Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians by Elle Casey Read Free Book Online Page B

like I'm freaking out?" he asked.
    I smiled.   "Yep.   Probably more."
    "What do you think is in there?"
    "Little goblins?   Dwarves with sheets over their heads and eyes cut out of them?   I have no idea."
    "Do you think the others are already here?   Ben and them?"
    "I don't know.   Maybe, maybe not.   Maybe it's better if they aren't."   Much as I wanted to see Tony, I knew this was true for me.
    "Why?"
    "Because ... if we're all in here, and this is a trap, we're screwed.   If someone stays outside, maybe we have a chance of getting out of any bad situation.
    Spike nodded.   "I hadn't thought of it that way."
    Our conversation was cut off by Triden reappearing from around the corner.   "Are ye coming or not?"
    "We're coming," said Spike, putting his arm around me protectively.
    We both moved forward slowly, my shoulders going up around my ears involuntarily as I prepared myself for what might be there.   Whatever it was, it was making a hell of a racket.   I jerked back involuntarily when something whizzed by my face and hit the wall next to me.   I watched as a metal mug fell to the ground and rolled back and forth a few times on its side before coming to a stop, some liquid dripping out of it and pooling on the ground.
    "What the ... ?" I asked.
    "Don't mind the projectiles.   We get a little excited during our celebrations," said Triden, a grin splitting his face.
    We stepped around the corner finally and stared open-mouthed at the mayhem in the huge room.
    Spike smiled at me.   "Guess we got here just in time for the party."
    "You can say that again," I said, my eyes taking in the hundred or so dwarves sitting at various tables.   Many were wearing masks that made them look like lunatic toucans or crows.   But there was one table at the far end of the room that was filled with attendees not in costume and not looking very happy to be there.
    "Tony!" I yelled, releasing Spike's arm so I could run across the room to grab him in a bone-crushing hug.
    "Not so fast!" said Spike, grabbing onto my hand and jerking me back.
    I turned to frown at him.   "What?   Let me go ... it's Tony."
    "Yeah," said Spike, looking pointedly up in a corner of the room.   "And there's Samantha, and there's Ben."   His eyes moved to another corner of the room.
    I followed his gaze and felt my heart leap into my throat when I saw what had caught his attention.   Both of them were in gilded cages suspended from the ceiling, looking extremely pissed off.
    "Oh, shit," I said.   "They're like big parrots up there."
    "Shit, shit, shitty shit," sang Willy.   "I'm-a fly up there, Lellmental.   Lemme go see Sammy.   I like Sammy.   Sammy!   Sammy!"
    I reached over and bonked Willy lightly on the head.   "Shush.   Not right now.   Maybe later.   Remember ... no talking."
    The little butthead gave me a raspberry out of both ends, but I ignored it.   The last thing I needed to be doing right now was arguing with a child.   I had bigger fish to fry, namely the fact that two of our fae posse were currently imprisoned in the middle of a party where there was obviously a lot of imbibing going on.   A few dwarves were already sleeping it off on the floor under the tables.
    "Nice and easy," said Spike, leading me slowly and carefully along the edge of the room, headed in the direction of our friends.
    My eyes scanned the room, looking for exits or signs of our impending doom.   My gaze took in the long picnic-style tables with benches on either side, the tabletops covered in platters of food.   Dwarves apparently weren't the neatest of eaters because there were bits of what looked like turkey meat and vegetables all over the place, as much off the plates as on.   Great big pitchers of what was probably beer, if the smell was anything to go by, sat about every four places down on the table.   All of the cups were metal mugs like the one that had almost beaned me earlier.
    We had almost reached the table when a largish dwarf