The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4) by Carmen Caine Read Free Book Online Page A

step sideways out of her reach.
    “No, Raven,” he said, a frown marring his brow. “You’ll have to help me because it is the right thing to do.” He paused for dramatic emphasis before adding, “I’ll never be yours. My heart belongs to Sydney.”
    I have to admit, I smiled at that. In fact, I was giddy.
    She made a gesture of complete disgust. “Are you mad—”
    “I will no longer discuss this with you,” he interrupted in an aloof manner.
    She scowled outright, mulling it over and chewing her upper lip with her perfect teeth. “Very well,” she finally said in an undertone. “But do not expect me to be there once you tire of your … fling with this … this—”
    “Enough, Raven,” Rafael warned again, his expression deadly serious. “To the matter at hand. You have the power to help. Will you?”
    She was clearly not pleased to have the subject switched. She flung her head from side-to-side a couple of times before accusing in an arch tone, “There is much you are not saying, Rafael. Why would you think I know Melody’s secrets?”
    He tilted his head, contemplating a moment. “You have always been her favorite, Raven.”
    Her lips thinned even more. “I only joined Inner Circle because of you,” she admitted reproachfully. “But now I see that they are truly right in their beliefs. You’re a Pureblood like me. Our bloodlines are untainted. Together, we can restore the Fae to what we should be, superior beings that leave Earth and the Second Dimension to their own deserved fate.”
    “That is the poison that Marquis and Melody fed you,” Rafael said in a voice of deep disapproval. “The Fae are tied to the Earth and the Second Dimension as well. All three of the dimensions need each other. We cannot exist on our own.”
    She sniffed in disdain. “Nonsense. Melody is right. We do not need them. They are inferior.”
    “No, Melody is wrong,” Rafael inserted patiently. “They are not inferior simply because they are different. In some ways, humans are more powerful than we are. They have power in their thoughts, the power to create.”
    “Please!” Raven rolled her eyes. “There is nothing to debate here. We are for certain better off without them. Their existence serves no purpose, as Melody says. It is better if both Earth and the Second Dimension are … dealt with.”
    Arching a slow brow, Rafael asked calmly, “And what do you mean by ‘dealt with’?”
    It was the way she jerked that made my heart leap into my throat. She looked guilty. Thoroughly, utterly guilty. Clearly, she knew something. And that something didn’t sound too good for Earth’s prospects.
    “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice a little too high pitched.
    Rafael was suspicious of her as well. I could tell by the way he straightened, and by the commanding tone threading his voice as he informed her, “The Fae cannot exist by themselves, Raven. Earth, Avalon, and the Second Dimension are entwined through the Tree of Life. If one is harmed, all are affected. What is Melody planning?”
    Deliberately avoiding the question, she asked in an amused tone instead, “Tree of Life? Do you believe such nonsense? Have you ever seen this mighty magical tree here on Earth or even on Avalon? Tales, Rafael. Tales for little ones. I have never seen it. Have you?”
    He was silent.
    “Have you?” she pressed.
    “No,” he confessed softly, shaking his head. “But I know it exists. The fate of Jareth, Sydney, and I end with this tree. And I know that I will see it. Soon. I see it in Sydney’s fate lines. She holds the future of us all now.”
    I swallowed at the unexpected turn in the conversation. I held their future? Like I needed more pressure.
    “Do the right thing, Raven,” Rafael was saying earnestly. “I need Jareth. Sydney needs Jareth to make the right choice. We must find him. Quickly. Her choice will be soon.”
    My heart stood still at that. Soon? I didn’t hear what they said after that. I was