Jade Moon (Celestial War Book 1) by Julia Richards Page B

craziness.
    “Yeah, that doesn’t sound right. I’ve got my car. Want me to drive you out there now?”
    “Don’t you have class?”
    “Sure, just like you do. But who cares? Sounds like this is more important, right?”
    I eyed him, remembering what my mom had said about not trusting anyone. But then I remembered our dinner together. Breaking and entering. That just didn’t add up to bad guy.
    “I’d love that. I was just wondering how long it would take me to walk.”
     

 
    Mr. Silver’s House
     
    We snuck out of school and drove past downtown Waterford onto a winding road toward the Potomac river. The road was barely paved and so narrow that we had to pull over for oncoming cars. Then, after a few miles, there was no one else around. I had another flash of concern about Raf. Could I really trust him?
    His floppy purple hair fluttered in the heat blasting from the dash board. I wasn’t sure, but he looked slightly Latin, long faced, dusky skin though more coppery than anything, dark roots showing where the purple was growing out. A faint scar I hadn’t noticed before ran down his right cheek and over his lips. His grey eyes scanned the road intently.
    It made me doubt everything. If I couldn’t trust this person who seemed so sincere, then who wanted to be part of some crazy secret war. Though having Mr. Silver confirm it sure made it hard for me to dismiss my mom’s story. I chose to trust my gut and believe in him. Gut or some other part of my body at least.
    We reached an unpaved road and Raf, consulting his phone, made a right onto the rutted nightmare. Towering pine trees closed in around us and the afternoon sun disappeared under the canopy. After almost ten minutes I was about to tell Raf to turn around, sure we’d gotten lost. Just as I opened my mouth, we broke into a clearing.  At the end of the rutted road stood a small blond-wood house rising from a brilliant garden somehow still blooming with flowers of every imaginable color. Though tiny, the house proportions were perfect, the high roof blending in with a cluster of mature oak trees spreading out in every direction without another house in sight. The garden was a barely controlled riot of wild flowers somehow blooming in the pre-snow air. A small gray stone path wound among the flowers to the house. An unfamiliar dark-skinned woman opened the door and waved for us to come inside.
    “You know who that is?” I asked Raf. The woman in the doorway looked friendly enough from the car but I was feeling rather paranoid.
    “No idea. Think we should wait here?”
    As we contemplated, a massive goofball of a dog shoved his way past the woman and came loping toward the car. Some kind of reddish-golden monster, it’s tail wagged, tongue flapped. I swear the horse-sized creature had a smile on his face.
    “Kaska!” the woman shouted. As she emerged from the doorway I realized she was in a wheelchair. Or something like a wheelchair. Higher than usual, it held her almost upright and she shot forward after the dog.
    Raf and I looked at each other.
    I shrugged. “What the hell.” In my mind, dogs are like radars for bad people. Someone with a dog that happy couldn’t be evil.
    I stepped out of the car and the clearly over excited dog barreled into me almost taking me down.
    “Kaska, no jumping!” Kaska completely ignored the woman wheeling toward us at incredible speed.
    “It’s okay, I like dogs,” I shouted while wrestling the beast off me. I gave Kaska a vigorous ear scratch which calmed her down, content to press against my leg and pant like the worlds fuzziest steam engine.
    “I am so sorry. She’s just got a mind of her own.” The woman approached and held out a hand. “I’m Mamboli Njie but you should call me Mambo. Can I help you?”
    “My name is Harper Dae. Um, I’m not sure if you can help.” I wasn’t sure what to say. For all I knew this woman was the main warrior of the Lunates. “We were actually just looking for Mr.