Free Darksider: Reveler Series 3 by Erin Kellison Page A

discretion.” He lifted his mobile phone and frowned.
    Her spirits sank. She could guess who’d called him—Steve Coll or Malcolm Rook. “What now?”
    “Three missed calls from Ma.”
    “Oh.” Sera had met and liked his mother. His mom had once even taught her their family’s secret recipe for gnocchi. Sera didn’t cook much Italian, but when she did, it was a modification of Eleanor Fawkes’s formula. They’d been on a first-name basis. “Anything wrong?”
    He shrugged. “I dunno.” He held the phone to his ear. Waited. “Not picking up.”
    Sera put the pan she’d been holding down, disappointed. “Do you have to go?” She’d hoped for a whole day ignoring the world before the hell tonight.
    Harlen was tapping out a text but said, “If I go, then you do, too, sweetheart.”
    Which is how they ended up in his car, hungry, driving over to his parents’ house to make sure nothing was wrong. He’d used to ride a motorcycle. She’d even had a helmet of her own. Now he drove a black Mustang.
    “Work tonight will be a little tricky.” Harlen exited the freeway and turned down Via Roja. The route was semi-familiar, though she couldn’t quite remember each turn. His parents had to be living at the same place, where he’d grown up. “I can’t bring you in to the Agora’s Chimera center,” he said. “I’m going to find a Rêve with an open spot, and I’ll keep an eye on you from there.” He made a face at the road. “You should know that Agora keeps a record of all participants, so your stalker, if he is Chimera, might be aware that you are present.”
    “Okay.” She’d decided not to be scared. Angry was better. It had more teeth. “He won’t try anything with so many people around.” Would be stupid.
    “Right,” Harlen said. “The best case, actually, is for you to spot him, though I doubt we’ll get that lucky. But if you do, I’ll take it from there.”
    Or, alternatively, she could take matters into her own hands and kick the guy’s ass.   Except that would only bring Harlen more scrutiny, and he’d said Chimera was already closely watching him at work. “You know, Harlen, I don’t want you to get into trouble over him.” That included the business with the crazy people from Maze City, as well. Sera was much more worried about that.
    Harlen winked at her. “Let’s see how it goes. Play it by ear.”
    Sera rolled her eyes. Noncommittal BS. She’d do what she’d do, period, and Marshal Harlen Fawkes would just have to deal.
    They pulled up in front of his parents’ house, a small two-story in the Craftsman style, with a red-and-orange fall wreath on the door. The garage to the side of the house was open, someone bumping around in there. It was a big guy, Harlen’s dad probably, so it was unlikely that the three calls from his mom meant anything serious.
    “Hi, Pop!” Harlen yelled, walking up to the front door. He let himself inside, Sera following, as if he still lived there. They’d actually had sex in the basement once.
    His mom came around the corner—she’d gone auburn with blond streaks, and it looked good on her—and had some kind of tool in her hand.
    “Hi, Eleanor,” Sera said. Surprise!
    Eleanor stopped in her tracks. Glanced from Sera to Harlen, her mouth drawing into a tight line. “If you were seeing someone, why did you let me set up a date with Isabelle Rhoades?”
    Sera’s smile faded. His mom had embraced her before but apparently no longer.
    “Oh God, the tennis teacher,” Harlen said. “That was last night.”
    Tennis teacher? Sera shot him a sideways scowl. When he’d told her last night that his mom had been setting him up, she hadn’t considered that he’d been “taken” for the evening already.
    Eleanor turned and stalked back to where Sera knew the breakfast nook was located. Sera leaned to the right and could see that the room had been taken over by plastic storage containers with drawers, each labeled. The table was covered with