Sacrifices by Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill Read Free Book Online Page A

she noticed none of the others looked as if they disbelieved him.
    “That’s where we’re going today,” Teddy said, waving off toward the left.
    About a half mile from the main construction site were four high-end RVs—the Greyhound bus conversions like the ones rock stars used on tour. There were cars parked around them, mostly luxury SUVs, but Spirit saw a regular limousine too. The closest RV had the tower-and-dragon logo on the side. It was obviously the “office.” Behind the RVs was a gigantic tent—the kind with inflatable walls and ceiling. A flag with the Breakthrough logo flew from its roof.
    The Humvee drew up to the RVs and stopped. As it did, Mark Rider came out of the “office” RV. He was wearing a black leather stadium coat, but no hat. His dark hair whipped in the wind. As he looked at the Humvee, his face was expressionless, and Spirit was sure he was furious. But then he smiled.
    “Oh my god he is soooooo handsome!” Bella said swooningly.
    “Yeah, and his brother’s right here,” Kylee said blightingly.
    Bella turned beet red, her eyes wide with humiliation.
    “Ah, and I swoop in and romance the ladies who are struck senseless by Mark’s beauty,” Teddy said, seizing Bella’s hand and kissing it theatrically. She blushed even harder, but now she was giggling.
    Can’t any of these guys pick on girls their own age? Clark Howard hit on her at the February Dance, Muirin and Ovcharenko were practically dating, and now Teddy was flirting with Bella. Clearly the dating pool for Dark Lords is shallower than I thought.
    The back doors of the Humvee swung open automatically. Everyone climbed out. By the time Teddy finished introducing the Spring Fling Joint Dance Committee, Madison Lane-Rider had joined her husband. She looked as if she’d stepped from the pages of a very expensive outdoorsman catalogue.
    “Oh, I’ve been looking forward to meeting all of you!” she said, coming forward and taking Juliette’s hands in greeting. “The Spring Fling’s going to be so much fun—and I hope you’ll be willing to help me achieve a lifelong ambition, Juliette. And you, too, Brenda—all of you, really—at least the ladies. I’ve always wanted to open a little dress shop, and I think Radial’s the perfect place for it. If I can talk you into borrowing some of my dresses for the dance, well, it will put me on the map! Please say yes!”
    Spirit had thought things were already as weird as they could get, but the fact that everyone was taking Madison seriously was even weirder. A little dress shop? Come on! If Madison wanted to do something with fashion, she’d be designing a collection in Milan or Paris!
    “Well I couldn’t just leave them at the library, Mark,” Teddy was saying. “That wouldn’t be fair.”
    “Certainly not. But we can’t exactly leave them standing around in the mud, either.” Mark smiled at all of them again. “Why don’t you folks use the rec center? Feel free to grab some snacks. Just be sure to take care of business before you get on the computers. Although I’d just like to mention we put the beta of Final Battle: The Rise of the Black Dragon onto the server this morning, and I’d really love it if you could do a little beta-testing.”
    “It’s in beta?” Brett said in excitement. “It isn’t going to be out for six months!” He looked toward the rec center eagerly. “Hey, I’m not on the Committee!”
    “Come on then,” Teddy said, clapping Brett on the back.
    *   *   *
    The door had a Breakthrough logo on it. (Everything here seemed to.) Everybody murmured appreciatively as they walked inside—it was warm . Even Spirit, who by now expected over-the-top excess from Breakthrough, was stunned.
    “Wow,” Veronica said in awe. “It looks just like a real house!”
    “Yeah,” Chris said blandly. “If your house has a sixty-foot-long living room.”
    The rec center was the size of two tennis courts. The floor was completely carpeted—a