Hold Tight (The Embrace Series) Read Free Page A

dessert. ”
    “Okay!” Chase ran into the other room.
    A few minutes later, I came downstairs with a basket full of light-colored clothes. Upbeat music rang out of the family room. I peeked in to see Chase holding a copy of Handyman Magazine as he bounced along with the music to Disney’s The Sword in the Stone .
    “What happened to cleaning while you watched your movie?” I balanced the basket on my hip so I could grab his gray hoodie off the back of the couch.
    “I am.” He pointed to the end table. “See, I used magic to stack the magazines. Just like Merlin.”
    “You did what?” The basket nearly slipped from my grip.
    Since the powers ran in our blood, it stood to reason Chase would possess them, eventually. But could he have tapped into his at such a young age? I tried to remember when Isaac and our friend Josh Corey had said they’d embraced their powers. I was pretty sure they had been eight or nine, and they’d learned about them through their parents.
    I studied Chase, searching for any supernatural movement from him or the magazines.
    “It’s fun! ‘Rubbity, scrubbity, sweepity, flow,’” Chase sang along with Merlin.
    Fun was not the word I’d use to describe a six-year-old with powers. Not to mention I’d have to tell Dad magic was real.
    “Can you do it again?” I asked, needing to see him do a spell with my own two eyes.
    “Sure!” Chase zoomed around the room, his arms held out to the side as he took the long way to the end table. “Look behind you!”
    I did, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him slam the magazine he’d been holding on top of the pile. I fought back a smile. “What’s behind me?”
    “Look, the magazine flew right on top of the others!”
    My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, reminding me I hadn’t taken it out of silent mode after school. “It sure did,” I replied to Chase. “You’ll have to teach me that someday.”
    “Okay.” He went back to singing along with Merlin.
    Into the receiver, I said, “Hey, Sarah. What’s up?”
    “Hi. Did you hear Ben’s having a small get-together at his house Saturday night?”
    “No.” I dumped the laundry into the washing machine.
    “Mark and I are going. You and Kaylee have to come or I won’t know anyone.”
    Sarah Johnson and Mark Schacter had been dating for a month, but they were from different social circles. Sarah was an A student, on several committees, and voted most likely to succeed. Mark skated by with Cs, the last committee he’d joined was to get close to a girl, and he didn’t even make it on the radar to be voted anything.
    “Pleeease,” she begged. “I know Ben invited Isaac and Josh.”
    I sighed. The last thing I wanted to do on a Saturday night was get drunk with Ben’s buddies, but Sarah was my second-oldest friend, and if she needed me, she knew I’d be there for her.
    “I’ll talk to Isaac.”
    “You’re the best! See you at school.”
    I said bye, poured detergent and softener into the appropriate dispensers, and hit start. Merlin’s and Arthur’s voices drifted out of the family room. It got me thinking that I was going about my chores the hard way. Why wasn’t I using my powers to clean the house? Just because I hadn’t mastered psychokinesis didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to speed things up.
    “You can do this.” I rubbed my hands together and found my center. All I had to do was focus on the task at hand. I needed the dishwasher door to open. I’d barely finished the thought when the door not only swung open, but the lower drawer rolled out too.
    “That was easy,” I said, pleased with myself. With a wave of my hand, I thought, To the cabinet!
    The air around me grew thick with my powers as the aroma of chocolate-covered strawberries filled the kitchen, letting me know I had fueled my magic with positive emotions. The plates, bowls, and casserole dish rose as one and, along with the silverware, hung suspended above the rack for a long moment. But just