armor of magic 02 - rising light Read Free Page B

sound because I had never heard it. Nobody had “stopped by” since I had returned from Glimmer City. Not a single nosey neighbor. Probably had something to do with Asher’s cloaking mechanism.
    I looked through the peep-hole to find surfer-bro Julian on my front porch looking roughed up. Cuts streaked along his cheeks, and his clothes were shredded. I opened the door and let in the only other Protector of Light I knew. Besides my parents, of course.
    “Dude!” I said, teasing him.
    “Hey,” he mumbled in a very un-Julian manner.
    “Whoa, what’s wrong, kid? You run out of weed?”
    He looked to the ground, ignoring my barb. I patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, I’m just messing with you. What’s going on? I’ve never seen you so, um, sullen or forlorn. Did you become emo or something? No more surf and sun?”
    “My house is gone. Burned to the ground. So not only are my folks missing, I don’t have anywhere to live.”
    I saw where this was going and I needed to nip that shit in the bud before he—
    “I need a place to stay. So, whaddya say?”
    “Oh, um. What about your friends? Won’t they miss you?”
    “My buds are a mess. Got into some dark shit while I was gone. Tried to steer them down the right path, but they didn’t want to listen. As a matter of fact …” He gestured to his wounds and his torn shirt. “Those dark warlock asshats in Los Angeles are convincing-ass mindfuckers. They turned my own homies against me.”
    Julian didn’t wait for my answer. He set his ratty backpack down in the foyer and began strolling through the house.
    “Shoes off!” I yelled.
    He managed a laugh. “Dude. You’re more uptight than ever. Thought you’d be more chill now that training is over.”
    “Well, let’s just say I have some pent-up aggression. The Monarchy has Asher ‘under review.’”
    Julian laughed again as he went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “The dude did go rogue. So you’re still a virgin, I take it?”
    I gave him a hearty eye roll. “Not your business, kid.”
    He stared into my empty fridge. “And you have no grub. What have you been doing?”
    “Also none of your business.”
    Taking out the last pint of Ben and Jerry’s from the freezer, he sat down at the kitchen counter and dug in. I guess that was a good thing. I needed to fit into my jeans again.
    “How’d you find my place? Asher has it cloaked.”
    “Not from my gear. I can see it loud and clear.”
    “Loud and clear? That doesn’t even make sense.”
    Once he polished off the ice cream, he started going through my bare cabinets. “This is pretty sad, Fiona. No wonder you’re still a virgin. Dudes like food.”
    “You’re an asshole.”
    “But I’m your favorite asshole. Let’s go shopping. I’ll buy you some grub and you can tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself. Judging from the looks of it, I’d say a whole lotta boob-tube.”
    Julian didn’t give me a chance to rebut his suggestion; he yanked my arm and pulled me out the front door.
    I held what was left of his sleeve. “Can we get you some new clothes while we’re at it? You can’t walk around Pacific Heights looking like this. They’ll call the cops.”
    “Sure. I’ve got plenty of dough. Fortunately, my folks left me a trust fund. Planning ahead, I guess.”
    “So you’re a trust fund brat? That explains a lot.”
    We made our way to one of the boutiques on Fillmore and entered. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Also, if you’re going to stay with me, there are some rules we need to establish.”
    Julian waved me off and went straight to the gorgeous sales woman and began flirting. She showed him a bunch of shirts and jeans that suited his personality to perfection. I waited in the front of the shop while he sorted out his new wardrobe.
    At the market, a much more dapper-looking Julian bought a bunch of food—enough for the next couple weeks.
    “I really dig cooking. Can’t wait to break in your new