Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) by Heather London Read Free Book Online

and my teacher to help me—the council would want me to achieve my full potential as an Astoria, wouldn’t they?
    I had to admit, it felt amazing to be back in my t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. There was a little comfort in that at least. After composing myself the best I could, I decided to go downstairs and pick Aunt Rose’s brain a little bit. Her reaction to seeing me, or lack of, was totally confusing the hell out of me.
    My heart was pounding hard as I walked down the stairs. I could hear voices coming out of the kitchen. When I walked in, both Aunt Rose and Jack were standing and leaning against the counter. They were lost in each other’s eyes when I walked in.
    “Jack!” I screamed a little too loudly. I took a few large steps towards him and wrapped my arms around him. You could tell by his gasp that he was startled by my embrace, just as Aunt Rose had been.
    “Well, good morning to you, too, Meredith.”
    Again, there was no, ‘ Oh thank God, you’re okay, or , Where on earth have you been the last few weeks? ’ There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
    Both of them were oblivious to me being gone for the last six weeks which only increased my confusion about all of this.
    “Are you about to leave for work?” Jack asked, totally throwing my thoughts off track. “It looks like it may storm. I could drive you, if you want. I’m leaving here in about five minutes.”
    Work? Oh yeah, I had a job. Forgot about that little detail. Then a thought popped into my head—Ms. Donaldson! Maybe she could try and help me sort all this out. Even after all of this time since I had seen her, I still remembered every last word she had told me. She knew that I was a witch, too, so—if nothing else—she was the only person in this century who knew what I really was and that thought was certainly comforting.
    “Uh, that would be great Jack.” I smiled, giving up on questioning them for now as a new feeling of hope came over me. “Do you think we could all have dinner together, tonight? You know, just the three of us?”
    Aunt Rose beamed at me. “That sounds like a great idea. I’m off, so I can cook something special. What would you like?” She seemed so pleased and excited.
    “How about tacos? Does that sound good?” I wasn’t sure why I said tacos; it was just the first thing that popped in my head. I glanced between the two of them. My heart was happy to see Aunt Rose so happy, allowing me to forget for a second about the situation I was in.
    “Tacos, it is,” she said, still smiling.
    On the drive to the library, I began to debate again on whether or not I should question Jack on the last few weeks. It seemed a little dangerous. Who knows, maybe I could’ve triggered a memory of something, causing him to remember that I had actually been gone for six weeks? It was difficult for me to pinpoint which emotion I was feeling more of right now. A part of me was sad to think that Aunt Rose and Jack could’ve forgotten the last six weeks of their lives. I really didn’t know how much the memory loss had included. Did they only not remember me being gone or had more of their memories been erased? Another part of me, a large part, felt angry that they had been affected by magic. The last thing I wanted was for anyone I cared about to be hurt or affected by magic in a negative way. This was my destiny, my life, so I should be the only one affected; not the innocent people I cared about.
    Before I knew it, we were pulling up to the library. I glanced out the window and saw the building that made me so nervous at the beginning of the summer. Now, this was the one place I looked forward to going to the most, the one place that offered me hope.
    “Have a good day, kid. See you tonight for dinner,” Jack said as we pulled to a stop. “You know. I don’t know why I’m even saying this, but it’s really good to see you.” He glanced over to me and smiled.
    “You, too, Jack. Thanks for the ride.” I returned his