Oubliette (Cloud Prophet Trilogy) Read Online Free Page A

Krissin entered the room, the bottom of her dress billowing as she swept across the floor. “I’m glad to see you had a chance to clean up. You look presentable now.”
    I clenched my fists at my side. This girl, Nemison’s daughter or not, really irritated me. She had no reason to treat me like a child.
    “Have you met everyone?” She waved her hand around the room at Reese and Hanne, but paused when she didn’t see Jada. “Missing someone, are we?”
    “Jada left when Reychel arrived,” Hanne said. “They didn’t get a chance to talk.”
    “I’m not surprised,” Krissin said. “Considering Jada’s father’s was soothed by Reychel’s best friend, Ivy, and used to further her ambitions. I’d hate Reychel too.”
    I ignored Krissin’s comment.
    “I hope with time away from Ivy he’ll be back to normal,” I said. Hanne put her hand on my trembling arm. I guess I wasn’t fooling anyone by ignoring Krissin’s attitude. “Ivy lied to all of us and some people are just more susceptible to her than others. I’m sure Gerrold will recover.”
    I wanted them to believe me, but I didn’t know if he would be okay. I didn’t even know if he’d betrayed me on purpose or because Ivy soothed him. He didn’t like me and he’d made that clear from the first time we met.
    Krissin faced me, a scowl on her mouth.
    “Yet you spent years with this Ivy and you seem to be okay. How is that possible? How did you escape her influence? You, who doesn’t know how to use her gift? You, who we are all supposed to bow down to? We’ve been fighting against the Malborn our whole lives to gain back our freedom to use our gifts and then your best friend screws it all up for us. My father and Jada’s are now mixed up in something that will only distract them from our plans.” Krissin’s bitter laugh echoed in the chamber. “What a joke.”
    Reese put an arm around Krissin’s shoulders but she thrust it off.
    “Relax, Krissin,” he said. “This isn’t Reychel’s fault. She’s innocent in all this.”
    Krissin’s hands flew to her face to cover the tears that spilled for the second time today. I still didn’t know if they were real or calculated and I was getting a little tired of trying to figure her out.
    “My father was captured as she ran through the portal.” Krissin pointed at me, her throat choking from the tears that continued to fall.
    Reese and Hanne looked to me. I nodded my head. It was true, but from Krissin’s tone they’d probably think I left him on purpose.
    “Did you try to help him?” Hanne asked.
    “He let go of my hand and I had already stepped in the portal by the time the guards grabbed him. There wasn’t anything I could do,” I said. I didn’t want to relive it, but they deserved answers. They’d been expecting their leader, the man everyone trusted, and instead they got me, a girl who couldn’t control her gift.
    “How long did you hide in the closet before I found you in there?” Krissin demanded.
    “Just a few minutes. I had some kind of reaction to the portal. My stomach was in so much pain.”
    “Yet if you would have opened the door right away, I would have been able to gather the shards of the portal, reassemble it, jump through, and save my father. Instead you stayed on the floor with a tummy ache.” Krissin turned away from me and smacked her hand on the back of a plush upholstered chair. She whirled back, her index finger outstretched and pointed at me. “This is all your fault.”
    “I didn’t know,” I whispered. “I didn’t know that could be done. I could have gone back and helped Nemison?” I fought back tears, real tears, not the fake ones that Krissin spewed.
    My shoulders shook. I couldn’t look at any of them, sure that had I been more knowledgeable I could have helped. If I would have trained with Nemison when he wanted, not on my schedule, maybe I would have learned enough to help him.
    “She didn’t know, Krissin,” Hanne said. “Leave her