Faerie Path #6: The Charmed Return by Frewin Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

had an ache in her heart that made it hard to breathe. Rathina was on the ground, cradling the girl in her arms and weeping silently. Edric was staring at the girl, dumbfounded.
    Anita tore her gaze away from the two girls and glanced at Edric. “I think I know her,” she murmured.
    “She’s your sister Zara,” Edric said blankly. “But she died in battle against the Sorcerer King.” He looked as if he was about to pass out himself. “She shouldn’t be here. We held the Ceremony of Leavetaking. . . . Her body was sent to Albion.” He took a gasping breath. “None that pass through the gates of the Blessèd Realm ever return,” he said. “Never.”
    Rathina turned her tear-streaked face to them. “She is alive!” she cried. “Her body is warm. There is breath in her lungs. She is neither spirit nor phantom. But how can this be? How, by all the fragrant stars of heaven?”
    “I don’t know,” began Edric. “I’ve never . . .” A bouncing, electronic melody cut him short.
    “Phone!” breathed Jade, walking unsteadily over to the lounger and stooping to pick up her trilling mobile. “Excuse me—it’s my mum—I need to answer.”
    Anita looked at her friend. A phone call! In the middle of all this insanity—an honest-to-goodness everyday phone call! She didn’t know whether to be comforted by the normality of it or annoyed by the intrusion.
    She snatched hold of Edric’s hand. “This is all real, isn’t it?”
    “Yes. It is. The thing is—”
    “No!” She stopped him. “Don’t tell me any more right now. I can’t handle any more. I feel like my head’s going to explode as it is.”
    Edric smiled faintly. “That’s understandable.” He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
    She stared at him, emotions tangling like barbed wire in her head.
    “Yeah. Hi, Mum.” Jade’s voice wavered a little. “No. I’m fine. Why? Do I? No, everything’s cool here.” She was staring at Rathina and Zara as if her eyes were about to bug out of her head. “Oh, just sitting in the sun. Yeah. I’ll get the parasol out. Yes, I know you told me to be careful. Yes. SPF twenty and the parasol. I’ll do it right now. Quit fussing, Mum.”
    Anita smiled. This was so wonderfully ordinary that she could have run and hugged Jade till her ribs creaked.
    “You want I should do what? Yeah, fine. I’ll do it right now.” Her eyes widened. “You’ll be home in half an hour? Okay. Yes. Okay. Will do. Bye, Mum.”
    She dropped her arm to her side. “My folks are on their way back here,” she said, speaking to no one in particular. “They want me to take the meat out of the freezer and defrost it in the microwave.” She gave a huge, vacant smile. “Apparently we’re having a barbecue this evening!” An edge of bleak sarcasm came into her voice. “Won’t that be fun?” She looked from Edric to Rathina. “Do you guys like barbecues at all? My dad does an amazing Chimichurri marinade and I can rustle up a great chili sauce. . . .” Her voice faded and she closed her eyes. “Would one of you do me a big favor and beat me over the head with a rock till I’m unconscious, please?”
    “Master Chanticleer!” Rathina’s voice cut the air. “We must return to Faerie! Use your Arts. Remove us from this place!”
    “I can’t take us through to Faerie,” said Edric. “I don’t have that kind of power. I wouldn’t be able to do it even if the earls of Faerie hadn’t closed the ways between the worlds.” He looked urgently at Anita. “Have you tried to step into Faerie?” His face clouded. “No! Of course you haven’t—you don’t remember anything about that, do you?”
    Anita looked at him. “I want to remember,” she said forlornly. “Help me to remember.”
    He put his hands to her face. “I don’t know how.”
    “We cannot stay here!” declared Rathina. “We must seek some place where Zara can come to herself in safety—away from the prying eyes of ignorant