Read Online See Me by Wendy Higgins - Free Book Online

ourselves to be led onto the “dance floor,” which was essentially a circle of stamped down grass.
    We lined up with the others and took their hands. I peered over at the musicians and McKale gave me a slight nod of approval as he raised the fiddle under his chin.
    The dance required us to skip to the side, then skip to the other side. Our partners were supposed to spin us around, which was funny because we had to squat down and pivot. By the end, we’d gotten the hang of it and we were laughing and breathless. The song ended and everyone cheered. It took a moment to realize they were cheering for Cassidy and me. When I glanced at McKale again he was half grinning, the fiddle resting on his knee.
    Cassidy and I smiled at the people and one another, but declined a second dance because we were thirsty. She and I headed to the corner of the field where a Little Man stood on a stool scooping drinks from barrels with a fire roaring at his back.
    “Fine dancing!” he said when we approached. “What will ye be drinking? We got ale, mead, and a bit o’ fire water.”
    Fire water sounded bad. It had to be the moonshine Dad warned us about.
    “What’s mead?” Cassidy asked.
    “Fermented honey,” I said. “You’ll learn all about it when you read Beowulf next year.”
    She didn’t look excited.
    “Refreshing after a good dance, it is.” He filled two wooden goblets and handed them over. We thanked him and tasted the mead. There was slight bitterness from the alcohol and a light, sweet aftertaste. I expected carbonation, but it was flat. All together not bad. He smiled at our approval and refilled our mugs before we walked away.
    As we made our way back to the table I wondered what time it was. I’d always used my phone for the time, but I didn’t bother to turn it on here. No signal. No electricity to charge it.
    The crescent moon was high in the night sky and there seemed to be a million more stars than there were back home. I felt content and sleepy, especially after my first glass of mead.
    I wasn’t the only one who was tired and still jet-lagged. We hadn’t been out there very long before our parents retired for the night. I guess the firewater did Dad in.
    Cass and I stood for a while and clapped to the music. I was admiring McKale’s swift movements of his bow across the instrument until someone from behind tapped our shoulders.
    “Hide me from Brogan, would ya?” asked Rock in full form.
    “Hey!” Cassidy’s face lit up and she bounced on her heels.
    “Hallo again, gorgeous.”
    And with that she was mush. In all honesty I couldn’t blame her. There was something fun about being in his mischievous presence. The three of us stood there bantering at the far edge of the clearing.
    “So, what’s your real name?” I asked him. “It can’t be Rock.”
    “Nah. Pop used to say me head was full o’ rocks and just as hard.” He knocked on his skull for effect and Cassidy smiled. “The real name’s Ronan, but ‘tis far too proper.”
    When Cass giggled I rolled my eyes at her. She lifted her hands and mouthed, “ What? ”
    Before I could respond, a burst of magic stronger than any I’d ever felt flashed through the field. It sizzled my skin and I almost lost my balance. Cassidy fell back onto the bench. The music stopped and people ran, shouting about Fae and the Portal.
    Rock whispered something in a sneering tone under his breath and took off.
    Cassidy hurried back to my side and we grasped hands, freaked out as we stared in the direction of the field where the Clourichaun Men had arrived last night. I watched in horror as an invisible knife seemed to stab the air and slice downward to the ground, opening a dark slit between our worlds. I looked to McKale, but he simply stared at the portal like everyone else, his instrument dangling from his fingers as he stood.
    “ Pssst !” A hissing call came from the woods beside us, not ten feet away. Cassidy and I looked to see Rock stick his curly head