Read Online Lost Paradise by Tara Fox Hall - Free Book Online Page B

I blame you for
this,” she whispered, letting go of me and stepping back. “I’ll see
you when you come next time.” She closed her door gently in my
face.
    We both needed some time . “I’ll see
you then,” I said aloud, and turned away.
    I teleported to Danial’s, ending up in the
snow on the lawn. In my haste, I’d forgotten my coat and my
keys.
    Fuck, who cared? My first priority was
getting to a shower before anyone smelled snake scent on me. I
went to the front door and knocked lightly, praying Mary was on
duty.
    Instead, Danial opened it a moment later
dressed in his robe, clearly annoyed. He took one look at me and
knew immediately something was wrong. “What happened?” he said,
reaching out to enfold me in his arms. “I can smell that snake on
you from here—”
    As soon as he touched me, my strength
evaporated. I dissolved into tears. “Some of Devlin’s bears tried
to—”
    “Shh, Sar. I can guess the rest.” Danial
walked me to the nearest phone, picked up the receiver, and began
dialing.
    “You don’t need to talk to him,” I said,
irritated. “He said he’d be by later.” I moved out of his embrace,
then walked to his bathroom. “I need a shower.”
    Danial put down the phone and came after me.
“The Lust raised with Lash?”
    I nodded, stripping off my clothes. “Don’t
tell Theo. I don’t need him to have another hissy fit.”
    Danial nodded once. “He won’t hear it from
me. Relax in my room when you’re done. No one will disturb you.” He
turned and left.
    Had it been my anger or the scent of sex
with Lash that had caused him to leave? It didn’t matter. I was
a big girl. I would go shower, cry, and pull myself together.
    I took a long hot shower, wrapping my arms
around myself as I sobbed out the delayed shock and fear. The
familiar scent of my favorite blackberry shampoo soothed me,
telling me I was safe, and that it didn’t matter what might have
happened, only what had happened. I had gotten away from Kev and
Vince. Lash had saved me. That was all that mattered. I told
myself that over and over until I believed it.
    When I emerged, Danial was gone. I went
looking for him and stumbled across Theoron and Elle in her room,
playing a board game, Dark Tower.
    The old game was from my youth, back when
computers were new and did only small things. The object was to
journey completely around the board picking up keys and loot, and
then when you’d made it back to your starting point, to challenge
the tower. The most fun was going to tombs and ruins looking for
treasure, because the computer chose for you at random what you
would find.
    Once in a while, the tomb or ruin was empty.
Sometimes there was gold, or a dragon-killing sword, or a flying
horse. Often there were bad guys waiting for you in the dark,
protecting those treasures. There was no way to know how many bad
guys you’d have to fight. Most times there were only a few waiting
when the door of the ruin creaked open. These could be easily
beaten. Sometimes there were too many to fight, though. Then, like
in life, you were doomed.
     

 
    Chapter
Four
     
    Elle was the first to notice me standing at
the door. “Mom!” she cried happily. “Today’s not your day to visit.
I thought you were coming tomorrow!”
    “I’m early,” I said, forcing a smile. “Is
that okay?”
    They both left their game and ran up to me.
“Yes!”
    It felt so good to feel their little arms
around me. I hugged them back, then quickly let them go, not
wanting them to suspect how upset I was. “How’s your game?”
    “I’m beating him,” Elle said proudly.
    “You are not,” Theoron said snidely to her.
“I’m using good strategy.” He looked up at me. “Want to play? We’re
halfway through, but we could start again—”
    That meant h e had to be losing. “No, you guys play,” I said, giving him a smile and ruffling his
hair. “I’ll watch for a while.” Dark Tower was a long game.
Sometimes it went on for three hours