The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler Read Free Book Online Page A

gotten pretty frustrated.
    Giving up, I whirled around in lazy circles in Samantha’s swivel chair, watching the baristas scurrying about. And as one of them walked by me with a big box of foil, I suddenly remembered reading about how cats should be forced to wear foil hats to prevent them from contacting their mother ships.
    Curiously, I typed in a quick search about foil hats.
    Within minutes, I was reading the scientific theory of how they worked. Apparently, a foil hat significantly reduced the intensity of radio frequency radiation on the wearer's brain, something called a Faraday cage.
    Excitedly, I read how even some older houses were basically Faraday cages, the houses that had used chicken coop wire and plaster as wall material. I didn’t think Al and Betty’s house was that old, but maybe I could make a Faraday cage out of it somehow.
    I didn’t think I could get them to wear foil hats. Besides Al, anyway.
    But still, I was pretty excited. At least I had something to try.
    The rest of the day passed quickly with no sign of Jareth or Rafael. And soon enough, we’d turned the Christmas music and the lights off and most of the baristas had gone.
    “Wanna watch a movie with me and Grace?” Ellison asked as we wiped the counters down.
    “Not tonight,” I said. “I’ve got plans. I’ll just take the bus home.”
    “Ah, I see,” he said with a knowing smile.
    I knew he thought I was talking about Rafael. But then, I guess I was. But it certainly wasn’t going to be anything like a date.
    Grace arrived then, telling Ellison to hurry so they wouldn’t be late for the movie. And as Ellison reached for the trash, I volunteered. “You just go with Grace. I’ll dump the bags.”
    “Thanks, mate,” he said, doffing an imaginary cap.
    I watched the two of them dash across the street, holding hands. And for a minute, I felt a twinge of jealousy.
    Annoyed with myself, I tossed the trash bag over my shoulder and tromped through the back of the shop.
    “Tomorrow, it’s back to making cappuccinos for you, Sydney,” Samantha said as I passed. She didn’t look up as her fingers moved rapidly over the keypad of an ancient calculator. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
    I grunted, hoping she’d take that for agreement. But, I much preferred washing dishes.
    Shoving the door open with my foot, I stepped outside.
    It was already dark.
    Taking in a big gulp of fresh air, I looked up at the night sky. There were no stars, or if there were, they were obliterated by the city lights. A few snowflakes drifted down lazily from above.
    Lugging the trash bag, I slipped a little on the icy blacktop as I headed toward the dumpster about twenty feet away. But I’d only taken a few steps before I had the nagging sense that I was being followed.
    I heard it first. The small scratching sounds of something scrabbling over the bricks behind me.
    I caught my breath in a huge sucking sound and whirled around. In the dim light, the trees across the street suddenly took on menacing shapes.
    But then one of the shadows broke away from the dumpster, and a blood-curdling scream tore from my lips as I recognized the small gargoyle shape.
    It was Blondie.
    The backdoor of the coffee shop slammed open.
    “What is it, Sydney?” Samantha asked. “Are you ok? What happened?”
    Blondie’s unblinking gaze focused directly upon Samantha, and his impossibly low voice vibrated. “Turn away, human,” he said. “Go back inside.”
    “No!” I gasped, grateful that Jareth’s protection rune was apparently working, but I was afraid for Samantha. I didn’t want her to be mesmerized.
    But to my surprise, Samantha’s voice dropped an octave itself. “What is that thing? Let me get the broom.”
    Astonished, I turned to see her reach back into the coffee shop to grab the handle of a wide sweeper. Brandishing it as a weapon, she began to walk toward me in her usual no-nonsense-Samantha way.
    “My, my, what is that? Some kind of raccoon with