Read The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) for Free Online

eyes to read the title. She laughed. “You’ll be asleep in five minutes!” She moved to the door, but before she left, she twisted around and added, “Oh, just kiss and make up with Rafael. You two are a really good match.”
    I scowled as she giggled, and with a cheerful wave, skipped out of my room.
    Rubbing my temples, I stared at my handwriting scrawled across my notebook.
    How was I going to spy on the Inner Circle and outwit them?
    Closing my eyes, I began to rub my temples, when I suddenly realized that Grace had just given me my answer.
    Rafael had apparently been using me.
    It was time for me to flip the tables and use him.
    Yes, it was time to kiss and make up.

Chapter Three – The Man in the Black Top Hat
    The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it.
    Grabbing the hand mirror Rafael had given me, I stared into it. I knew it was Fae technology, but I wasn’t sure how to activate it. Hopefully, he hadn’t gotten my message from before where I’d called him a jerk.
    Finally, I just looked at my reflection and said, “Rafael, we need to talk. I want to help. I’m sure you’re doing the right thing, even if I don’t understand it.”
    I stared at my reflection, a little surprised at how genuinely heartfelt that had sounded, but I chalked it up to burgeoning acting abilities, tucked the mirror back into my drawer, and turned away.
    With any luck, he’d get the message, and I’d be able to start snooping on him.
    After a while, I remembered my golden Fae bracelet, and bringing it close to my mouth, I repeated the same message just in case it worked along the same lines as the mirror.
    I tried to contact Jareth several times after that, thinking to myself the sequence of numbers that had always worked before.
    But he didn’t come. I wasn’t really surprised.
    It was getting late, and everyone was getting ready for bed. And as they settled down for the night, I decided to quickly check on them all under the guise of asking questions about minutiae.
    Poking my head into Grace’s room, I inquired, “And what time did Ellison say he was coming again?”
    She looked pleased at the excuse to text him again and grinned up at me. “Eight sharp!”
    “Nite,” I said, closing the door.
    Al and Betty’s door was wide open, and they were both in bed reading.
    “Need anything? Like water … or anything…?” I asked them. It sounded a bit lame, but I was still kind of worried about Betty, so it wasn’t all pretense.
    “I’m fine, dear,” Betty said with a friendly wave as Al peered up from his book with a strong, “Sweet dreams, kiddo!”
    I even wandered into the kitchen to check on Tigger. As usual, he was snoring in front of the refrigerator.
    Returning to my room, I sat there in the darkness, hugging my knees and clenching Jareth’s protection rune tightly in my hand.
    Silence fell.
    The protection rune was cool against my skin. I supposed that meant the Mesmers were nowhere around.
    After a few minutes, I got up to turn my lamp back on before crawling back to huddle on the bed. I tried to think of other things, but it was hard not to be afraid. Very hard.
    At some point, I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up feeling icy cold and as if fingers were creeping up my arm.
    With a strangled gasp, I leapt out of bed.
    But there was nothing there.
    Again, I tried to call Jareth by thinking of his numbers, but he didn’t show up.
    My clock said it was just past midnight and I frowned. I still had a long way to go before dawn.
    I missed Ajax. As obnoxious as he was, I’d always felt safe when he slept in my room.
    But then, I did have Tigger.
    Creeping into the kitchen, I found the old bloodhound still snoring where I’d left him. Fortunately, he woke up at the first whiff of hot dog, and I was successful in luring him into my room with a trail of tiny hot dog pieces which led all the way to the foot of my bed.
    Devouring the last piece, Tigger happily wagged his tail and sank down into