Ravens by Kaylie Austen Read Free Book Online Page B

“I’m not hungry. Just tell me what
happened, and stop calling me sweetheart.”
    “Suit yourself, darling. Well, I’m
starving; you should be, too. I can’t have an imperative conversation about
this new world on an empty stomach. It’s really a lot to take in.”
    Kendra groaned and stood. Walking over
to the barstools, she took one of the four seats lining the countertop. Leaning
over and placing her weight on her forearms, which extended across the cool
surface, she demanded, “Then talk while you cook.”
    He cracked eggs into a bowl. A low
chuckle rumbled through his throat. “Anxious, are we?”
    “Yes,” she hissed and flared her
nostrils.
    “You’re cute when you’re aggressive.” He
grinned as he cooked the eggs in a hot, sizzling skillet.
    She automatically drew back, and relaxed
her expression and body.
    Liam sighed. “Ten years ago yesterday,
you, Julie, and I played in your barn.”
    Kendra skeptically glanced at him.
“Everyone knows this story.”
    “But not everyone knew we played chase,
just the three of us. I chased you around when Julie ambushed me from the
steps. She caught a hold of me and started punching something fierce, and then
you laughed, joined in, and made me cry uncle. When you stopped, Julie kept
hitting me. You went to the steps and turned away when it happened. I picked up
Julie, about to toss her into a haystack, when the ground shook.
    “My feet glued themselves to the floor,
and I accidently dropped her. Wherever she made contact with the floor, that’s
where she stuck—on her hands, knees, and face. She screamed, I yelled, and then
we were sucked into the portal. You never saw it. The white light hit, and we
vanished before you turned around.”
    Kendra shuddered. She took in a deep
breath and asked, “How do we pass back?”
    Liam froze for a split second, too fast
for Kendra to acknowledge his reaction. He avoided her eyes and calmly replied,
“Who really wants to go back?”
    “ I want to go back,” she growled.
“I can’t believe you. How can any of this possibly be happening to me? It’s
nuts, and I’m not crazy.”
    He poured orange juice into two glasses
and placed one glass on the counter by her clasped hands. “You can’t just
decide not to believe me and ignore everything that’s happened. You dream of
me, and I can tell you every detail. You hear my voice in your head, and I can
tell you exactly what I’ve said, when I said it, and why I said it. Besides,
you can’t pretend a portal didn’t just suck you in and then spit you out. It
happened to me and Julie, too.”
    “Where’s Julie then?”
    “She’s not here at the moment.”
    A hint of sadness and anger flickered in
his eyes. He went back to his story as he dished up eggs, placing one plate in
front of Kendra then another next to her plate for himself.
    “We fell through the portal like you did
last night. Nathan, someone else who passed through the portal before us, found
us, took us in, raised us, and taught us about this world. We’re very
different. Us, now you.”
    He walked around the pillar and sat next
to Kendra. She didn’t push her stool back or move away.
    Liam ate his eggs and took a sip of
juice. Kendra cautiously followed, acknowledging her hunger pangs.
    “You still think this is some elaborate
prank?”
    She didn’t honestly know.
    Liam gently grabbed her hand. Kendra
jumped and stiffened as he placed her palm against his cheek. “I’m real. You’re
here.”
    He released her shaking hand.
    “The eyes for one thing.” He looked
directly at her. “I can’t fake that, now can I?”
    She trembled at his closeness. His stare
unnerved her. “Some sort of special contacts,” she muttered.
    “Oh yeah? On you? Try getting them out,
then.”
    He grabbed a mirror from the pillar at
his right and held it out to Kendra. She cringed when she saw her reflection.
Taking the mirror from him, she examined the new similarities between his eyes
and hers. She had dark gray