Read The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) for Free Online Page B

skateboard than a real car. But we made it to the
coffee shop just in time for Ellison’s shift. Mine started half an
hour later.
    “I’m going to make myself some iced tea,” I
said, reaching for the door latch.
    But Ellison laid a restraining hand on my
arm. Looking at me with a sternness that didn’t match his easygoing
character, he said, “Grace told me that you might be going through
a rough patch. Anything I can help with?”
    I stared up into his earnest brown eyes, and
I couldn’t help but smile. He was a true friend. “I’m fine,” I
said, forcing a bright smile.
    The last thing I needed was Ellison getting
mixed up in all of this. I certainly didn’t want him getting
hurt.
    “Helloooooo, secrets!” he said with a mock
resigned expression. But then added, “Seriously, if you need
anything, let me know. What else are friends for if they can’t get
your back?”
    “I’m fine, really,” I insisted, hoping I
sounded strong and confident.
    I didn’t think he believed me, but I took the
opportunity to escape into Samantha’s coffee shop.
    Hanging my hoodie up in the backroom, I put
on my apron and headed up front.
    Samantha’s coffee shop, Bean There, Baked
That , was a warm combination of modern art and good
old-fashioned comfort. The warm, chocolate-colored walls were
covered with abstract paintings, and each group of overstuffed
chairs boasted its own hand-blown blue glass lamp suspended over a
wooden coffee table.
    An elegantly flocked Christmas tree with gold
ornaments stood in the window, and a string of matching gold
ornaments graced the espresso bar and pastry case.
    I took a deep breath, savoring the aroma of
freshly ground coffee and then slipped behind the espresso bar.
After making my iced tea, I pressed the tall, cold glass against my
forehead and closed my eyes.
    “Had breakfast yet?”
    I looked up into Ellison’s irresistible
grin.
    He thrust a toasted bagel with cream cheese
into my hands. “My treat,” he said.
    I watched him walk away. “Thanks!” I yelled
belatedly after him.
    It was then that I saw something out of the
corner of my eye. Or I thought I did. I could have sworn
that I’d seen a very tall man dressed in black, wearing a huge top
hat.
    But when I whirled, I saw nothing.
    I stood there, holding my breath.
    “What’s up?” Ellison asked as he swept by,
balancing a bag of coffee beans on his shoulder.
    “Nothing,” I said quickly. Too quickly.
    Taking a bite of my bagel, I moved to the
nearest table and sat down, but I was so tense that I wasn’t sure
that I could swallow.
    It took me a few minutes to convince myself
that it had just been my imagination. Mechanically taking another
bite of the bagel, I dutifully chewed, but I began to feel a lump
in my stomach and finally gave up.
    Carefully wrapping the rest for later, I
watched Ellison with the customers.
    He was a natural. This morning, he’d decided
to ask each of them what their favorite animal was, and then went
to great lengths to draw it on the paper cup before handing it off
to the barista. His drawings elicited laughs out of even the
grumpiest people.
    Samantha loved him. Whenever she saw him, her
eyes crinkled up around the corners in her version of a smile. She
had come into the shop that morning, wearing a brown pantsuit and
with her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. And after
a brief inspection, she’d disappeared into the back.
    I looked up to see Ellison watching me, drum
rolling on the register with his fingers. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
he asked with a quizzical smile
    “Yeah,” I said, sounding as unconvincing as I
was.
    His face shifted into an unusually serious
expression. “Do I need to do anything? Beat someone up?”
    That thought made me smile. He was such a
congenial guy. “I could do that myself,” I said.
    He eyed me up and down with a chuckle, and
then we both said at the same time, “Or we could call Grace.”
    I started feeling better after that.
    My