Twisted Sister of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) by John Corwin Read Free Book Online

tugged her grandmother's arm. "Did you hear that, Bigmomma?"
    Shelton and I froze. Sweat dampened my armpits. If she saw us, it was over. My little sister had once executed a spell that would have killed hundreds of vampires in one fell swoop had I not altered it. In other words, she had skillz with a 'z' and could probably take the two of us out without much effort.
    "I do declare, child, you nearly pulled your poor Bigmomma's arm right out of the socket." She leaned over Ivy, her voice changing from strict, to doting and affectionate. "Now what did my little darlin' hear?"
    Ivy drew in a sharp breath as something trumpeted in the distance. "You hear that? It's an elephant! Someone must have just ridden one in through the arch. Can we go see it, please?" She hopped up and down, holding her hands together as if in prayer. "Please, please, please?"
    Eliza gave her an affectionate smile. "Oh, child, I'm afraid there isn't enough time. We need to get home."
    Ivy slumped, and her pretty but sad face appeared in profile at the end of the vent. "But I never get to do anything fun."
    "Once this is all over, we'll take you to the zoo. How's that?"
    My sister clapped her hands. "Really? Can I see a koala?"
    Eliza's hand straightened Ivy's golden locks. "We'll even take you to a zoo in Australia. Won't that be fun?"
    Ivy jumped. "Yes, yes, yes!" When she landed, I saw her face again. The big smile she wore reminded me so much of our mother, I felt a pang in my heart at how twisted and bent this little girl's mind was all thanks to the damned Conroys.
    "How long is it going to take, Bigmomma?" She sighed. "When is Bigdaddy finally gonna get that rune?"
    "Now, don't you worry, young lady. He knows what he's doing. In fact, he'll be at your school for a while." She pinched Ivy's cheek. "Won't that be wonderful?"
    Ivy straightened. "He'll be at my school? He can see how well I'm doing?"
    "You bet your pretty face, sugah. Now, let's get going. He'll be back later tonight, and I want to have a special dinner waiting for him." Eliza took the young girl's hand and led her away, the clomp of their shoes fading with distance.
    Shelton let out a long shuddering breath. "Holy crap, man. I almost lost it there for a second."
    "No lie," I replied, feeling the tension ease in my entire body. "I suwanee!"
    Shelton groaned. "Will you stop it with that heinous word?"
    We made our way out of the duct. I sneaked to the corner of the stable, peeked around it in time to watch Ivy and "Bigmomma" get into the back of a waiting black sedan. A part of me considered trying to follow them. I was probably fast enough to keep pace. But before I could work up the courage to enact my bold plan, the original sedan split, popping apart into two identical cars. The two cars split into four. As I watched, each replica divided into more. By then, I'd hopelessly lost track of the original car, and a stream of identical sedans were already filing out of the cavernous chamber and up the ramp to the exit.
    "Son of a monkey's third cousin," Shelton said, aiming his wand at the line of cars. "I can't even figure out which ones are the fakes."
    "They can't possibly know we're here," I said. "Why would they go through the trouble to create all those illusions?"
    "I've seen high-level diplomats who use that kind of illusion as a precaution." Shelton tucked his wand into the inside pocket on his leather duster. "I think I know why they have minders guarding this place."
    "Because of the Conroys?" I asked.
    "Because of this little side project they got going on here." A sly grin stretched his lips. "And I just figured out how we can get a five-fingered discount on arch travel."
    I gave him a blank look.
    "It means we can steal a ride—take the arch for free."
    I raised an eyebrow. "For free? Did I miss something?"
    He chuckled and motioned me toward the door leading into the control room. "Say hello to Darkwater's newest employees."
     

Chapter 6
     
    I didn't have time to decide