Rise of Allies (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

didn’t realize he was scowling about it until Dani elbowed him. “Would you stop looking like you’re chewin’ on a toothache? You’ll be fine.”
    “Easy for you to say! You don’t have to do this.”
    “Oh, thanks for that reminder that I’m just a plain, boring, ordinary person.”
    “You know that’s not what I meant,” he said at once.
    She humphed. “Calm down already. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Jake. I mean, c’mon! This silly test is nothing compared to some of the stuff you’ve already done. You bested Loki, for goodness sake, a Norse god!”
    “Thor bested him. I just stood there trying not to get killed,” he said morosely.
    “What about our visit to Wales, then? You blew up Garnock the Sorcerer! The very founder of the Dark Druids!”
    “Shhh!” Jake shushed her with a glare.
    Thankfully, Aunt Ramona was greeting a friend and had not heard her say it.
    He leaned toward her, lowering his voice. “We’re not supposed to mention that, remember? Mind your tongue, carrot!”
    “Sorry! If I was you, I’d be braggin’ about it to the whole bloomin’ world.”
    “Yes, but that would get me killed.” Jake usually relished bragging, but in this case, he saw how it could be unhealthy . “Aunt Ramona doesn’t want the Dark Druids tracing that bit o’ business back to me.”
    Dani sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m not goin’ to tell anyone. I’m just sayin’. If you can get through that , your Assessment’s easy-breezy.”
    “We’ll see.” Jake hoped she was right. Even if she wasn’t, her words made him feel a bit better.
    Then Henry beckoned to them, their room keys dangling from his hand.
    “Here we are, children,” Aunt Ramona said, spotting the tutor. “This way.”
    Jake followed at once, desperate for a quiet moment of solitude in his room to prepare himself for the test ahead.
     
    #  #  #
     
    Following him, Dani paused, still glancing around in wonder at all the varieties of Magic-folk, when she suddenly noticed a peculiar-looking girl about her own age who had just arrived.
    With pale white skin and jet-black hair, the girl was dressed all in black, from the spiky bow in her raven hair, to her knee-length taffeta dress, to her black wool stockings and lace-up boots. She had arrived alone, no parents, no servants, no friends with her.
    Clutching the black satchel on her shoulder rather like Archie’s ever-present tool-bag, the girl glanced behind her with an uneasy air, dark circles under her eyes. Suddenly, she jumped as though startled, and warded off one of the little gnomes who offered to carry her bag for her.
    Dani watched as she refused the help, shaking her head with a none-too-friendly glare at the waist-high gnome.
    After her brief pause in the doorway, the girl headed for the butler’s table—presumably to collect her room key.
    “’Oy, carrot!” Jake called. “Hurry up! We’re leaving!”
    Dani shook off her distraction, glared at him for calling her that in public, then hurried after the blockhead and his aunt.
     
    #  #  #
     
    Nixie Valentine was utterly exhausted. She could not believe she had to have her Assessment in such a frazzled, sleep-deprived state.
    Finally reaching the front of the line, she accepted her room key from the butler. She headed on her way, glad to leave the entrance hall. The crowd was getting on her nerves. She dragged herself up the grand staircase and followed the stupid printed map until she finally found her room down some distant hallway on the fourth floor of the east wing. Unlocking the door, she leaned over the threshold for a wary look around before she stepped inside.
    With only one foot in the doorway, she nearly moaned aloud at the sight of the big, beautiful, fluffy canopy bed waiting for her.
    Sleep!
    “Hullo, gorgeous,” she mumbled to it. Then, satisfied there were no traps laid for her, she walked in, dropped her bag, and just stared at the waiting bed.
    Of course she didn’t dare lie down yet. If