Soul Cage by Phaedra Weldon Read Free Book Online Page A

control."
    Jason shook his head. "Still lost in
the forest here."
    "Dags' memories are pages now, written
words in that book," Azrael said just as Geist showed up beside
him. The entity didn't speak so he continued. "Magic is manifest
inside of Dags. He controls an amalgam of physical, mental and
astral power. Those pages that have memories of that time of Dags'
life would also reference pages of memories he has with
Maureen…"
    Jason's eyes widened.
"She's accessing her own pages of the Grimoire ."
    "I knew that girl was smart," Nona
said. "I bet she's accessed maybe one or two memories, which is how
the sword manifested. I'll also bet she's ready to gain more
control next time she has a chance."
    "So—how does that happen?" Jason
said.
    "Sir," Geist interjected.
    "Yes Geist?"
    "You told me to alert you the next
time there is a surge of magic."
    "Yes?"
    Geist paused. "There is a surge of
magic. It is emanating from within this structure."
    They all looked at each
other. "The Grimoire !" Jason said.
    " That's how," Nona said and smiled.
"Let's hope she succeeds."

 
     
     
    -6-
     
    "I told you she was gonna
pop that sucker open first chance she got! I'm thinking she cracked
him in the head before they even got to her room," Maureen said as
the book illuminated the beach around it. Golden light poured out
in beams like those found in a meadow of a children's tale. The
previously dark hole Maureen had torn in the page was so brightly
lit it hurt to look at it.
    They watched as the book's
pages started to flip, then stopped and fell back to where they
were. Several more times the book vibrated and tried to change the
pages and repeated the same direction back to the torn
page.
    "I think your little hole
is stopping her from getting to where she wants to go." Alice said.
"And if you're going to chance this, you'd better do it now. If she
is checking the book to see if it got tampered with, then she's
going to think this is the tampering—that Jason did this. And you know how much
she already doesn't like Jason."
    "Yeah," Maureen looked at
Alice. "I'm not really sure what's going to happen. I mean, I can't
see where it goes."
    The older Familiar tilted
her head to the side and winced. " Now you're worried about that?
Get in there
before she realizes what's hanging the book up."
    "But—"
    Of all the things Maureen
expected of Alice, shoving her head first into the tear wasn't one
of them. In fact, she figured Alice would try and talk her out of
it. But apparently she was just as tired of being inside this
mental state as Maureen was.
    The light wiped away any
chance she might have had to see the journey. But she definitely
felt the arrival. Maureen landed with a harsh thud onto a very hard
surface. Blinking, she held up her hands to see where she
was—
    Nothing.
    Total darkness.
    But it
felt…familiar.
    "Well?" came Alice's
voice. The echo made it sound as if her counterpart were yelling
down through a sewer pipe.
    "I'm somewhere. It's
just…dark."
    "Are you sitting on
something?"
    "Yeah…" she patted the
slick surface beneath her bottom. "It feels like plastic. You
coming?"
    "You think that's a good
idea?"
    Maureen wasn't sure if it
was or wasn't, or if Alice was just stalling because she was
afraid. "Well I'm fine. Are you scared?"
    "No…I'm just worried about
the Grimoire from
this end." She paused. "I don't think Rhonda could ever really get
into Dags' mental plane—because I don't think anyone can. But the
book's here, and now it's damaged. So, should I stay here and
protect it?"
    Something touched
Maureen's shoulder, and ashamedly so, she screamed like a little
girl.
    "Maureen—it is nice to
meet you."
    Who—?
    "Is that Geist?" Alice
called out.
    Geist?
    Maureen reached out and
her hands touched flesh. A few more pokes and she realized she was
touching his neck. "You're pretty solid in here."
    "Yes. It is because I
exist on all planes simultaneously."
    Light flared overhead and
Maureen squinted again. Geist came