Read Online Into the Dark (The Conjurors) by Kristen Pham - Free Book Online
Authors: Kristen Pham
Ads: Link
want.”
“I guess the Fractus want to stop you from getting to the Globe, Valerie,” Thai said quietly. “But we’ll make sure they fail.”
Chapter Five
Valerie and Thai traveled with a new sense of urgency, turning the trip from Stonehenge back to the London Heathrow Airport into a race to escape before Venu regained consciousness. Valerie couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every few minutes, half expecting to see his enormous shoulders in the distance, lumbering after them. Only when they were safely aboard their flight to Cairo, Egypt, and Thai had scanned all the passengers to make sure Venu wasn’t on board, did she finally feel her muscles relax.
“I wish there was some way we could know for sure that he isn’t following us again,” Thai said after they were safely in the air.
Cyrus popped into view, sitting in a cross-legged yoga pose on top of the bald head of the man sitting in front of them. Valerie couldn’t repress a grin, but Thai hissed, “Get down from there! That’s so disrespectful.”
“Whatever, he’ll never know,” Cyrus said, but he sat in the empty seat between Valerie and Thai instead.
Before they could start bickering, Valerie asked, “Did you find anything out about that Venu guy?”
“Sorry, Val. I tried to follow him to see what he’s up to, but he’s protected.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Usually, a Conjuror thinks about someone on Earth really hard, and we’re at their side in seconds. But no matter how long and hard I thought about Venu, I couldn’t find him. That means that someone on the Globe is using a charm to prevent anyone else from locating him.”
“So there’s no way for us to know where he is, then,” she replied.
“Nope. It’s kind of ironic – the charm was originally created to protect children on Earth from being bothered by the Fractus who like to scare kids. But eventually the Fractus found out about the charms and now one of them is using it to stop anyone from finding Venu.”
“At least we know he’s not on this flight,” Thai said. “We should take advantage of the fact that we’re safe for now and get some rest.”
Valerie nodded. She was exhausted, so she was able to sleep for most of the flight. It wasn’t until the wheels of the airplane came into jarring contact with the runway in Cairo that she awoke. Rested and confident that Venu was hundreds of miles away, she felt the thrill and worries about her adventure return.
“We made it! He’ll never find us now,” she said hopefully.
Thai didn’t look so sure. “I don’t understand how he tracked us to Stonehenge in the first place. It’s like he knows where we’re going. Maybe someone is watching us and feeding back our whereabouts to him. What if he knows about the Great Pyramid, too? He could be only a few hours behind us. We need to go straight there tonight so you can get off this planet!”
Valerie turned to him, her forehead wrinkling with worry. “Thai, you’re not going to like what I’m about to ask you, but it’s important. I don’t want to leave tonight. I want one last full day on Earth. Once I leave, I can never come back. And even though we’re in a foreign country right now, it’s not half as foreign as the world I’m traveling to. Please, give me one day.”
Thai didn’t immediately reject her request with his usual condescending commands, as she expected. “I can understand that – I’d want the same thing if I were you. But you’re in real danger and I really don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t know what Venu is capable of and who might be helping him.”
“I know, and it’s unfair of me to ask you to risk your life by waiting another day. I can find my way to the portal from here. The directions are all in my head. We can say goodbye now, if you want. The last thing I want to do is to put you in any danger.”
“I guess the Fractus want to stop you from getting to the Globe, Valerie,” Thai said quietly. “But we’ll make sure they fail.”
Chapter Five
Valerie and Thai traveled with a new sense of urgency, turning the trip from Stonehenge back to the London Heathrow Airport into a race to escape before Venu regained consciousness. Valerie couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every few minutes, half expecting to see his enormous shoulders in the distance, lumbering after them. Only when they were safely aboard their flight to Cairo, Egypt, and Thai had scanned all the passengers to make sure Venu wasn’t on board, did she finally feel her muscles relax.
“I wish there was some way we could know for sure that he isn’t following us again,” Thai said after they were safely in the air.
Cyrus popped into view, sitting in a cross-legged yoga pose on top of the bald head of the man sitting in front of them. Valerie couldn’t repress a grin, but Thai hissed, “Get down from there! That’s so disrespectful.”
“Whatever, he’ll never know,” Cyrus said, but he sat in the empty seat between Valerie and Thai instead.
Before they could start bickering, Valerie asked, “Did you find anything out about that Venu guy?”
“Sorry, Val. I tried to follow him to see what he’s up to, but he’s protected.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Usually, a Conjuror thinks about someone on Earth really hard, and we’re at their side in seconds. But no matter how long and hard I thought about Venu, I couldn’t find him. That means that someone on the Globe is using a charm to prevent anyone else from locating him.”
“So there’s no way for us to know where he is, then,” she replied.
“Nope. It’s kind of ironic – the charm was originally created to protect children on Earth from being bothered by the Fractus who like to scare kids. But eventually the Fractus found out about the charms and now one of them is using it to stop anyone from finding Venu.”
“At least we know he’s not on this flight,” Thai said. “We should take advantage of the fact that we’re safe for now and get some rest.”
Valerie nodded. She was exhausted, so she was able to sleep for most of the flight. It wasn’t until the wheels of the airplane came into jarring contact with the runway in Cairo that she awoke. Rested and confident that Venu was hundreds of miles away, she felt the thrill and worries about her adventure return.
“We made it! He’ll never find us now,” she said hopefully.
Thai didn’t look so sure. “I don’t understand how he tracked us to Stonehenge in the first place. It’s like he knows where we’re going. Maybe someone is watching us and feeding back our whereabouts to him. What if he knows about the Great Pyramid, too? He could be only a few hours behind us. We need to go straight there tonight so you can get off this planet!”
Valerie turned to him, her forehead wrinkling with worry. “Thai, you’re not going to like what I’m about to ask you, but it’s important. I don’t want to leave tonight. I want one last full day on Earth. Once I leave, I can never come back. And even though we’re in a foreign country right now, it’s not half as foreign as the world I’m traveling to. Please, give me one day.”
Thai didn’t immediately reject her request with his usual condescending commands, as she expected. “I can understand that – I’d want the same thing if I were you. But you’re in real danger and I really don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t know what Venu is capable of and who might be helping him.”
“I know, and it’s unfair of me to ask you to risk your life by waiting another day. I can find my way to the portal from here. The directions are all in my head. We can say goodbye now, if you want. The last thing I want to do is to put you in any danger.”
Similar Books
