Chase the Dark Read Free Page A

annoying.” He slid a little closer. “But if you need comforting, let me know.”
    She slapped his hand away before it could reach her. “Quit screwing around, Lyre. I’m in serious trouble, don’t you get it?”
    “I haven’t had a chance to screw around yet,” he complained. “What’s the big deal about a frog?”
    She shot a cold look at Ash in answer. Still munching crackers, he opened the fridge to ponder its contents. She scowled at his back, then ducked past Lyre into the pantry. Grabbing a chocolate bar from the massive stack on the top shelf, she returned to the island.
    “So?” Lyre pressed. “What’s the big deal?”
    “It’s just such a bad time,” she mumbled as she tore open the wrapper. “It would be seriously bad for the Consuls to look powerless today.” She took a huge bite, almost moaning as the chocolate melted on her tongue.
    Lyre watched her eat the chocolate bar with a little more intensity than was normal. “And what’s special about today?”
    Ash reappeared from the fridge with a can of cream soda in hand. It wasn’t fair. Even with a pink soda can and crackers, he was still frightening.
    “So it’s tonight then?” he asked. “They’re moving it out of the Consulate before morning?”
    Her head jerked up in surprise. He met her stare, expressionless.
    “Move what?” Lyre asked blankly.
    She fought not to shrink under Ash’s gaze. How did he know? Sure, the guy had a reputation for being in on just about every secret out there, but only a bare handful of people knew the classified object, the very one being discussed in the confidential meeting that night, was hidden in the Consulate itself. The ambassadors who would be arriving in a couple hours didn’t even know the object of contention was in the country, let alone in the manor.
    She almost said she wasn’t at liberty to discuss it. “I don’t know,” she answered instead, following a vague instinct that he would force it out of her if he knew she knew.
    His eyes narrowed for an instant. He suspected she was lying but didn’t say anything. Just ate another cracker.
    “I . . . have a lesson to go to.” As she walked out of the room, she glanced back. Ash stood at the counter, staring at nothing. Swallowing hard, she wondered what other secrets he had somehow unearthed.
    Because she had a few she didn’t want anyone to know.

CHAPTER 2
    P IPER slowly leaned back into the stretch. Tired muscles complained as her thighs went taut. She lay on her back on the mats, legs bent at the knee and feet under her butt.
    “And then ,” she huffed, “he threatened to expel me from my apprenticeship.”
    Uncle Calder leaned back into the same stretch beside her. His eyebrows climbed halfway up his shaved head. It glistened with moisture from their sparring session. “Do you think that was an unfair threat?”
    “ Yes .”
    He lifted his eyebrows impossibly higher. She scowled. Her father and uncle might be identical twins, but they were easy to tell apart: Quinn always looked cross while Calder looked perpetually amused.
    At the moment, he looked uncharacteristically somber. “You’re working with a serious disadvantage that other Consuls don’t have. That’s all the more reason you need to be more careful about getting into physical altercations with daemons. Today, you crossed the line to physical.”
    Piper sat up with a growl. “Ether was charging Ozar! It was going to get physical anyway. I was trying to keep Ozar from getting killed.”
    “And who do you think stood more of a chance against Ether? A mature daemon with seasoned defensive skills or an Apprentice Consul without a stitch of magic?”
    She snapped her mouth shut, seething at the painful truth.
    “Of course your father and I are concerned. I don’t think it’s unfair to remove you from your Apprenticeship if your life is in danger.” His look was sympathetic. “We know how much it means to you, Piper. We won’t make that decision