Read Between for Free Online Page A

up on me.” I feel the tears there, right behind my eyelids, and the more I focus on making them go away, the less control I have over them. A tear slips down my cheek and I swipe it with the back of my hand.
    Seth fixes his very serious brown eyes on me. “This isn’t how I’d hoped to tell you all this. It’s a lot to take in all at once, but right now I don’t really have a choice. I want you to know I’m going to make sure you get through this. That’s my job.”
    My lower lip trembles, and I clamp my lips together to make it stop. When my face is under my control again, I say, “I thought your job was with the Fellowship.”
    “It is.” Seth steps closer and rubs his hand up and down my arm, squeezing. “When we arrive in Ellauria, you and Sam will begin training as Apprentices in the Fellowship. Each Apprentice is assigned an Aegis to serve as a mentor and guardian. I’m your Aegis. That means my primary concern is your safety.” His eyebrows lift. “Understand?”
    I sniff. “Aegis? What kind of name is that?”
    “Ancient Greek. Used to mean a shield.” He smiles. “For you, it means me.”
    He’s my shield. The words bring a strange sort of comfort in the middle of this complete break from reality. I straighten and rest my head against the tree for a moment.
    “This will be easier with Adele and Sam,” Seth says. “He’s going through as much of a shock as you are right now. When we get you two together, Adele and I will explain everything.” He’s right. Sam will need me as much as I need him. I pull away from the tree, and more strands of hair fall from my bun. I tuck them behind my ears. “If we’re all going to the same place, why don’t we run into them here?”
    Seth tips his head toward the path and steps toward it, slowing his pace to allow me to keep up with him. “The Between is infinite. With so many different gates leading from one realm to the other, the odds we’d run into anyone else here are pretty slim.”
    I look around anyway, keeping an eye out for Sam’s curls. Even if we’re not exactly together, knowing we’re in the same space makes me feel stronger.
    I smell the hydrangea bush before I see it. Each rounded bloom is made up of several tiny flowers with pale blue centers that grow darker at the edges of the petals. I can’t get over how the flowers look here. Everything seems so much healthier, like each plant was given perfect conditions to thrive. I’m already planning the sketches in my head. One of the large weathered gate. The blossoming honeysuckle. The balls of hydrangea.
    Splitting this world into scenes helps me process it. One thing at a time. I can do this. We’ll get to Ellauria and sort this out. Sam will be with me, and Mom’s voice will make it all make sense.
    I wish I’d hugged her before she disappeared.
    I search my brain for questions I think I can handle. “What do Apprentices do in the Fellowship?”
    Please say we stay super far away from all things that might kill us, such as abnormally large bird-man hybrids. And spiders.
    “Everyone enters the Fellowship as an Apprentice. That’s when you learn everything about what we do and how we operate, and that typically takes a few years.” Seth glances at me, making sure I’m listening, so I nod. “Afterward,” he continues, “you move into your permanent role in the Fellowship. What that is depends on the strengths you show as an Apprentice.”
    Permanent role in the Fellowship.
    The words sound so final, like I’m heading into the home stretch of a journey I didn’t even know I was on. The ball of anxiety in my stomach swells. I’m supposed to be an artist. I’ve worked at it for years, ever since I found out I could make a career of it. I’ve never wanted to be anything else. It’s what I’ve dreamed of—my work displayed in galleries for everyone to see. I don’t—
    “Watch your step,” Seth says.
    Broad, rolling tree roots erupt from the ground and the dirt path