Read Online Darkness of Light by Stacey Marie Brown - Free Book Online

opposite. She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties. She was a bit taller than me, with beautiful, long, red hair, light blue eyes, and porcelain skin, all of which made me incredibly jealous. 
    Her eyes caught mine and she smiled at me. I could have sworn the clouds parted. I half expected bunnies and deer to come out of the forest to dance and sing around her. I didn’t know if I liked or hated her. She was too pretty and sweet looking to be here. Her hair was unfazed by the dense mist swirling around us, which made mine look like an electrocuted poodle.
    I looked around and saw I wasn’t the only one drooling on their boots. The unbelievably sexy couple enraptured everyone. I had to laugh watching the girls’ (and maybe a few guys’) eyes move salaciously over his body. The guys (and probably a few girls) looked dumbstruck and goofy, their eyes and pants bulging as they stared at her.  
    She took a step forward. “As you noticed, your old O.A.R. leaders are no longer here. We will be your new team leaders. My name is Samantha Walker and . . .” She turned to the guy next to her expectantly. 
    “Eli Dragen,” he said reluctantly. His voice was deep and husky, sending vibrations through me. His eyes narrowed in disgust at me before he looked away again.
    What the hell?
    “We will be building community gardens,” he continued. “Some of the food we grow will be used in our cafeteria and the rest will be sent to a homeless shelter. We will be using compost from our kitchen here at Silverwood to help grow the plants. We need to build the planter boxes first. We’ll be splitting into two groups, each group building five boxes.” When he spoke, I swore I heard a flutter of sighs from the girls, and, yes, definitely from a guy or two. The more the girls reacted to him, the more upset I got, which was stupid. I didn’t know why I felt angry. I barely knew him, and it was clear he didn’t like me, nor I him.
    This immediately put me in check. What was I doing? This guy could be some creep, who might have been outside my bedroom window, watching me a couple nights ago. He could have been stalking my house, wanting to kill me in my sleep. Okay, the last bit might be a little over the top but better safe than sorry, right? 
    There was no way I wanted to be in his group. I started towards Samantha when Eli’s sharp voice filled the space. “You guys will be with me.” He waved his hand around a group of people, which included me. His dislike for me was clear, so why would he pick me to be in his group? He stared at me, his expression emotionless and hard.
    The girl from the cafeteria stepped closer to Eli, her voice twirling like honey in a flirty, girlie tone. “But, I want to be in your group.” I rolled my eyes. I had seen this girl stab a guy with a plastic fork at lunch. There was nothing sweet or girlie about her.
    “Fine,” he replied sharply. “Let’s go.”

Ten
    Josh and I followed the group across the street to a cleared area where remnants of an old garden still remained. We stopped in front of a garden shed. Wheel barrels, hammers, drills, gloves, and other supplies were bundled in piles in the small building.
    “Okay everyone, grab gloves.” Eli nodded towards the pile.
    Right then, I saw something skitter deep in the shadows at the far end of the shed. The thing moved to the wall and scuttled towards the entrance. I squinted, trying to make out what it was. A large brown rat stopped and turned to look at me. 
    “Ewww—gross a rat!” a girl screamed. 
    I could have sworn I saw the rat’s eyes narrow, glaring at the girl. “Well, I don’t find you much to look at either.” The voice was tiny and gruff. 
    My breath caught in my throat as I froze with fear. Holy shit. I looked around. No one else seemed to be reacting to the fact a rat had just talked. I turned back to the rodent. 
    A hazy glow surrounded the rat, and I found I was no longer looking at a rat, but at a tiny woman,