Dangerous Creatures Read Free Page A

back when they did have something.
    But tonight John and Liv were happy as clams because they were staying together, while you couldn’t chisel Ethan and Lena apart with a spatula the size of Link’s Beater. They were headed to schools in the same state but different cities; that was the compromise they had reached with their families. Link couldn’t even remember the names, though he’d pretended to listen to a thousand conversations about them—the schools, their dorms, their reading lists. Blah, blah, blah. All he knew was they’d be at rival schools in sleepy old towns up in Massachusetts (or Michigan, or maybe Minnesota—heck, what was the difference?) ninety minutes apart. You would think it was nine hundred miles, the way they’re acting.
    Whipped as Thanksgiving potatoes.
    Still, Link smiled at the sweet stupidity of it all. Who was he to judge? If anybody had a shot, it was Ethan and Lena. Even John and Liv had managed to keep it together. It was only Link and Ridley who were Gatlin’s biggest basket case of a relationship.
    Ex-relationship , he reminded himself.
    “Nothing’s going to change.” Lena’s tone turned serious. “We won’t let it. We’ve been through enough together to know that the people you care about are the only thing that matters.”
    Link caught Ridley’s eye in the flickering firelight, in spite of everything. Ridley looked away, pretending to listen to what Lena was saying, as if she cared. Anything to ignore me , Link thought. That’s her trick, same as always, and she still thinks I don’t know what she’s up to.
    Just like the old days.
    “So, you think a Cast will keep us together?” Ridley asked, pretending to listen. “Can’t we just, I don’t know, send postcards?”
    Lena ignored her. “Maybe Marian would have an idea.”
    “Or maybe she wouldn’t. Because it’s a bad idea,” Ridley said.
    “No, wait. I think I’ve got it.” Liv’s braids were coming undone, and she sounded exhausted. But the sparks in her eyes burned as bright as the remnants of the campfire. “A Binding Cast. It’s how Ravenwood protects itself and keeps those who would do harm out, right? Binds a person to a place? Couldn’t it also Bind six people together? Theoretically.”
    Lena shrugged. “A Binding Cast for people? It could work. I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t.”
    Link scratched his head. “Work how? Like, our hands are permanently stuck together in a group hug? Or like, we can read each other’s minds? Can you get a little more specific?” Not that I’d mind being Bound to Rid , he thought. At least, it wouldn’t suck.
    Lena stared into the glowing embers. “Who knows? We’re kind of winging it here. There aren’t a whole lot of Casts about Binding people.”
    “Or, you know. Any.” Ridley sighed. “So why am I the only person who thinks we should get out the peach schnapps and go bowling instead?” No takers. “How about breakfast, then?”
    Link kicked a clod of dirt toward the fire. When had Rid gotten so worried about using her powers? She’d been like that ever since the summer. Skittish as a new pup, and about as nervous.
    “This isn’t black magic, Rid,” Lena said. “If we do something wrong, we’ll undo it.”
    “When have those words ever not come back to haunt you?” Ridley shook her head at her cousin.
    “Nothing big,” Lena said. “Just a little something so we don’t forget about each other. Like a Forget-Me-Not. A memento. I could do it in my sleep.”
    Rid raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s gotten a little cocky since she brought Boyfriend back from the dead.”
    Lena ignored the dig and held out her hand to Ridley. “Everyone join hands.”
    Ridley sighed and took Lena’s hand, also taking Link’s warm and sweaty one.
    He grinned and gave her a squeeze. “Is this gonna be kinky? Please let this be kinky.”
    “Please let you shut up,” said Rid. But it was hard not to smile, and she had to make an effort to keep