Read Online The Dark by Marianne Curley - Free Book Online Page B

she spreads one arm in a wide arc. Creaking sounds are the first indication of what she plans. My eyes shift to the furniture that’s already starting to move. ‘Try the door again!’ I call out to Isabel.
    But it doesn’t budge.
    The furniture starts shifting in a circular motion, picking up speed quickly.
    ‘Hang on to anything secured to the floor or the ceiling!’ I warn Isabel. ‘Try the window ledge. But don’t lean out too far. It’s a long drop.’
    Locking Charlotte between her own body and the wall, Isabel latches on to the ledge.
    ‘Protect the child with everything you’ve got!’
    As I say these words, Lathenia spins around on the spot, her hand raised high in the air. It becomes impossible to make out any part of her body, as she spins faster and faster. And with her spinning, the furniture takes flight. There’s a bed post beside me. I give it a quick yank to see if it will hold. It seems solid enough, and I grip it with the inside corner of my elbow. I would use my hands, but they’re still hot and glowing with Lathenia’s energy.
    Soon the furniture is moving so fast the room is a chaotic blur.
    I glance at Isabel. The whirlwind has caught herclothing. She’s hanging on with only her fingers, as the forces in the room threaten to take her and the girl with them. I don’t know how long she can hold on. I have to act, and do it quickly. But I’m having a hard enough time hanging on myself. And I can’t see the fire through the blur of swirling furniture, which only narrowly misses us.
    The whirlwind increases and Isabel screams, her body almost horizontal, with Charlotte hanging on around her waist. I have to get my bearings so that I can locate that fireplace. Then I see Lathenia slow down and stop spinning. Her face has returned to its normal, luminescent hue. She catches my eye and stares at me with a smug smile on her face. Without words I understand: she has figured out my identity.
    As she stops I notice the orange glow of the fire to her right. I focus on it with everything I’ve been taught, drawing on the remains of her energy still pulsing in my hands. The fire erupts again, and a wave of flames sweep into the room, slowing the whirlwind. Furniture begins to drop as the winds recede, crashing to the ground and splintering into dangerous pieces. Isabel crouches with the girl buried within her skirts.
    A pounding on the door can now be heard. The Duke and other voices demand to know what’s going on. They want the door opened. Isabel casts me a concerned look. But a deeper concern is Lathenia, and what she might do next. I jump down and focus all my power on the fire. If I have to burn the room down to get the Goddess out of this time period, then I will take that risk.
    Lathenia sees what I have in mind. One of her long fingers points into the fireplace and instantly the fireextinguishes. Then, looking satisfied, she raises her hand to me. I ignore her as best I can, and focus on the fireplace, believing that somewhere in those remains, a single spark still burns.
    ‘You are not that good … Arkarian! ’
    Trying hard not to be distracted, I concentrate on finding that spark. I hear her laugh, a mocking sound, a gleeful sound. But it is soon cut off, as the spark I have finally found, turns into a raging fire. A fire that cannot be contained in the small fireplace. It explodes, and waves of dancing orange flames leap into the room.
    She screams this time from frustration. And as the flames unfold to fill almost the entire room, she lifts above it and stares at me with flashing silver eyes. ‘Don’t think you’ve won, Arkarian. We will meet again. We will meet very soon. And the place will be of my choosing.’ With these words she disappears.
    I release the flames and they withdraw into the fireplace. The door bursts open and the Duke, Lady Eleanor and many servants pile into the room. At first they’re beaten back by the heat and the smell of scorched furniture. But then they