Unveiled: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book One) by Lysa Daley

card table, paying good money to listen to this perfectly nice lady make crap up.
    Her eyes linger on me long enough to make me feel uncomfortable. This time, she doesn't smile. She points to the last card. There's a golden image that looks like a horn. "Judgment. A reckoning will be forced upon you. The ways of the old will clash with the new. Many have already fallen. You may stand. You may fall."
    "Astrid!" I hear Uncle's familiar voice behind me. "Let's go, kiddo."
    This conversation has gotten so awkward that I'm amazingly thrilled to hear my uncle's voice. I smile politely and stand. "Thank you, Ms. Mariposa. That was super interesting."
    "Take this. A good luck charm." As I turn to go, she grabs my wrist and slips something smooth and round into my hand. "And remember, the light will be your first warning."
    I see the hulking shadow of my Uncle coming around the aisle just as the fluorescent light bulb pops back on washing away the sickly green aura. He likes Mariposa but doesn't believe in all this fortune telling mumbo jumbo.
    As I stand, Mariposa whispers, "Don’t forget. Beware of the light."
    My uncle nods to Señora Mariposa suspiciously. "Hello."
    "Good evening, Sensei," Señora Mariposa replies.
    "You're not reading her cards?" he asks.
    She laughs. "Of course not."
    "Okay. Let's hit the road, Princess," he says to me. "I have a pan of enchiladas in the fridge at home."
    "Bye ma’am. Nice to see you," I say, moving up the aisle to the front of the store. Without my uncle seeing, I carefully open my fist so I can see the magical trinket, the little, charmed object, Señora Mariposa has bestowed upon me.
    It's a penny.
    A common 1981 dirty old penny. This is a good luck charm? Wow, that was possibly the strangest conversation I have ever had.
    "As-treed, your drink is ready," Señor M calls from behind the counter as I stuff the stupid penny back in my pocket.
    I stride up to find a white paper coffee cup with a lid waiting for me. Finally, my latte. Now maybe I'll be able to stay awake long enough to finish my boring lit paper. I take a sip, expecting the steamed milky coffee to warm me up, but instead, I practically spit out sweet icy cold liquid.
    "Señor M, this is the worst latte I have ever had," I say, even though I know it's rude.
    "Astrid!" my uncle reacts.
    "Maybe because it's a fruit smoothie." Señor M winks at me as he leans against the counter sipping what, presumably, must be my latte from an over-sized mug. "On the house, Miss As-treed."
    My uncle and I cross the parking lot to the white pickup. As we're pulling out, I glance over at the exterior brick wall. It's completely painted.
    Jax is gone. His paint cans, brushes, and drop cloths have vanished. Yet, somehow in twenty minutes, he managed to paint the entire front of the huge building that sits half a block long and twenty feet high.
    My jaw drops because that's totally impossible.
    As the white pickup truck rambles onto the street, and we pass the front of the plaza, I realize that he hasn't just painted one wall, he's somehow painted the entire building.

Chapter 8
    " W hy are you in such a good mood?" my uncle asks as we drive to school the next morning.
    And it's true. I'm in an incredible mood. I’ve put the embarrassing defeat to Jax in karate class behind me. Now two little words make my heart soar -- Chad Olson, Chad Olson, Chad Olson!
    I can't wait for first-period bio where we’ll continue working with our lab partners.
    "Um..." I shrug one shoulder and look perplexed. "No reason, I guess."
    There is no possible way I am going to mention anything about a boy to my uncle. He would pop out a kitten. The idea of boys and me completely unhinges the man. Trust me; I know from previous experience, it's not pretty.
    "You just seem..." he glances suspiciously at me out of the corner of his eye as he drives. "I don't know. Different."
    This morning, I got up early to straighten my hair and actually slap on a little more makeup than my