Free Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) by Ellie Potts Page B

himself. He turned his hazel eyes to Rowan. “You park right up there at the town hall. We will be waiting in the building for you.” He smiled and walked off.
    Rowan turned in his seat. “I don’t know, guys. Something doesn’t feel right.”
    Linden smacked his shoulder, hard. “Come on. They’re only some friendly people who haven’t seen other people in a while and are excited. We can totally understand that, right?”
    “Maybe Rowan’s right,” Jaime said, looking at the town hall.
    River gave them all a hostile look. “He’s not. Let’s go,” he told them between gritted teeth. He opened the door, jumped down to the ground, and then slammed the door hard enough to shatter something in the back. One of the babies woke up screaming, waking the other baby who joined in the crying.
    The town looked like it had seen better days. Windows were boarded up and a few of the buildings down the street looked charred. The road looked worn, and River saw no signs of cars around. He heard only the sound of a rusty metal wind chime. No children’s laughter like back home, no sounds of people living. It made him homesick. He would give anything to be at home at that moment with Rowan and Autumn, having dinner and talking about what they had done throughout the day.
    “Look, maybe we should check it out. Just in case, leave the ladies in here with the babies,” Drake said.
    “I can stay right here with them,” Rowan said.
    “If I’m going, you’re going,” River replied at his window.
    Linden tapped his foot impatiently on the sidewalk, waiting for the others to come out. When they got out, he looked back in the Winnebago. “Where are the others?”
    “They’re not really hungry,” Drake said. 
    River shook his head and reached for the doorknob to the town hall and pulled it open. If he thought the heat was bad outside, the inside was five times as bad. And the smell.
    “What is that awful smell? Hopefully not dinner,” Linden said behind him, holding his nose.
    There were twenty people sitting before a platform. The man who greeted them smiled. “Welcome to our home,” he said, shouting at them. “We’ve been waiting for dinner.”
    Rowan’s eyebrows went up. “Umm,” he said. That so did not sound right , his brain screamed. One thing he had learned in the past six years was that you are allowed to be scared, but showing it could cause the wrong people to notice.
    Linden removed his fingers from his nose and clapped his hands together. “Great, so have I,” he said. The people were getting out of their seats and walking closer.
    River started to feel a little nervous. “So, what are we having?” The people all smiled at him as they walked closer. “Okay, maybe its outside,” he said, walking backwards to the door, brushing against Rowan.
    “See,” Rowan said in a whisper, “this is not right.”
    “No, it’s outside,” River said, unsure. “Maybe a nice barbeque.”
    “That is right, my brother. A barbeque; southern style,” The man said. They backed out the door as the town’s people slowly made their way to them.
    Outside, Linden looked around, sniffing the air. “I don’t smell anything. What is it? Ribs, steak, a roast?”
    As the people got closer, Rowan grabbed River’s wrist. The town’s people’s eyes were glazed and unfocused, and they were practically drooling on themselves. His heart sped up as he saw some of them lick their dried cracked lips. It reminded him of hungry dogs; or rather it reminded him of the way Stefan looked at River when he tried to eat him. Silver sparkled to his right, catching his attention. He turned his head, looking at the people who were pulling out small knifes. Without thinking, he turned, walking to the Winnebago, dragging River along with him.
    “That’s not polite,” River said in a low voice.
    He shrugged. “I don’t care; this is wrong.”
    “So where are we going to eat?” River asked over his shoulder as the man pulled out a