Ominous by Kate Brian Read Free Book Online

motif. “Exactly the same,” she said.
    “Will someone please tell me what’s going on here?” Josh asked.
    I looked up at him, my eyes shining even as my heart pounded with uncertainty and fear. “It’s the same design that’s etched into the cover of the book of spells.”

“So now you’re so desperate for good jewelry you’ll just wear any old thing you find in the dirt?” Noelle said as she sat down in her usual seat at the Billings table: last on the end, facing the door so she could see everyone coming and going. “If you really want something, I’m sure Daddy will get you whatever it is. He’s still waiting for you to call him back, by the way.”
    I rolled my eyes and dropped my tray across from hers. The locket felt warm against my skin and it gleamed in the overhead lights, thanks to the vat of jewelry cleaner Ivy had soaked it in overnight.
    “That’s all you have to say?” I asked, fingering the locket as I sat. “I tell you that the ghost of a Billings Girl led me to a necklace in the woods near the chapel, and all you can do is insult me?”
    Noelle flicked her napkin into her lap and shook salt and pepper onto her sliced hard-boiled egg. One of the crystal shakers clinked against her gold ring. She hadn’t looked me in the eye in about five minutes.
    “Noelle—”
    “Reed, do you even hear yourself?” she asked finally, resting both wrists on the edge of the table. “You sound like a crazy person. You don’t want to tell anyone that we’re sisters, but you’re perfectly fine running around telling everyone that some dead person led you to a locket in the woods?”
    My heart panged with some unidentifiable emotion and I touched the locket again. Just then Tiffany and Portia slid past us to sit in the next two chairs. Noelle shot me a warning look, clearly telling me to keep my mouth shut, as if I needed to be told. She was the only one I was interested in talking to about this.
    “Wait until you see the centerpieces I designed for your party,” Noelle said, deftly switching to a more audience-friendly topic. “I’m going with a whole Pisces theme, and I found a guy who does floral centerpieces with tiny aquariums in the bottom of the vases. Real fish and everything.”
    “Fabulous,” Portia said, lifting her hair over her shoulder.
    “What do they do with the fish after the party?” Tiffany asked.
    “Don’t get your La Perlas in a twist, green girl. Daddy’s going to take them all home for his personal collection,” Noelle said. She tore off a piece of her bagel and popped it into her mouth, looking at me mischievously. “He’s paying for the whole thing, you know.”
    A huge rock formed between my heart and my throat, and my hand automatically went to the locket again. I suddenly became very interested in my cereal.
    “Really? That’s nice of him,” Tiffany said, eyeing me curiously.
    “Why would he do that?” Portia asked, lifting her fork. “No offense.”
    I shrugged and gave them a tight smile.
    “He just knows how very close Reed and I are,” Noelle said, spearing an egg slice. “I mean, we’re practically sisters.”
    I choked on my orange juice and a little bit of it went up my nose.
    “All right, Reed?” Noelle prompted.
    “Yeah. Sure.”
    I managed another smile and took a deep breath, trying not to cough again.
    “Reed! What an amazing locket,” Portia said suddenly, reaching for the pendant, which I hadn’t realized I was still toying with. “It’s so … unique.” She ran her thumb over the surface. “Definitely an antique. Where did you get it?”
    I shot Noelle a panicked look. “Um, I got it at a rummage sale when I was home.”
    Portia scrunched her nose. “What’s a rummage sale?”
    “Would you let go of her already, P?” Noelle demanded. “She’s turning blue.”
    Portia released me and I sat up straight again, righting the locket and rubbing at the back of my neck where the chain had cut into my skin. Portia was still