Page 35 of Cry of the Damned
She nodded, then quickly weaved her hands in a spell. It would help conceal us slightly as we crossed the warehouse’s parking lot and made it to the door. We wouldn’t be invisible by any means, but it helped us blend in.
“Let’s go.” I stepped out of our hiding place and walked across the cracked pavement as confidently as my trembling legs would allow.
Bethel strolled next to me, looking totally unconcerned. She was either tough as nails, or she knew how to put on a good front.
When we reached the door, I pulled it open and went in, while Bethel stayed outside to help conceal the other ones’ passage.
Hesitantly, I walked down the narrow hall that led to another door. When I got there, I listened carefully and heard a whispered conversation.
“If they’re just kids, what plan could they possibly have?” a well-spoken male voice asked.
“They are young,” Mrs. Clarice said, “but I wouldn’t hold that against them. I think we should listen.”
“That’s why we’re here.” This time, a female voice that sounded younger than Mrs. Clarice’s.
Inhaling deeply, I pushed the door, my steps making enough noise to alert them of my presence. As I walked into a large area stacked with wooden crates, four heads turned in my direction.
“Good evening,” I said, remembering my Academy-taught manners.
“Sheela.” Mrs. Clarice came forward to greet me. “I’m glad you came.”
She had asked me my real name when I left the hotel after our conversation. I’d seen no harm in giving it to her.
Her gray eyes glanced toward the door behind me.
“The others will be here shortly,” I said.
I had just finished explaining when Ila pushed through the door. She stepped up to stand shoulder to shoulder with me. “Hello, Mrs. Clarice.”
Mrs. Clarice inclined her head. “Welcome.”
A minute later, we were all standing together as Mrs. Clarice carefully examined each of us. At her back, her friends looked intimidated, scared even. That was when any doubt I’d had left fell away. They were at a disadvantage and had clearly put themselves in danger coming here.
“Let me introduce my friends,” I said, using a friendly tone that I hoped would set everyone at ease.
“This is Bethel from the Wallagrass coven.”
She crossed her arms, jutted her hip out, and said, “Nice to make your acquaintance.”
I blinked at her cheeky attitude. She was incorrigible.
Mrs. Clarice’s friends simply inclined their heads, still looking unsettled.
“The rest of us are what’s left of the Ashoona pack.” I continued. “That is, if we don’t count the children the Academy kidnapped just a week ago. My name is Sheela. This is my sister Ila, and these are the members of my tetrad, Kall, Maki, and Novuk.”
Nods went around, and a bit of the tension seemed to dissipate.
Mrs. Clarice extended an arm, inviting us to walk further in as she proceeded to introduce her friends. “I’m glad to meet everyone. You may know me as Clarice, but my real name is Ahanu. These here are George and Heather Breton. They are husband and wife. And this is Owen Bickford.”
George and Heather were in their mid-forties. He was a thin, lanky man with salt-and-pepper hair parted on one side. He wore horn-rimmed glasses that he kept pushing up his nose as he blinked and blinked at us, looking more nervous than his wife. Heather was about a foot shorter than her husband and had red hair and a freckled face that was bright and friendly now that she didn’t seem so unsettled by our presence.
Owen seemed slightly older than George, but he looked stronger, like a man used to heavy lifting and hard labor. He had a bald head, a big red nose, and kind brown eyes. He seemed taken with Novuk and hadn’t stopped staring at him.
“You’re a big fellow,” Owen said appreciatively.
Novuk glanced at me as if I could provide an answer for him. In the end, he just shrugged.
“George is the Academy’s new accountant,” Ahanu said.
