Read Online Angered Seasons: The Worst Birthday Ever (Volume One) by Mireille Chester - Free Book Online Page A

squeezed the trigger.
My target flew back into the ground and I took a deep breath,
turning around just in time to see Max’s bewildered expression. His
eyes were transformed, the green coloring now a shining silver. He
blinked rapidly which seemed to cause the silver to quickly blend
back into the green until it disappeared. He was staring at me,
fear clear on his face.
    “Please don’t shoot me!”
    My jaw dropped and I started to object, but
was forced to stop when I realized I had started to bring up the
rifle. I quickly lowered it and took three long strides to him so I
could hug the look off of him.
    “What the hell was that, Maxy?” I took long
deep breaths to calm myself.
    “I don’t know!” I heard him count to
himself.
    “Did it hurt? Do you feel alright?” I stepped
away from him and looked up into his eyes. They were the same green
I was used to seeing there.
    “I feel… I feel fine. What happened? Why were
you guys looking at me like that?”
    “Your eyes, man! They were silver!” John
seemed reluctant to get too close to his friend.
    Max frowned and looked to me for
confirmation. I nodded.
    “Before you shot him, I felt…” His frown
deepened. “Strong.”
    “Strong?” I glanced around and waved to the
truck. “Let’s go. We can chat on the way back to the shop.”
    Max got back behind the wheel and we drove at
a much more legal speed back out of town.
    “What did you mean, strong?” Johnny was
sitting in the back seat.
    “Like I could take on that Yellow Eyed freak
with my bare hands. I was going to do it, but then Gabby shot him.”
He glanced at me. “What do you think it was, Gabs?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t have a clue.”
    Max honked the horn as we pulled up to the
shop and I grinned at the sight of the one ton as the overhead door
was pulled open.
    “What the hell were you thinking?” Lane’s
voice wasn’t any louder than usual, yet everyone fell silent. I
turned and glared at him.
    “I was thinking that Johnny was in trouble
and someone should go get him before he got killed.”
    Lane’s dark blue eyes bore into mine. “I told
you to stay put. You could have phoned me and I could have gone to
get him.”
    I felt the anger spark in my belly; this
whole ‘keep Gabby at home’ routine was quickly getting old. “He
didn’t have his cell, the number came up unknown, and I had no clue
where he was!”
    “So you just left and what? Thought you’d
drive around till you found him?” His jaw clenched.
    “Yes! That’s exactly what I thought I’d do
until he could tell me!” I could feel the tears threaten to spring
to my eyes. “You know what, Lane? I’ve had enough shitty dads in my
lifetime. I don’t need another one.”
    Everyone stared as I walked away toward the
back room. Once there, I hid myself in the broom closet. I heard
Lane’s familiar steps as he walked around all of the material we
had back here.
    “Gabby?”
    I swallowed hard, but kept quiet.
    “Gabs, I know you’re in there.”
    I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, not
wanting to see the anger that had been in his eyes. He squeezed
himself into the closet and sat beside me. I felt him reach up and
turn the light off. I leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around
me. Since our very first major argument, we’d always found a small
dark room to talk. If one wasn’t available, simply laying with our
eyes closed usually did the trick.
    “I’m sorry.” His whisper was muffled in my
hair. “I was worried about you.”
    “I had to go, Lane.” I kept my voice
down.
    “I know.” He leaned his cheek against the top
of my head and I took a deep breath.
    “I hate this.”
    “I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon.” His
voice had lowered and deepened out of habit. It was the voice that
made all animals come to him no matter how scared they were. It
also broke up fights and worked wonders with the kids we worked
with. He’d used it plenty of times on me.
    “Not that. I mean, that