The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler Read Free Book Online Page B

popping out of the second dimension to control my body, I would have smiled at that one.
    Jareth sat there a moment, clearly not himself. He appeared to be struggling with something. Several times, he glanced over his shoulder and jerked his head sharply to one side as if listening to something.
    I found his behavior puzzling and was just about to ask what was wrong when he attempted to stand. He would have failed had not Rafael leaned down to hoist him roughly to his feet.
    They stood there a moment, grasping each other’s forearms as their gazes locked in a sudden, defiant rivalry.
    Rafael glanced over the gathering crowd and hissed in open disapproval, “You weren’t supposed to become this famous, Jareth!”
    Disentangling himself, Jareth stepped back, weaving a little on his feet. Brushing off whatever had been bothering him, he regained control to lift the corner of his lip in a sneer.
    Flashes of light flickered around us.
    It took me a moment to realize that his fans were taking pictures. Hunching my shoulders, I maneuvered back to avoid the limelight and something crunched under my foot.
    It was Jareth’s designer sunglasses. I stooped to pick them up, but Jareth snatched them from my fingers.
    Jamming them back on his face, he faced the crowd and adopted a rugged, bad boy smirk. “Shoo! Go away! Nothing to see here,” he said in a voice that meant completely the opposite as he struck one of his rock star poses.
    A burst of applause accompanied more squeals and giggles.
    “Is that really your girlfriend, Jareth?” someone shouted over the other voices barking questions.
    I stared at them, surprised at the insulting tone of the questioner as well as the mere notion of being Jareth’s girlfriend. I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes and muttering under my breath, “Seriously?”
    I expected Jareth to toss his head back with his typical roar of laughter. But instead he sidled close to drop his arm around my shoulders and smiled as if in confirmation.
    “His girlfriend?” I found myself snapping indignantly. “In his dreams !”
    Jareth jerked as if I’d just slapped him.
    Belatedly, I recalled the Fae didn’t dream, but as his dark eyes sought mine from over the top of his sunglasses, I saw in them a shock and surprise of such magnitude that I was certain it had little to do with my cutting response.
    “You as a girlfriend would be a nightmare, Sydney!” he growled in my ear before raising his voice to drawl at his admirers, “Who’s asking? I’m in the market for an upgrade.”
    I rolled my eyes again, wondering how I’d ever thought he was cute when across the parking lot, I saw Al exit the hardware store and head back towards his truck. A quick inspection of the surrounding shadows revealed nothing following him this time, but I shot a glance at Ajax for corroboration anyway.
    I got it.
    The Doberman met my unspoken query with an extended, belligerent yawn. Clearly, he was bored out of his mind.
    Rafael didn’t miss a thing, raising his voice so I could hear him over the noisy crowd peppering Jareth with questions, he promised, “Al’s safe, Sydney. You don’t have to worry. I’ll see that you’re both protected.”
    He moved closer to me, so close that his leg brushed mine, and my stomach flopped.
    I furrowed my brows in a deep frown.
    I had Mesmers to focus on, not incredibly handsome blond guys wearing black eyeliner.
    As if reading my mind, some girl tittered, “Who’s that hot blond guy?”
    This statement was met by squeals of agreement as a bevy of girls all pointed at Rafael and began giggling as I watched, experiencing an odd pang of jealousy.
    Jareth took it upon himself to answer, “Him? He’s no one important!” Tossing his head, he swept his hands in a broad gesture, drawing everyone’s attention, and announced, “I’m leaving now. Get out of my way.”
    Holding his arm up to deflect the flashing cell phones still snapping pictures, he boldly stepped into the crowd,