Read The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy for Free Online

was a moment where they all looked around frantically, and then a moment of surprise when nothing sprang out at them.
    “I thought all the chaos caused by the Kruorumbrae was supposed to magically disappear,” Abby mused. On the day of his coronation, David had mentioned that a spell would overtake Newcastle Beach and erase evidence of the existence of Cai Terenmare and its inhabitants, good and evil.
    David frowned. “As far as I know, the spell is already in effect. This must have just happened.”
    “Best not to linger then,” Cael said, leading the way to the estate’s gates.
    It was eerie—that feeling that something evil was close and just out of sight, something that could attack at any moment, but didn’t. Abby couldn’t figure it out. She felt like they were being watched, but she didn’t understand why they weren’t being attacked. It didn’t make sense. Where are Tierney and Lucia? Where are the Kruorumbrae?
    The worst thing Abby saw was the look on Jon’s mother’s face.
    Blanca Reyes was staring out the living room window of the Browns’ house. When Jon and Abby hadn’t come home, she, Bethany, and Frank had begun to worry, and by six in the morning, they’d called the police.
    An officer had stopped by three slow and agonizing hours later, asking a lot of questions and assuring them that, in most cases, missing teens turned up in a few hours. Blanca didn’t like his tone—he seemed dismissive, making it seem like she was being overbearing and that Jon and Abby had run away together in some rebellious attempt at romance. But she knew her son, and he obviously didn’t. In fact, she didn’t think Officer Not Helpful knew much about kids at all.
    Blanca was thinking about this when she saw them walk up the drive—first Jon, then Abby, holding hands with a boy with dark, curly hair, and finally, a rugged-looking older man. Her focus, though, was on her son, and as their eyes met, her despair gave way to joy, and the tears she had been holding back for hours broke free. She was out the door in an instant, flying down the front steps, running to him. It’s funny, she thought, how fast you can run to your child.
    Her mind returned to a memory of Jonathon at three years old, encountering a rattlesnake in the backyard. It was one of those California summers when rodent populations soared and snakes grew bold in reaping the bounty. She was indoors, but his scream of terror pierced her soul, and she knew, without needing to see, what the scream meant. It launched her into instinctive action. She ran out the back door, scooped him out of harm’s way, deposited him safely on the back steps, and in the same fluid motion, grabbed a garden hoe and hacked the thing’s head off.
    It had surprised her. She hadn’t known she could move like that. It gave her new confidence about raising her son. When she had realized that she would be doing it alone, that Jon’s father wanted no part of their lives, she had been terrified. The snake incident gave her new insight—she was strong. She could do this.
    Now, holding her tall, almost-grown son, Blanca wept.
    Jon wrapped his arms around her, repeating over and over, “Mom, I’m sorry, I am so sorry…”
     
     
     
    Abby’s parents were coming down the steps, hurrying to enfold her in their arms. “Abby! Oh Abby, we were so worried!” Bethany Brown cried.
    Abby was surprised. Where was her mother’s “Where have you been, young lady” speech?
    “I’m sorry, Mom.” She hugged her mom and dad tight. She saw that her little brother was watching from the steps. He was only ten, and Abby could sense that he had been scared too. She felt so guilty.
    David seemed to feel guilty as well. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and Ms. Reyes,” he said. “We really didn’t mean to worry you.”
    Cael looked nervous, but not about the family reunion. Abby thought perhaps he too had the keen sense that they were being watched and followed.
    “Solas Beir, I