Forgotten Sea by Virginia Kantra Read Free Book Online Page A

easy, having a best friend who looked the part, like a painting of an angel from the Italian Renaissance. “What’s Axton going to do, throw me out?” Bria’s smile invited Lara in on the joke.
    “Come on, Lara, God Almighty cast us out of Heaven. You think I care if a bunch of teachers expel me from their stupid school?”
    They’d been opposites in so many ways: Bria, outgoing, outspoken, and outrageous; Lara, careful, committed, and responsible. But as the only two girls in their cohort, they were inevitably paired. For eight years, they’d shared notes and secrets, skipped gym and meals together, whispered about everything and nothing across the space between their beds after lights out. Bria was Lara’s other self, her other side, secret and daring. Lara missed her more than she could ever admit, even to herself.
    The school never expelled Bria. She’d been right about that. But the summer before their senior year, Bria ran away. Lara never saw her friend again.
    Flyers.
    The masters refused to acknowledge them. The students spoke of them in whispers. The ones who deserted the security of their own kind, the nephilim who left Rockhaven.
    Lara shivered as she pulled the door shut behind her and turned her key in the lock.
    She could never do that. She owed Simon everything: her home, her education, her identity.
    Her life.
    Wards made of glass rods chimed from the trees as she hurried along the edges of the upper quad. The night was alive with the rustle of leaves and insects, the flutter of breeze and bats. She ducked her head past the dining hall, lengthened her stride toward the infirmary.
    She tested the handle. Locked. Of course.
    It took only seconds to open the door with her proctor’s key.
    The waiting room was empty and dark.
    “Hello?”
    No answer. No nurse behind the desk, no guard at the door.
    She took a few steps forward, her blood pounding in her ears, her senses humming. They would not have left him alone.
    She had a sudden, jarring image of Justin’s white face, the heth gleaming in the hollow of his throat, and doubt coiled like a worm at her heart. Would they?
    “Miriam?” she called softly into the dark.
    Silence.
    She reached out with her mind, straining for the whisper of his presence, trying to pick out his scent, his heartbeat.
    The effort made her tired brain throb.
    Or was that an echo of his pain?
    “Justin? Dr. Kioni?”
    Nothing.
    Her feet followed her thoughts down the deserted corridor.
    She threw open doors as she passed, caution melting into anxiety. “Justin.”
    His room.
    His room.
    Empty.
    She stood in the doorway, her gaze scraping the rumpled hospital bed. He was gone, the only signs he’d ever been there the wrinkled sheets and the black sheath on the table.
    He was gone. A sudden chill chased over her skin.
    Escaped.
    She picked up the knife left lying on the table.
    Zayin’s words mocked her. “Still think he’s harmless?”

4
    The sky was pewter and pale gold, the sun just breaking through the clouds to shimmer on the surface of the western sea.
    Lucy Hunter sat alone in the inner bailey of Caer Subai, listening to the splash of the fountain and the restless murmur of the ocean outside the walls. After seven years, the work of rebuilding the selkie stronghold of Sanctuary was nearly complete. The towers rose tall and strong, wreathed in mists and magic. The scent of apple blossoms blew from the hills, mingling with the wild brine of the sea and the rich perfume of her garden. Roses rioted everywhere, cascading pinks and bold reds, bright yellows and starry whites gleaming like constellations against the thick, dark foliage.
    Her hands clenched in her lap. Not everything on the island was barren.
    “You are up early.” A deep voice disturbed her reverie.
    She turned her head.
    A man stood in the shadow of the castle wall , watching her with eyes the color of rain. Tall, broad, and handsome, his hair blue-black like a mussel shell . Conn ap Llyr, prince of