Dangerous Tides Read Free Page A

a hated nickname. "It's impossible for you to teach Libby how to be a Hagatha. You were born that way. She, however, is nothing but goodness." He grabbed a handful of cookies as the plate floated by and expertly tossed his jacket on the couch without looking.
    "Why don't your obnoxious guard dogs bite him?" Hannah asked Sarah. "The next time either of them wants food I'm going to remind them they failed in their most important job."
    Sarah shrugged. "They like Jonas."
    "They have good taste," Jonas said, smirking. He sat on the floor, wedging himself between Hannah and Elle. "Move over cupcake." He pushed his leg hard against Hannah's thigh. "I'm joining the family powwow tonight."
    Hannah opened her mouth, then closed it abruptly, studying the grim lines etched around Jonas's mouth, noting the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. She knew, as did all her sisters, that when something went terribly wrong at work, Jonas sought the comfort of the people and the one place he called family and home. Hannah waved her hands in a graceful, complicated pattern toward the kitchen and at once the tea kettle whistled.
    "Libby wants to be a bad girl," Sarah announced.
    Jonas's eyebrow shot up. A slow smile spread across his face. "Libby, hon, there is no way you can be corrupted by the rest of your sisters. You're just too sweet."
    Libby glared at him, totally exasperated. "I am not. Come on! You could help out a little, Jonas. I have the ability to be just as wicked as the rest of my family."
    "Hear, hear," Elle said. "Well said, sister."
    Joley nodded her head in agreement. "Not true, but well said," she agreed.
    Hannah lifted her hand palm out and a mug of steaming tea floated out of the kitchen toward the circle of sisters. She caught it carefully, blew on it until the bubbles quieted and handed it to Jonas.
    "So why do you want to be a bad girl?" Jonas asked.
    "My life is boring. Borrrr-iing," Libby said, drawing the word out. "I want to have fun. I don't want to be the responsible one anymore."
    "Then you're dropping your Doctors Without Borders and your Save the Whales and Support Big Cat Rescue causes?" Jonas asked. He snapped his fingers. "And you definitely have to stop recycling and your save the environment thing you do every year."
    "Wait," Joley added. "You can throw out the save the rain forest as well. That should give you plenty of time to be a bad girl."
    Libby kicked her sister with remarkable gentleness. "You're not being nice and neither is Jonas. You're laughing at me."
    "No, I'm not," Joley replied immediately. "I love you just the way you are. You just have to accept that you don't have a mean bone in your body. It's why you can't think of anyone you'd like to put in a rocket and send to Mars."
    "Jonas," Hannah said. "Because he's so bossy."
    "Hannah," Jonas said simultaneously, "because she craves so much attention she's always showing her bod to every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to see it."
    "I'm a model, you toad," Hannah said. "I don't show off my body, I show off the clothes."
    "And brilliantly, too," Kate said, blowing her a kiss. "I'll second Jonas for being mean to Hannah."
    "It isn't fair to gang up on me," Jonas protested. "She was mean to me first."
    "You said it at the same time," Kate pointed out.
    "Only because I knew what she was going to say."
    "Jackson Deveau." Elle named a deputy sheriff. "Because he annoys me no end."
    "Illya Prakenskii," Joley added a heartbeat behind. "Because he needs to be off planet and he's just plain spooky." She rubbed the palm of her hand as if she had an itch.
    "Frank Warner for breaking Inez's heart," Sarah said.
    "I can't very well say Sylvia Fredrickson because she's turned over a new leaf," Abigail said, "so I'll just have to say I'm going with Joley on this one."
    Everyone looked at Libby. She sighed, feeling the weight of their stares. "Not Jonas. He's bossy but really has our best interests at heart."
    Hannah rolled her eyes when Jonas poked her.
    "Certainly not