The Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff Read Free Book Online Page A

to pieces. The thunder was practically overhead now. Wind whisked around her, buffeting her against the castle walls.
Jem-maaaah!
it seemed to moan.
My sweet thirte-e-een …
    Clang-ng-ng!
    The first strike of eleven. Noodle and Pie peeked out of her pockets, then hastily dived down again.
    Five knots. Only two to go. Jemma shivered with cold and fear. Her hands were frozen, her fingers raw from scraping hard granite.
Jem-maaaAAH!
The wind rose to a howl, mingling with the tolls booming from the Bell Tower. Six knots … The last two strips of sheet flapped below her, and the ground was still nowhere in sight. She would have to reach for one of the treetops swaying below—
    A blast of wind slammed her against the wall. Her right bootlace caught on a shard of stone. Its hastily tied knot unraveled. The boot hung perilously from her foot, and she wriggled her toes to try and stop it from falling, but it slipped off and plummeted. With a chilling
scree!
two thick prongs shot out of the wall several feet below her, a net suspended between them. The net caught her boot and bound it up like a fly in a spider’s web, then retracted into the wall with a low rumble, its leather prey hanging limp and helpless.
    “Mother of Majem, Rattusses—that would have been us if we’d gone much farther!”
    Suddenly, a high-pitched siren split the night air. Candlelight flared from Nocturna’s Bed-Chamber, then moved rapidly from window to window toward Jemma’s room.… Terror jarred through her. As fast as her hands could grab, she shimmied up the torn sheets and blankets, and tumbled onto the bed, spilling Noodle and Pie from her pockets. They darted under the chest as she yanked up the soaked sheets and blankets and tore off her sodden dress, which she’d thrown over her night robe. Hiding the lilac bundle under the mattress,she piled her dress, sheets, and blankets onto the bed, then shoved the bed back into place and jumped onto the window-sill just as her door was hurled open.
    “What are you doing?” Nocturna streaked across the room and grabbed Jemma’s arm. “You’re soaked to the bone!”
    Jemma opened her mouth, but no words would come out.
    “Well?” Nocturna yelled, thrusting her head forward. Two pendants swung out from under her night robe, almost hitting Jemma on the chin. Nocturna’s black amulet. And the aquamarine Stone.
    Mine!
Jemma thought.
I mustn’t let her know that I know.…
She fixed Nocturna’s gaze, trying not to shake. “I … I was just …”
    Nocturna’s grip tightened. “Explain yourself, Jemma. This instant!”
    Nox strode into the room. “What in Mord’s name is happening? Nocturna?”
    “Ask that of this child!”
    A lightning bolt struck a tree outside, setting it alight. Jemma’s Stone shone in the flames; then a trail of aqua light shot from it into her chest, so fine that she wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it. Energy jolted through her, and she found her tongue.
    “I … I was sitting with my feet out, Mama, Papa, watching the storm. It was cold, so I’d put my boots on. One of them fell off. Then I heard this horrible scraping sound, and my boot disappeared into the wall. Then that … 
noise
started. What in Mord’s name is it?”
    “Just an alarm, Jemma,” Nox said, stepping forward, “to warn us of intruders. No doubt your boot set it off.” He priedNocturna’s grip from Jemma’s arm. “There’s no need to worry, Nocturna, my dear. All is well.”
    Nocturna frowned, and dropped her hand.
    Shade and Feo appeared at the door. Lightning threw shadows of alarm across Feo’s face. Even Shade looked ruffled. It steeled Jemma’s nerve.
    “Isn’t the storm beautiful, Mama?” she said, smiling. Thunder ripped the sky.
    “Yes, beautiful …” Nocturna turned her gaze outside. The Stone pulsed against her throat, a pulse that Jemma felt under her skin.
    It’s as if it knows I’ve recognized it
, she thought, forcing herself to look away. But the pulse