Read Online Mother May I (Knight Games Book 4) by Genevieve Jack - Free Book Online Page B

flipped him the finger.
    “This isn’t helping, you two.” I crossed the attic to the The Book of Light and Copse Magicum , Forest Magic, my two magical grimoires. Truth was, I didn’t have a clue what to do next. I could climb out the window, but then what? “Wings,” I said, frantically flipping pages. “You’re a genius, Poe. We need to fly out of here.”
    “You’ve flown before,” Poe said. “I’ve seen you hover.”
    “I can hover, but I don’t have enough control. Not good enough to call it flying.”
    “They have arrows,” Gary reminded. Hovering was not going to cut it. I needed to fly or I’d be target practice.
    I lifted Tabetha’s magic wand from next to Copse Magicum . I’d resisted trying to use it in the past; it held bad memories for me. However, an idea was working its way to the front of my brain. It was a long shot, but maybe my only shot.
    “When I hover, I have to concentrate on pushing the air away from myself to propel from the ground. What if I sat on a magical object and concentrated on lifting that object using the air around me?”
    Poe rolled his eyes. “Like a broom? How cliché.”
    “Not a broom. A branch.” I held up the crooked wand that used to be Tabetha’s and concentrated. It extended to the length of my body, sprouting a few leafy segments as it grew. With a little effort, I levitated the branch and sent it soaring around the attic. When it returned to me, I climbed on, sidesaddle, and floated across the wood floor to the window.
    “I don’t get it,” Gary said. “How is levitating a branch easier than levitating yourself?”
    “The power comes from me,” I said evenly, trying to hold steady. “This gives me a consistent place to direct my concentrated effort.”
    Gary frowned. “That makes no physical or mechanical sense.”
    I shrugged. “Maybe not, but it’s the best I’ve got. Gary, you jump down and distract them. Poe, stay close and help me focus my magic.”
    “Got it,” Poe said.
    Behind us, the door rattled. I motioned for Gary to open the window. He complied.
    “Meet me where I was turned,” the vampire whispered, so quietly I had to read his lips. I nodded. He’d told me the story of Anna Bathory turning him months ago. I knew the place.
    In one lithe move, he leaped from the window into the oak tree in my front yard, then onto the road, racing toward the woods. A single streak of platinum followed him. Hmmm. Not much of a distraction. The door to the attic cracked against the wardrobe behind me. I kicked off, folding myself to the branch to fit through the window.
    My flight wasn’t nearly as graceful as I’d hoped. I jerked forward and side to side like a turbulent airplane. As I struggled to hold myself aloft, Poe glided nervously near my head. “Steady,” he whispered. “Don’t draw attention.”
    “I’m trying,” I whispered. I succeeded in driving forward in one awkward thrust toward the stone bridge between my house and Rick’s. If I could make it to his place, I could borrow his car to escape.
    An arrow whizzed past my ear. “Watch out,” I cried to Poe, looking over my shoulder. A sea of platinum heads had formed at the end of my driveway. The twang of drawn bows left me desperate to propel forward, but I lurched and stopped in frustrating bursts.
    “Pointy-eared sons of bitches,” Poe cursed.
    “Go. Go,” I said to Poe. “They’ll skewer you like a pheasant. Find me later.”
    My familiar nodded and left me, soaring like a bullet toward Monk’s Hill Cemetery. Smart bird. No way would the goblins risk entering my hellmouth.
    I changed course to follow him, but another round of arrows cut me off. Without Poe’s presence amplifying my magic, my control faltered. I dove and rolled, almost falling off the branch. Distracted, I dropped like a rock toward the pavement. The arrows cut through my hair, just missing my scalp. I landed on the bridge, breaking my fall with a desperate gust of wind that wasn’t enough to