Free The Onyx Vial (Shadows of The Nine Book 1) by Alexis Lampley Page A

protruded, a worn wooden sign hanging from it. The words on the sign, painted in a silver that had lost its shimmer long ago, read: Pabl Farstat's Slightly Second-Hand Books .
    As she pushed against the chipped wooden door, a tinny bells tinkled. She stepped inside. Books of midnight blues, forest greens, ruddy maroons, coffee and toffee browns lined row upon row of sagging wooden shelves. There were so many books crammed in the small shop that they flooded onto the floor in large piles.
    From somewhere on her right, a musty voice issued forth. "I would tell you we are not yet open, come back when the gates have opened, but I'm in a spot of trouble and could use some assistance."
    She navigated the stacks and found the owner of the voice lying under a thick blanket of books.
    She rushed to help him. The books fell to the floor with thwaps and thuds, stirring dust as he got to his feet.
    He stood, as dingy and tattered as his surroundings, all softly lit by sunlight slipping through the paint-chipped, once-opaque front window. His eyes were large and owl-like behind black, thick-lensed spectacles.
    Clumsily balancing himself on a patch of visible floor, he extended a fist. "Thank you, dear girl."
    His Eerden mark sprawled across his skin like something written on the wind. "Pabl." She grinned, putting her hand over his. "It's me . Ariana."
    Pabl's eyes widened further. "Oh! Oh, lawks. Ariana, I apologize. Being ambushed by my books has knocked away my sense."
    She lifted a tome teetering perilously above him from the top of a nearby stack. "I haven't been by in a while," she said, a little bitterly. "Can't blame you for not recognizing me."
    With a knobby finger, Pabl shoved his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. "It's not the same without you here." He sighed. "If only your mother would focus on what good your talent could bring the Shadows, rather than the bad it'd bring herself."
    Pabl's words were a kick to her stomach. "I agree," she said, looking away to keep from getting upset about it. She let her eyes soak in the shop to calm her.
    It was her favorite place in all of Eastridge. Books hung over shelf edges as if the stories inside their covers, desperate for someone to read them, might leap at the first person to walk by. At least if she couldn't find a way out of her mother's plans, she'd have this place.
    "Until then, I suppose your visits will have to remain a secret between the two of us."
    She eyed him. "I think you're confusing me with my mother, Pabl."
    "What? You? A Secret Keeper?" Pabl smiled. He set a rickety hand on her shoulder. The jovial gleam in his eyes shifted to something serious. "No. You are your father's child." He squeezed her shoulder. "Though there's a part of you that's very much like your mother."
    She snorted. "Yeah. My reflection."
    Pabl shook his head. "Your mother's heart has been deeply affected by the secrets she carries," he said slowly, each word weighed as if consoling her. "There was once a time when her spirit was as wild as yours."
    He let his hand fall. Sadness, or maybe pity, tugged at the corners of his eyes.
    "Nowadays, she's determined to break mine."
    "Oh, Ariana. I am sure she will come around. In fact, I believe she will very soon."
    Tears sprang to her eyes. She shook her head. "No, Pabl. She won't. She—" Ariana took a deep breath. Then she confessed the awful truth in one swift exhale. "She's banned me from Ruekridge."
    Pabl's eyes widened. His lips pursed in disapproval. For one long moment, he simply looked her in the eyes. Then he gave her a short, sharp nod. "I have something for you," he said, a little mischief creeping into his otherwise resolute expression. "Are you in a hurry? You're here so very early."
    She frowned. This wasn't the reaction she expected. But then, it was hard to tell with Pabl. She thought of Hunter missing his book and of her mother waking to find she had gone. "Not at all," she said. "I came to spend the day."
    "Good." Pabl turned and