Free The Eternity Key by Bree Despain Page B

and several documents are set out in front of her. She has shiny black hair slicked into a tight bun, and she wears a dress suit that fits her like a glove. She wears high, high crocodile heels that match her purse. Under normal circumstances, I might think she was attractive in a sexy librarian sort of way, but considering she might be responsible for my sister’s disappearance, the sight of her sipping her daily 4:15 p.m. espresso makes me ill.
    I haven’t actually drunk any of my own coffee, but having something to hold keeps my hands steady. For the last three days, I’ve been building up the nerve to confront her. Or building up the nerve to go against Daphne’s wishes to not let anyone know that we’re onto Olympus Hills’s deep dark secrets. If I were to say something to Marta, she most definitely would tell my mother, and then where would I be?
    My mom would probably lock me in my room and throw awaythe key if she knew that I’m onto her extracurricular activities—or possibly cart me off to that mathematics-and-engineering boarding school in Virginia that she threatened me with when I got into that fight with Haden back on his first day of school. Back when I thought he was the one responsible for what had happened to my sister and I’d gone in swinging.
    But it’s not like I could do that with my mother—nor Joe’s personal assistant, who looks like she barely weighs 115 pounds. But as frail as she might appear, the sight of Marta may have been what sent Abbie running from the haven of Ellis Fields to a location (or fate) unknown.
    Or maybe Marta had kidnapped Abbie herself
.
    In that case, boarding school seems like a small price to pay for the truth.
    I place my coffee cup on my table, straighten my tan fedora, and decide to make my move. But I get only two steps in her direction when Marta receives a phone call. I stop, listening in on her clipped responses, while trying to look like I’m merely getting a napkin from the condiment bar.
    “Really?” she says into the phone. “Finally. I’ve been looking everywhere. Where?” She grabs her iPad and stuffs it into her crocodile purse. “I’ll leave right away.”
    She hangs up and gathers her papers in an almost frantic haste. She’s out the door and getting into an Audi before I make it out onto the street. My car is parked only a couple of slots over. I should follow her. But as I stick my hand into my jacket pocket, I realize I’ve left my keys on the table next to my latte.
    I’m cursing myself as she speeds out of the parking lot. I’d never make it back with my keys before she’s out of sight.
    It’s for the best
, I try to tell myself as I head back into thecoffeehouse. What was I going to do anyway? Follow Marta to some clandestine location, grab her, and demand she tell me where she’s hidden my sister? She might look defenseless, but very well could be hiding some sort of supernatural power like Simon’s. Or one even more deadly. I shudder at a vision of Marta sprouting a couple of extra fire-breathing heads while I’ve got her cornered in an alley.
    And if that weren’t the case, I can’t assume she’d even tell
me
anything. She seems loyal to Simon and the Underrealm, and my five-foot-five—with a hat on—stature isn’t exactly intimidating.
    No, I’m not going to be able to
force
the truth out of Marta. I pull out my wallet and dig for some cash.
But everyone has a price
. Which means I’m going to have to do some more surveillance to figure out what Marta’s is.
    I place a couple of bills on the table.
    “See you again tomorrow, Donna Lee,” I say to the barista as I leave.

chapter ten
DAPHNE
    “ ’Ello, Daphne, come here,” Joe calls from the kitchen as I come in the house after school. I hadn’t seen Haden again since after humanities and I’m just about to text him, but Joe’s voice is filled with so much urgency, I tuck my phone in my pocket and head for the kitchen. I expect to find some sort of