Feudlings by Wendy Knight Read Free Book Online

hadn’t crossed her mind, but Ari didn’t run from anything.
    “I’ve got Art second period. Whatchya got?” Nevaeh said, but since she still had Ari’s schedule, she checked for herself. Ari hadn’t gotten a word in edgewise since they’d caught her, but that was okay. She wasn’t sure what she would say anyway. A field full of angry Carules all trying to kill her she understood. Friendly high school girls? Not so much. Instead she allowed herself to be led across the courtyard toward the imposing main building, listening in amusement as they debated which of her classes would be worst. “I hate to tell you this, Ari girl, but History is gonna bite big time,” Nevaeh declared sympathetically. “Mr. Greene is old, ornery, and tough. He used to be a marine. I had him freshman year.”
    “Me too! Oh no, wait, I had him sophomore year. With Blair. He’s so adorable,” Livi said, batting her eyes with a dreamy expression.
    “Yeah he is. What happened to him? I haven’t seen him around.” Nevaeh glanced at Livi as she led them across the lawn, confident and sure.
    The grass was still damp with dew and Ari could feel it soaking through her sandals. “He does work study. He’s only got like two classes on campus.” Nevaeh said.
    With a start, Ari realized that she had to remind herself that people were staring and whispering. These two had distracted her. She scanned the sea of students for traces of Carules’ magic and gave a sigh of relief when she saw none. So far, so good.
    Whenever a spell was thrown, it put off a magic mist that worked kind of like when throwing a rock in a still pond. The ripples flowed out away from where the spell was thrown, getting more and more faint. The more powerful the spell, the more powerful the ripples, and the longer the trace would last. So one of the first clues that there were enemy Carules were spell traces. It was helpful that only she could see them. And the Carules Prodigy, she assumed. Ari always watched for magic traces, or at least she was supposed to.
    “This way, Ari girl. See ya Liv!”
    The petite brunette bounced away as she called an enthusiastic “See ya!” over her shoulder.
    Nevaeh’s dark eyes with their sparkly silver eye shadow crinkled in amusement as she looked up at Ari. “Yes, she always bounces.” Ari opened her mouth to respond but Nevaeh was already weaving through the crowd, chattering over her shoulder. “I hope your ribs are all healed up. We’ve got a nice three-story hike ahead of us. This is why we don’t have an obesity problem at this school,” she joked as they started up the winding staircase.
    Ari put in a half-hearted effort to watch for Carules magic while she tried to follow Nevaeh’s spontaneous tour of the building.
    “Cafeteria’s here. Gym’s down there. Infirmary is down there. Oh, you knew that already,” Nevaeh said with a chuckle as she continued, “You’re history class is on the second floor, down that hall, around the corner.”
    Ari was completely turned around when they arrived in their class.
    The buzz of excited voices died instantly as she walked through the door and Ari raised her chin, heading for an empty seat, defiance in her eyes as she caught the curious gazes of the other people in the class.
    “Hey Hunter! You saved us a seat. I knew I loved you. Ari! Where ya goin? Over here!” Nevaeh called without pausing for a breath as she settled into a seat in the back near a large boy.
    Ari looked over, surprised. This was new, someone asking her to sit by them on her first day.
    “Oh come on people. She’s new. She’s gorgeous. Get over it,” Nevaeh said to the room in general.
    Ari felt herself blush, an occurrence so unusual she wasn’t sure it had ever happened before. “Will you stop doing that?” she said through clenched teeth as she sank into the seat next to Nevaeh.
    “Doing what?” Nevaeh asked innocently.
    “Telling everyone I’m… pretty.”
    “Why? You are. Beautiful girls