Betrayed by Ednah Walters Page A

Gypsy princess.”
    “Cool. Does Lil do magical tricks, too?”
    “Cade!”
    “I mean, she must know some.” Silence fol owed. “Hmm, weird. Do you think they look like the same person? Look at the hair, the Van Helsing coat, hat, and boots.”
    Observant guy. In al the paintings, Grampa wore his favorite hunting clothes, a real y bad idea when you age slowly.
    “It must be some sort of circus uniform. Lil’s Grampa wears one just like it too.”
    That’s it. The pictures are coming down as soon as they leave.
    “Do you guys want something to drink?” I cal ed, hoping to pul them away from the paintings before they realized that one of the two women standing beside Grampa, or fake great-grandfather Falcon, resembled our counselor Hsia.
    “Nah, already had something,” Kylie said as they joined me in the kitchen. I removed the cel phone and the battery pack from my coat pocket and placed them on the dining room table. Cade gave placed them on the dining room table. Cade gave me a thumbs-up sign, pul ed out a chair, and sat.
    I hovered, praying the phone wouldn’t ring or start acting weird. Kylie touched my arm and indicated the counter where my homework sat. I hesitated, not wanting to leave her guy with my crazy cel phone. She grabbed my wrist and pul ed.
    “What’s up?” she asked.
    I frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “It’s obvious Celeste’s been crying. And she looked like hel when she came to the cafeteria earlier.”
    Guardian business was not meant for humans, but we had a policy about staying as close to the truth as possible. I shrugged. “She’s worried about her brother.”
    “What’s wrong with Bran?”
    “No, no, the other one.” I glanced over at Cade. He prodded the smashed cel phone as though it was a snake about to bite him.
    “I’ve never real y met him. What’s his name?” I glanced at Kylie and scowled. “What?”
    “Bran’s
    brother,
    what’s
    his
    name?”
    Annoyance settled on her face.
    “Gavyn.” My attention shifted again. Cade snapped the battery in place then pressed the power button. I angled my head to catch the tel tale sound my cel phone made when turned on.
    “How come I never met him? Bran and Celeste are here a lot….”
    The phone didn’t turn on. Maybe Cade would lose interest and they’d leave. I wanted to search the house for my presents. Not that I cared about what Valafar sent, but I needed his phone number. Maybe he would tel me what the demoness meant by Bran would join them once they got the List. I also needed to ask him to stop using my friend as a medium.
    Kylie moved around the counter and blocked my line of vision. Then she leaned down to glare at me. “Does he?”
    “Does he what?”
    “You haven’t been listening to anything I said.
    You’re just like Cade, obsessed with that stupid phone.”
    Leaning away from her, I frowned. “I’m not.”
    “Are too.”
    She was real y angry. Kylie was about five-foot-four, but when pissed, she was a force of nature.
    Cade needed to intervene again.
    I tried to signal him, but she blocked me a second time. Her elbow hit the white plastic bowl I was using and sent it flying off the counter. Without thinking, I waved my hand just like I always did when I was alone. Stop.
    The bowl and the sloshed milk froze in mid-air.
    Kylie jumped back. “How—”
    The ripple effect hit her, caught her with her finger pointing at the bowl, eyes wide. On the other side of the room, Cade looked up then went stil , his mouth opened as if to say something.
    For a moment, I couldn’t move, just stared at them with horror. Crap, I couldn’t believe I did that in their presence. Think, Lil. Think fast. I jumped up and chewed on my lower lip. I knew this day would come, the day I’d slip up in front of my human friends and use my powers. The problem was I had no idea how to deal with it. I closed my eyes and groaned.
    Then a thought occurred to me. “Celeste?” I yel ed.
    “What?”
    Phew, she was unaffected.