent for Jazmine, requesting she join them at the beach house. He knew that when the children arrived they would benefit from her warm and mothering nature. The rest of the herd had been advised to remain at the meadow until further notice.
    â€œWell, this makes a nice change. I normally have to wrestle Zek or Tobes for the last of the food,” Aaron said, picking up the one remaining bread roll.
    â€œManners, Aaron!” Jazmine said scornfully. “Don’t forget our guests.”
    Aaron rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, would either of you like this roll?” he grumbled, offering it to the children. “No, okay then, I’ll have it,” he said, quickly shoving the bap in his mouth before Grace or Christian had a chance to answer.
    Jazmine shook her head and couldn’t help but smile. Grace and Christian laughed as Aaron’s cheeks bulged, pushing his eyes into a squinting grin. Chester hopped onto the plate, and began to peck at the remaining crumbs.
    Zavier pushed back his chair and rose from the table.
    â€œGrace, Christian, I’ve allowed you very little time to adapt to your new surroundings, and for that I apologise, but I don’t have the luxury of time, we must talk, you need to know why you are here, and you need to be made fully aware of the dangers that lay ahead.”
    Christian grabbed Grace’s hand under the table and gave her a concerned look. He’d been having such an amazing day with Mateo that he’d forgotten about his worries, and now they came flooding back to him with the full force of a steam train: the evil Nomeds, the loss of his powers, the absence of everything that was familiar to him, except for Grace that is, she was his comfort, his link to home, his best friend.
    â€œCome, let’s sit outside,” Zavier summoned.
    Grace gave Chris’s hand a reassuring squeeze and pulled him up from his seat.
Why is she so okay with everything?
Christian wondered, and then he realised,
she doesn’t know, she still thinks we have the magic powers that we used against the Nomeds in her garden on New Year. She thinks we’re able to protect ourselves. Well, I know differently,
he thought as he rubbed the bruise on his thigh that he’d received after falling from the tree branch.
    Zavier pulled a stick from the unlit fire and sat himself down on a log. He jabbed the stick into the sand and began to draw.
    â€œIs that supposed to be Mateo?” Grace asked, looking at the image etched in the sand that resembled a dolphin, nose down with its tail in the air.
    â€œNo, this is a map of Liberty,” Zavier replied, and he continued to draw, marking above the dolphin’s tail with an N for north, below its nose with an S for south, beside its belly with an E for east, and a W beside its back for west. “We’re here,” he said, pointing along the belly of the dolphin. “This part of Liberty is known as Serenity Sunrise Beach. I brought you here because this is the safest place for you to be.”
    â€œHow come it’s safer here than it is in the woods? It was so beautiful there. It didn’t look dangerous to me,” Grace