Read Online The Gleaning by Heidi R. Kling - Free Book Online Page A

was fear in her eyes.
    “Dude, it’s getting late,” Chance said from a few yards away.
    “You better go,” Lily said. She was tugging on the bottom on Logan’s t-shirt in a way that let him know she didn’t really mean it.
    “Lil?”
    He wanted to tell her about his dream. How his mother must’ve known he was the Rognaithe, but this wasn’t the time. This was about them.
    “Yeah?”
    “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “For believing there was good in me. All my life I’ve been told otherwise. If you hadn’t believed in me, well, I don’t think the mark would’ve appeared to anyone else.”
    She didn’t say anything, not with words, anyway. Instead, she hugged him tight, kissed the soft spot on his neck. Logan cupped her face and kissed her mouth, warm and deep with appreciation.
     
    Lily
    On my way home I thought about Logan.
    How, as I watched him walk away from me, I marveled at how quickly a day can reverse itself. How my believing in him—just trusting my instincts and knowing I was right—had led to that moment. And changed Logan’s destiny forever.
    When I got home I was surprised to find my front door, which we never lock, latched shut. My thin gown had no pockets; I didn’t have my bag, keys, or cellphone—anything. I stood outside, ringing my own doorbell, yet no one answered.
    In my mind’s eye, I Saw my coven lying unconscious in my living room, slumped over on the couches and easy chairs. Mom’s mouth was open as she lay in her armchair, with a book splayed across her chest. “Geez, so much for waiting up,” I muttered. Whispering a frantic spell, I snapped the latch open with my palm.
    “Mom!” I ran over to the chair, shaking her. Nothing. “Mom, wake up!” This was starting to creep me out. Something was wrong. After how worried she was about the Enchantment, and then no contact for the rest of the night? I figured she’d be up pacing, worried sick, not slumbering away.
    I shook her harder. She was so still and limp. Fearing the worst, I checked her pulse. It was there, just weak, like she was in a deep, deep sleep. Laying my palms on her heart, I spun a quick energizing spell, and magic coursed through me and into her. It was like my hands were defibrillation paddles restarting her heart.
    The magic I gleaned from Logan when he healed me seemed to have increased my powers.
    Iris’s eyes slowly opened and took me in hazily, as if she was waking from a dream. “Lily?”
    “Mom, are you okay?”
    “What happened to you? Why are you so dirty?” She rubbed her eyes, looking genuinely confused.
    The other witches stirred, waking slowly, gazing at me with matching “duh” expressions. I ran to the kitchen and brewed a huge pot of strong coffee, which I tossed a dash of clarifying herbs into. After pouring the magically enhanced coffee into an array of brightly-colored ceramic mugs, I carried them back into the living room on a long, wooden tray. In my torn gown, I must’ve looked like Cinderella catering to her Stepmother’s Evil Book Club.
    “I apologize, Lily. We must’ve fallen asleep. What time is it?” Camellia said with a suspicious eye rub/yawn combo. She looked perfect in her white suit, so I wasn’t buying it.
    “Just after two a.m.,” I said, eyeing her warily.
    “We must’ve dozed off after our long walk back from the Grove. Our apologies.”
    The other witches looked confused, and more than a little “dozey.”
    “Good thing no complications arose,” I said sarcastically. “It’s pretty odd that it took electric hand currents to revive my mother and only a pot of magic coffee to wake the rest of you.”
    Camellia’s eyes narrowed into two slits. “What are you implying?”
    “That the coven was drugged.”
    “Who would drug us?” she asked, eyes now wide and innocent.
    “Oh, I can think of a couple people who might not want our entire coven to know what happened tonight. You’re surprised to see me, aren’t you?” I walked slowly toward where