Free Feral (The Irisbourn Chronicles Book 1) by Victoria Thorne Page A

Dylan shrugged.   “What’s up with that table over there?   They keep staring at us.   One guy
looks like he’s choking.   Should we do
something?”
    “They’re my friends.” I played with
my fork.   “I accidentally agreed to go on
a date with the choking one.”
    Dylan grimaced.   “Seriously, that one?   No wonder he’s trying to spit fire at
me.   Rather unsuccessfully too.”   Dylan waved at Spencer as his way of saying,
“Yes, I can see you.”    “Good luck
getting out of that.”
    “I don’t think I’ll be able to,” I
said in resignation.
    “We’ll think of a way,” Dylan
smirked.
    But deep down I knew that even if
we could think of a way, I wasn’t sure I would have the nerve to use it.

Chapter
Ten
    “Jeesh, what was with all the
panthers?” Dylan complained.   “They’re
everywhere in your school.   I swear I’m
going to see them in my sleep.”
    I rolled my eyes.   Dylan had followed me around all afternoon
like a lost puppy, and now we were walking home together.   As thrilled as I was to see him, I was still
majorly upset with his most recent spontaneous life decision.
    “Go big or go home.” I emphasized
the “go home” part and turned around to see if Dylan was still behind me.   “Dylan – what the – what are you doing?”
    I found Dylan on his hands and
knees peering under some bushes.   Dylan
swatted his hand around in the darkness blindly with a blatant disregard for
snakes and spiders.
    “I saw a lizard.   I’m going to catch it for your sister.   She still likes lizards, right?” Dylan asked,
the top half of his body obscured by a bush.
    I exhaled loudly.   He looked five again, with his legs waving
around on the sidewalk while he searched through leaves for something he would
never catch.
    “I think she likes the sport, not
so much the prize. She and Nathan would always let the lizards go.”
    Dylan’s face reappeared from under
the shrubbery, and he stood up, lizardless.
    “Come on,” I urged.   “The house is right over there.”
    Dylan sprinted in the general
direction I had pointed and stopped at a random gate.   “This one?” he called.   “It looks kind of… er, old.”   I wrinkled my nose at his choice of words.
“Sorry, just calling it as I see it.”
    “Hush, Dylan.   That’s the neighbor’s house,” I shushed him,
afraid Adrian would overhear.   But he was
nowhere in sight.   I tried to ignore the
little sinking feeling in my stomach.   “Ours is to the right.   You can’t
see it behind all the trees.”
    Dylan made a little “o” with his
mouth and looked up at the weathered gray house that wasn’t ours.   “You’re right, it is creepy.   I feel bad for
the people who live there.”
    “Still want to stay?   The weird neighbors could be the deal
breaker.”   I slipped the key into the
lock on my house’s gate.   I couldn’t keep
myself from periodically glancing at the gate to my right in the hope that
Adrian might appear beside it.
    “Looking for something?” Dylan
asked, pointedly ignoring my question.
    “No,” I responded hastily.   “Nothing.”   I heaved my bag higher on my shoulder and led the way inside.
    Matt was waiting for us in the
kitchen with a ridiculously happy grin, which I efficiently wiped off his face
with my glower.   I was getting right down
to business.
    “You didn’t tell me,” I said,
gesturing to Dylan.   “You should have
told me.”
    “Aw, Amber, come on.”   Matt leaned up against the marble counter
sheepishly.   “Aren’t you glad?”
    “Yes, but my joy is significantly
outweighed by the disappointment I have in both of you.”
    “Women,” Dylan whispered to
Matt.   I shot him a cold look, and he
shut up.   He knew I was being serious.
    “What did you think you were doing
when you lured my friend halfway across the country with the promise of food
and board?” I said to Matt.
    “Hey, hey,” Dylan interjected.   “I chose to come.   Matt