Free The Rift by Katharine Sadler Page A

so
quickly, I wasn’t sure I’d really seen a reaction from him. He
closed his mouth and frowned, turning away from me to get into the
driver’s seat.
    I shrugged and stomped down the stairs
feeling lighter than I’d felt in a long time. I got into the back
of the car with Angelica. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders
and squeezed. “When did you get so buff? You must work out like six
hours a day.”
    I leaned into her, feeling, for the first
time, like our friendship might survive all of the craziness. “It’s
not like I have anything else to do.”
    She nodded and stared out the window while
Henry skipped down the stairs and got into the passenger seat.
Angelica turned back to me and studied me for a long moment as Jed
started the car and backed down the driveway. “That’s not the body
of a drunk,” she said.
    “No, it’s not.” I was relieved she knew I
didn’t have a drinking problem, but nervous about what the
ramifications would be for Henry and Tucker, and for me when I got
back to Varius. Yvonne might figure out she could drive me to
compliance by locking me in my room and not letting me
exercise.
    We rode in silence for a few miles, the only
sound Jed grinding his teeth, until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“How do you like working for Varius?” I asked Angelica.
    She shrugged. “Varius leaves me alone for the
most part. I spend all of my time training in my craft
off-campus.”
    “How is that?” When Angelica and I had lived
in Briarton, before she’d learned about my connection to the
reapers, she would have given just about anything to have magical
abilities of her own.
    She smiled. “It’s great. I love the women I’m
training with, they are super supportive and sweet, and I feel
whole for the first time. It’s like tapping into my abilities
filled some part of me that had been empty. I’m not learning
anything terribly exciting yet, just working on the basics of
spell-crafting and learning everything they know about
reapers.”
    I studied her and realized she did look
happy, easier with herself, and calmer, than she’d been when we
lived together. “For what it’s worth,” I said. “If there was any
way I could go back and do things differently, save Bruce somehow,
I’d do it.”
    “You saved me,” Angelica said, her smile
wide, but her eyes wet with tears. “I understand the choice you
made and I’m grateful for it. Don’t burden yourself with guilt or
regret about what happened that day. You did everything you could.
If I’d listened to you, I wouldn’t have even been there and maybe
you could have saved Bruce.”
    Her words burrowed down deep into my chest
and, though nothing could truly make everything better, they did
lighten my burden a bit.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    We drove into town, the main street alive
with people out and about in the gorgeous spring weather, and Jed
parked in front of a small, but well-kept bakery. The men stayed in
the car while Angelica and I went inside. An elderly couple, at the
table farthest from the door, and a burly man about our age,
reading a newspaper on a couch next to the door, were the only
customers. The young man winked at me when we walked in, and I
nodded. No reason to be rude and he was heart-stoppingly
attractive, with a well-muscled upper-body and brilliant amber eyes
that drew me in and held me. I tried not to gasp as I remembered
that Thad said werewolves had orange eyes.
    We walked up to the counter, which was
covered with baskets full of brownies, cookies, cakes, rolls, and
fresh-baked breads. My stomach rumbled and the man on the couch
chuckled like he’d heard it.
    The guy behind the counter had a body as
well-built as the man on the couch, but there was a softness in his
face that the other man lacked. He looked younger and kinder, but
his amber eyes flashed when he saw Angelica and narrowed when he
noticed me. “Angelica, I’m so glad you came back,” he said.
“Kelsey, it’s good to see you.” Then he