Read Faerie Path #6: The Charmed Return for Free Online Page A

took a half step forward.
    She paused as a sudden muted sound rang in her ears. It was like discordant music sounding from far, far away. At the same moment the air behind Jade—the air over the wall of water-slicked white stones—began to shimmer and darken.
    “What the . . . ?” Jade frowned, shaking her head. “What’s that noise?”
    The air behind her was crackling now, sparks striking up off the stones, and a heart of deep, grainy blue was forming like a bruise over the trembling pond.
    The sound intensified in Anita’s head. Now it was like an orchestra tuning up, like strands and fragments of disparate music weaving together—growing louder, making the air vibrate.
    The stain of deep blue light over the water feature seemed to be taking on definite shapes. There were two human figures hanging over the stones.
    Anita was about to yell to Jade to turn and look when the music faded and the ultramarine blemish in the air over the stones dissolved.
    “That was a weird noise,” said Jade. “What was it?” She looked at her arms. “Check this out! It made the hairs stand up all over me.”
    Anita gasped. “Did you see that?”
    “See what?”
    “Jade.” Anita tried to keep her voice steady, to keep from sounding crazy. “Something nearly happened. Something”—she licked dry lips—“behind you.”
    Jade glanced over her shoulder. There was nothing to see now. “What kind of something?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    There was a taste in Anita’s mouth that seemed familiar. Unpleasant but familiar. She associated it with pain or discomfort.
    “Oh! Hi, Mrs. P. It’s Jade.” The phone was still to her ear. “Yeah—fine, thanks.” She stared hard at Anita, one arm extended toward her, warning her to stay back. Between her Sunday morning tai chi classes and her karate night school lessons, Jade was not a person to mess with.
    “Thing is—I’ve had a strange call from Anita,” Jade continued.
    That was something—at least Jade hadn’t told her mother she was here.
    “Huh?” Jade’s eyes were wary as she looked at Anita. “No. I have no idea where she is. Why?”
    Jade listened for a few moments. Anita watched her distractedly, her brain still tingling from the outlandish music. The charged air prickled on her skin. And she had that bad taste in her mouth. A taste like rusty iron.
    “Really?” said Jade. “That explains the strange stuff she was coming out with. Listen, I’ll give her a call back, okay? I’ll try to talk her down—see if I can persuade her to go home or to meet up with me so I can bring her home. I’ll let you know how it goes. Yeah. Fine. Okay. Bye.”
    “Thanks for not saying I’m here,” said Anita. “What did she tell you?”
    “She said you hit your head,” Jade said, her voice cautious now. “She said you ran out of the house before she could get you to a doctor. She said that you’re probably not too coherent right now.”
    Anita felt a chill in her heart. Her mother had lied. It felt like a betrayal. “She would say something like that,” she insisted. “Of course she would. She’s not going to tell you that other stuff over the phone. Even if she believes it, she’d know you wouldn’t.”
    “You got that right.”
    “How did I hit my head? Did she tell you that?”
    “No.”
    “But she made out it was recent, yes?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Feel my head, Jade!”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Feel my head—if I hit my head there’ll be a cut or a bump or something. If I hit it hard enough to scramble my brains, there’d be some sign of it, surely?”
    “Okay.” Jade pointed to the grass. “Sit down with your hands in your lap. Make any sudden moves and I’ll swat you like a fly. Okay?”
    “Okay.” Anita folded her legs under her and knelt on her heels in the grass, her fingers linked together in her lap.
    “If I find a bump or whatever, you’re going to let me take you home, right?” Jade said as she padded across the