The Last Changeling by Chelsea Pitcher Read Free Book Online

help it blend with the approaching dusk. The crow nodded once and, rising from her perch, disappeared into the sky.

6
    T aylo R
    I was walking back from the pantry when I saw it. A flash of black streaked across the sky. Without even thinking, I hurried across the living room and peered out through the curtains.
    This is what I saw:
    On the garage, the window above my bed was open, and Lora was leaning out. Her long hair spilled over the sill, red on white. For a second I thought she was going to climb out again, in spite of the fact that she’d just promised she wouldn’t. But then something stranger happened: the flash of black turned out to be a crow, and once it settled onto the windowsill, Lora started talking to it.
    Um. What the hell?
    I mean, okay, she was raised in the country, so talking to horses wouldn’t have been that bad. But crows? That was a little too Demented-Disney-Princess for me. Still, long shadows draped across the windowsill, making it hard to see clearly. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what was happening.
    I needed to get a better look.
    I ran to the door. If I could get outside without Lora noticing, I could sneak across the yard and hide behind the tree. And yes, I knew I was snooping, and maybe it was an invasion of her privacy, but all of this was happening in my room, and it was too weird to ignore.
    One. Two. Three . I forced myself to count down as I turned the knob. My chest was aching and I had this terrible feeling that everything was about to change. For a minute, the world was too quiet as I peered out through the opening, and I thought Lora had spotted me. But no one called down from the window. No one looked down.
    No one was sitting there.
    When I got outside, both Lora and the crow were gone.

7
    E l o r A
    Taylor had been asleep for several hours when my telephone started to vibrate. Luckily, his snoring was loud enough to muffle the sound of me sneaking from the room. The world was quiet as I slipped out the door of the garage, too wary to risk late-night flight, and raced across the grass to the yard’s only tree. Halfway up the trunk, I pushed the little green button on the telephone.
    I pressed the phone against my ear, worried beyond rationality that my endeavor had failed, and when I heard the voice of my longtime friend I nearly sobbed with joy.
    â€œWhat happens when the light touches darkness?” Illya whispered.
    â€œThe fractured fragments of Faerie become whole.” I drew a shroud of mist around my body. Twirling my fingers in the air, I worked to muffle the sound of my voice. Across the yard, the house was dark, but I could not help but watch the curtains for signs of life. There was, of course, the chance that Taylor would awaken and look out his own window, but we would cross that bridge if we came to it.
    â€œIt’s you!” Illya breathed. In my mind, I could see the marsh sprite struggling to levitate a telephone as big as she was. “I was afraid it would be not you.”
    â€œI’ve hoarded this little gadget like a relic of old,” I replied, running my hand over the phone as if I could reach Illya’s webbed fingers. “I am happy to see my endeavor was a success.”
    â€œIt might not have b een, if your messenger had not led me to the border of the wasteland. It seems the magic of humans is limited to their world.”
    â€œI am sorry for your troubles,” I said, a shiver tickling my spine at the thought of mortal magic. “Now, tell me what has befallen the Court since my departure.”
    â€œThe servants are acting on your orders, behaving as if nothing is amiss. Some of them are better than others,” Illya huffed. “But those who remain loyal to the crown are oblivious. They’re too busy caring for the Queen.”
    I narrowed my eyes, planting my feet against a branch. “What ails the Queen?”
    â€œHer only daughter has disappeared from her court,” Illya