Read Struck: (Phoebe Meadows Book 1) for Free Online

open and my gray matter was leaking out. I twitched my hand and felt dirt. “The girl issss here, but she is clooooaked . Have no fear, she will be found.”
    I opened one eye.
    A pair of old, scuffed shoes passed within an inch of my face. “She better be here. If she came through the other portal, we would’ve heard her by now. You go to the barracks. Tell them to be on high alert. I’m going to check the receiving room.”
    The voices trailed out of the room.
    I eased my aching head up, making as little noise as possible. I couldn’t see anything from my vantage point on the floor. It seemed I was wedged under some kind of bookcase. I craned my neck and peeked out. The first thing I saw was a low fire burning in a stone fireplace. It held a smoking black cauldron, which hung from an iron rod. The fire was crackling, and there was actual steam bubbling out of the pot.
    If I hadn’t gone through such an ordeal, I would’ve thought I was on a movie set.
    I examined the rest of the room as best I could. It was more like a cave than an actual room. The walls were earthen and dirty and contained a busy network of roots running in every direction, even the ceiling.
    It was like we were encased in a tree.
    I brought my arm up and touched the rough wood directly above my face. It was old and worn. I was lucky these shelves were big enough to cover most of me, even though that thing had told the woman I was cloaked.
    “Insufferable white elves! Their magic should not surpass our own!” The angry voice stalked back into the room. “She could be anywhere by now. We must search the caverns. Put everyone on it. We must find her. My sisters will arrive soon. She will not get by Urd so easily.”
    “Yes, missssus ,” the creature hissed. How could a horrid thing like that take orders from anyone? The beast should only have to bare its teeth, and the old woman should be screaming in fear.
    “Don’t fail me again, Bragnon.” Something flew through the air and struck the hard-packed wall, exploding into pieces. “I will not tolerate anything less than success. Do you understand me? The cloak stone will wear off in a few hours. I want her brought to me well before then!”
    They both left the room again, presumably to scour the caverns. I quietly eased from my spot. My only hope was to find a way out of here. As I stood, my brain threatened to short-circuit for a second as my mind rehashed everything, from getting shocked, to the one-handed man, to finding a raven in my kitchen, to Ingrid dressed as a gladiator, to the horrible face gaping at me in the subway car, to being kidnapped and tossed here.
    I reached out to steady myself.
    I couldn’t allow my brain to rest on any one thing for too long, or I knew I’d find myself in a fit of ugly tears brought on by total disbelief, soon to be followed by rocking on the floor in a fetal position, unable to function.
    That was not going to help me get out of this place.
    If I’d made it here, I could find a way out.
    I brought my other hand up to my forehead and remembered Gram. Forgetting everything, I dropped to my knees, frantically searching on the ground. It had to be here. Without protection in the form of a hide-cutting dagger, I knew I’d never have a chance to make it out of here alive. “Please, please, be here,” I whispered.
    Growing up on a farm, before my family moved into town and bought the hardware store, I’d regularly handled tools such as hammers, axes, and crowbars. I’d used them my entire life. But the only knife I’d ever owned was a small, flimsy pocket knife given to me when I started 4H.
    I couldn’t think about that right now.
    With relief, my hand finally closed around the hilt, and I slid the dagger out. “Thank you,” I whispered to it, my fingers wrapped over the warm handle. I must not have been out for very long.
    I stood.
    Okay, now what?
    I focused on what Ingrid had told me. I had to woman up. There was no other choice. I had to find a