The Sovereign Era (Book 2): Pilgrimage Read Online Free Page A

,” I said. “A freakin’ Bob Hope movie. Right?”
    She nodded. “That’s right.”
    “A joke,” I said. “The best that crazy fucker could manage was some joke from some movie he probably doesn’t even remember seeing.”
    She stared at the road. “I think he remembers.”
    I had a pretty much permanent mad-on where my mother was concerned, but just then, I felt like a heel. Her husband was out there somewhere, half-crazy three-quarters of the time and full-crazy the rest, and she’d lived with that for a decade and a half. Sometimes I forgot it had to be a drag for her.
    Huntington Beach came and went as we drove down the road.
    Finally my mother said, “Are you still getting the dreams?”
    “Not really. Lina, though…”
    “That’s…” Her sigh sounded exhausted. “That’s terrible. Tell her I’m sorry.”
    Sure. Hey, Lina, hon, my mom says sorry about all the leftover stress and stuff from that time you had a gun shoved in your face and watched your boyfriend’s dad tear a guy’s guts out with his toenails.
    “Yeah, I will.”
    “Is she seeing anyone?”
    My face got hot. “What? Besides me?”
    My mother chuckled. “No, Nathan. Someone to help with the nightmares. A therapist, or something.”
    “Oh. Right.” I took a deep breath and listened to my heart slowing down for a second or two. “No…she’s been painting. A lot.”
    We were getting close to our off-ramp.
    “Speaking of Lina,” I said. “Can you just drop me off at Carson’s, and she’ll take me home later? I told her I’d come by after the show.”
    She tensed immediately. “You spend a lot of time at Carson Meunetti’s.”
    “He’s a good guy.”
    “I know. I like him. But…”
    “Mom, I’ll be home later. It’s Friday. There’s practice, and a bunch of people will be there. Like every Friday.”
    She nodded. “I get it. I was just hoping, after this big thing we just did, maybe you and I could…celebrate. Go out to dinner.”
    I hated my mother in sheepish-guilty mode almost as much as I hated the reasons for her guilt. It was totally the opposite of the mother I’d known up until a year ago. I didn’t always like that I’d traded my old mom for the truth.
    In fact, I resented the hell out of it. It just made me want to get away from her that much faster.
    “I thought there wasn’t much to celebrate, remember?”
    She laughed, a concession. “Well, we got through it, didn’t we?”
    I sighed. I just wanted to be out of the car, away from her, and with Lina.
    “Can we do it tomorrow?”
    She sighed. “Fine. You’re not going to be any fun with your mother when you want to be with your friends, anyway. I guess I’ll settle for calling Denver Colorado and telling him all about it.”
    “Thanks.” Denver wasn’t among my favorite people; he’d helped keep my father’s secrets for years. But he and my mother went back a long way. “I bet he’ll want a blow-by-blow.”
    We passed the Abbeque Valley exits and headed south to San Clemente. I kept my face against the passenger-side window the rest of the way.

From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Three
    My mother dropped me off in front of Carson’s house. I found myself waving automatically as the car drove away, then jerked my hand down, feeling like a stupid kid.
    Carson’s house was two stories stacked on top of a three-car garage that took up the entire ground level. I glanced up at the balcony, but no one was watching me. I felt even stupider for thinking anyone would give a shit if I waved goodbye to my mother.
    I’ve mentioned that my hearing is better than…well, anyone’s, probably, with the exception of my father’s. I could hear Car’s stereo blasting through the walls and closed windows despite the sound-deadening foam he’d set up on the walls of the living room. Lots of fuzzy guitars, a grinding bass…I didn’t recognize it.
    I walked to the front door and turned the knob. It was locked, which kind of surprised me. Why