A Dance with Darkness: An Angelfire Novella (HarperTeen Impulse) by Courtney Allison Moulton Read Free Book Online Page B

licked his lips and tried again. “I made a mistake,” he said, his tone bitter. “Bastian is cleaning up my mess.”
    Despite myself, I became afraid for him. Bastian had already proven himself to have a short temper when it came to Cadan. “What mess?”
    He didn’t get the chance to answer. A terrible, wrathful power surged through the manor right before the front door blasted open. The pressure hit us both, knocking the wind from our chests and our bodies off balance. I gave Cadan a fearful look, but his own expression was stone hard.
    “Let me talk to him,” I said. “Whatever happened, it’s not the end of the world. It can be fixed and I’ll help you.”
    His face became tired and sorrowful. He didn’t believe me, but I would try regardless. Bastian had shown his willingness to listen to me. I couldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to do, but I could possibly convince him to at least calm down.
    Things were knocked around and slammed about in Bastian’s rage, making the walls shake. He stormed down the hall toward us, his eyes blazing and his white wings still unfurled behind him, and I began to doubt my ability to talk him down from his fury. His fist was tight around the straps of a large leather satchel and he held it up as he gestured to Cadan.
    “As you can see,” Bastian snarled, “what you’ve claimed to be impossible is in reality not. I asked you to do one thing and still you failed me. Your mistakes have cost us all dearly, but luckily I am here to correct your grave error.”
    “What mistake?” I asked. “What has he done to make you so angry?”
    He turned to me and his wings vanished. “This is demonic business. You are not one of us.”
    “You asked me last night if you could trust me,” I shot back. “You can, but do you?”
    “I cannot involve you in this!” he roared, his anger sending his power spiking. “Already you are in danger by being in our presence. Evantia knows about you. I didn’t tell you that she has confronted me about it already—”
    “I can take care of myself!”
    “ You are not the only one who would be in danger,” he snarled. “Evantia has branded me a traitor. Everything is about to be ruined if she decides to speak out.”
    I blinked at him, stunned. “That’s all that matters to you? What people think of you? I’m so sorry that being with me reflects negatively on you.”
    He exhaled gruffly. “That isn’t what I meant.”
    “Enlighten me.”
    “Not right now.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s in the satchel? Did you kill a relic guardian to get that? Did you kill one of my people? Is that what Cadan was supposed to retrieve?”
    “The grimoire of Antares,” Cadan said.
    In an instant, Bastian had drawn a small blade and pressed the tip to Cadan’s throat. The surprise of it sent my heart into my throat, choking off my cry. I didn’t move, as if I thought Bastian were an animal about to strike if I even twitched. But in that moment, staring into his rage-mad face, he looked entirely feral. My brain refused to register what Cadan had revealed was in the satchel. I could only think about Bastian burying that knife in Cadan’s throat. Blood trickled across his skin.
    “Bastian!” I cried, staring at the blade in his hand. “What are you doing?”
    “Do you know what you have done?” Bastian snarled into Cadan’s face. “This book is our future, our survival. You must never breathe a word of it!”
    “Bastian,” I said more harshly to get his attention. “Is it worth killing your only son?”
    He did not look at me and spoke without hesitation. “It is worth everything.”
    Cadan bared his teeth suddenly and shoved his power into Bastian, knocking his father back. Bastian stumbled away, staring at Cadan in shock, as if he didn’t expect Cadan to have that kind of strength. Growling something in his Germanic tongue, Bastian stomped heavily from the room like a child who hadn’t gotten his way. Cadan