All That Glitters (Avalon: Web of Magic #2) (8 page)

It was a perfect September evening with gentle breezes under clear skies. The table was set on the patio, overlooking a marble fountain in the garden behind the house. Candles flickered in lamps set around the yard. Tall pitchers of lemonade stood on the buffet table surrounded by plates of barbecued burgers and hot dogs, chips, salads, pickles, fruits, coleslaw, and baked beans.

Kara’s friends were already in a party mood as she led them through the kitchen and into the backyard.

“Wait till we show you these rockin’ routines,” Tiffany told her.

Heather giggled. “You should have seen Tiff!”

“Girl, it’s called rhythm, and I have got the moves!” Tiffany danced across the patio as the others laughed.

Kara smiled. Finally she could just relax and enjoy herself.

“How’d it go with you?” Molly asked.

“Yeah, tell us everything,” Heather ordered, pouring some lemonade.

“Details, girl!” Tiffany shimmied by.

“Oh, you know, soooo boring.” Kara twirled a strand of her blond ponytail in her fingers. “We have to research in this old library for the website.”

Heather laughed. “Research?”

“Library? Sounds serious.” Tiffany put her hand on Kara’s forehead. “Hmm, geeky influence with a touch of dweeb,” she diagnosed.

“Needs some time with her homegirls,” Heather prescribed.

“And not with the beasts of the forests,” Molly added, crunching into a celery stick.

“Well, there are no wild beasts around here,” Kara said, firmly setting the record straight.

“Yo yo, wass
up!”
Joey called out as Kyle and his friends spilled out onto the flagstone patio.

“Stand aside, ladies, the crew is here to bring it home,” Marcus announced, placing a huge boombox on the floor.

“On second thought, I could be wrong.” Kara rolled her eyes.

The girls laughed.

“Feeding time at the zoo! Let’s eat!” Kyle started piling a plate with food.

“Sweet! We got some spread going on here.” Joey grabbed a plate and started a first pass through the buffet.

“Hey, Kara, where are your superhero friends?” Marcus asked, filling his plate beside her.

“Huh?”

“The daring duo of the animal world!” Joey called out.

“They’re not my . . . friends.” Kara flushed. “I’m just working with them on the Ravenswood project for Dad.”

“Joey was hoping Adriane would be here,” Kyle teased.

“I was not,” Joey said, his face going bright red.

“Dude, you said you like her.” Kyle winked at Marcus.

“How could anyone like her?” Tiffany asked Kara. “She’s so crude.”

“She’s okay,” Kara said, more annoyed than she was willing to let on.

Tiffany stared at her as if she had grown an extra head. “What?”

“Well, Adriane only has her grandmother, and they’re trying to get the preserve all fixed up.”

“Exactly.
So
pathetic, right?” Tiffany said.

Kara flushed, twirling her jewel in her fingers. Adriane wasn’t her friend but the girl certainly wasn’t pathetic. She was just . . . different.

“Kara, where did you get that?” Heather noticed her necklace.

“Oh, I found it . . . lying around.”

Molly and Tiffany moved in to study the dazzling teardrop jewel that hung from Kara’s neck.

“You always have the best accessories,” Tiff said admiringly.

“It’s true.” Kara beamed.

“Who’s for seconds?” Kyle asked, moving back to the buffet.

“The human disposal has spoken!” Kara announced. Everybody crowded around the buffet table, chattering and laughing, piling plates high.

Kara smiled. Just perfect—

“Peep.”

Something whizzed by the table and flew into the garden. It was a burger. A flying burger? Had she done that? She looked down at her jewel, but it wasn’t sparkling any more than usual.

Just then a dragonfly zipped down the middle of the table, purple wings shining in the candlelight. It dodged among the plates and scooped up a couple of cherry tomatoes from the salad bowl.

Kara’s eyes bulged. Play it cool, maybe nobody will notice . . .

“Ahhhh!” screamed Heather. “What’s that?”

No such luck.

“A huge flying bug!” Tiffany ducked and Molly choked. Joey leaped over to smack it away.

“Scroook!”

He smacked two tomatoes instead, splattering Tiffany and Heather.

“Hey!” Heather cried.

“Ohhh, gross!” Kyle and Marcus howled with laughter.

Okay, it’s okay, Kara repeated to herself. Stay calm, everything’s fine . . .

There was silence.

Everyone was looking at Kara. The girls had their mouths open. The boys were sputtering, desperately holding in their laughs.

“What?” Kara said, annoyed.

“Kara,” Molly began.

“You have . . .” Tiffany continued.

Kara felt a tug on her scalp.

“. . . a big . . .” Heather stammered.

“. . .
bug
on your head!” Kyle fell over in a fit of laughter.

Something was entangled in her ponytail. Please let it be a bug, she thought. She worked her fingers through the long blond strands and something struggled frantically. “Ouch!” she yelped, as she felt a tiny stab against her scalp.

“Pweeek!”

“Kara, are you all right?” Molly asked.

“Fine, fine, it’s nothing,” Kara said, hopping backwards holding a fistful of hair.

She pulled a dragonfly free—a blue one.

“Skachooo!” It coughed a spark of flame and darted off into the twilight.

“Did you see that?” Molly asked, her eyes wide.

“The biggest firefly I ever saw!” Joey exclaimed. “It’s like a jungle out here!”

“Kara, you sure you didn’t bring your work home from the preserve?” Kyle asked.

“Very funny,” Kara mumbled. “There are no wild animals around here!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a large shape slinking around the buffet table. “Who wants another hot dog?” Kara grabbed a tray, quickly moving to block the view.

“I’ll take one,” Joey said.

Kara tossed a hot dog toward him. “What are you doing! I told you to stay put!” she whispered to Lyra, who crouched in the shadows beside the brick hearth.

The hot dog floated by her head. Kara reached out and grabbed it.

“Poooo!”

“Give me that!” She tugged back and forth with a red dragonfly.

“Where’s my dog?” Joey asked behind her.

Kara yanked the hot dog hard and turned quickly. The dragonfly careened backward.

“Here!” She put the half-eaten hot dog on Joey’s plate. He walked away, puzzled.

Lyra growled low in her throat.
“Something is here.”

“Thanks for the update! These dragonflies are ruining everything!”

“No, something else. It’s fading in and out, fighting to stay here.”

“What?” Kara looked around frantically. “Something bad?”

“No, but they’ve come for you.”
The cat slid back into the shadows.

“Hey, who’s for dessert?” Kyle yelled out.

“Ice-cream sundaes, burnin’!” Joey whooped.

Is this dinner over yet? Stay calm! Everything’s fine.

Drip . . .

“Hey! Something dripped on my head!” Joey said.

“Is it raining?” Tiffany asked.

Drip, drip . . .

Kara felt droplets on her face. She looked up. Not a cloud in sight.

Drip, drip, drip . . .
Water was spritzing everywhere.

“Look, the fountain’s screwy!” Marcus pointed.

Bursts of water were shooting straight into the evening air and spraying in all directions.

Kara ran across the lawn, searching for whatever else had decided to crash her party.

“Blazing star . . .” A tiny voice blew past like a breeze.

“Huh?” Kara looked at the tall Roman fountain, watching water spurt out over the tiered ledges. Droplets fell into the bowl like rain.

The drops swirled, shimmering as if they were trying to take shape. Kara looked closer. Twinkling and flowing, the drops merged. Kara’s eyes widened. It was a tiny figure formed out of water with waves of long, crystal-blue hair. The figure shimmered, struggling to hold its form.

“The jewel . . .” The tiny figure’s voice rippled across the water. Kara wasn’t even sure she had heard it.

Kara leaned in closer. “What did you say?”

“Do not use the jewel . . .” The figure quivered, flowing in and out of its watery form.

“Why not?”

“It is . . . a trap.”

“Kara, what are you doing?” Molly called out.

Kara whirled around and sat in the fountain, splattering the figure to droplets. “Nothing.”

“You’re sitting in the water!” Heather exclaimed.

The boys laughed.

“Uh, just checking the pressure. Be right there!” She jumped up and glanced back in the water. “What do you mean a trap?” she whispered.

Small geysers bubbled from the surface as two watery figures swirled to life.

“She knows you possess the jewel . . .”

“Who knows?” Kara could feel desperation from the tiny figures as they began to lose form.

“The bringer of Black Fire . . .”

“The Dark Sorceress . . .”

Dark Sorceress? That doesn’t sound good.

“Use it with care . . .”

“To your own heart be true . . .”

“Use the jewel, don’t use the jewel! You’re totally confusing me! Should I use it or not?”

“Kara, your ice cream’s getting cold!” Kyle yelled.

Kara glanced at her friends. “Be right there!”

When she looked back, the figures were gone. The fountain was calm, water gently cascading down the marble as if nothing had happened.

K
ARA FELT RELIEVED
when the party finally wound down. Kyle and his friends went to Joey’s to check out some new video game, and not long after that, Molly’s mom arrived to pick up the girls.

Kara cleaned up quickly, then headed to the sunroom for a nice hot soak in the Jacuzzi.

The glass-walled extension had been built onto the side of the house. The air was moist and heavy with the scent of flowers, trees bearing ripening fruit and the hot steam of the Jacuzzi.

Kara was worn out. Thank goodness her mom had left the Jacuzzi heater on. She turned on the timer for the jets. Instantly the water in the large sunken tub began to churn and bubble. This is too bizarre, Kara thought as she changed into her bathing suit in the screened-off dressing area. The cat, and then the dragonflies . . . and what exactly were those watery things? What were they trying to say to me? And why me?

Fingers of steam crept into the dressing area, covering everything in soft mist. Kara stood before the mirror to admire herself. She turned the jewel around in her hands, studying its sparkling surfaces. Whatever was going on, it had something to do with this. She examined the jewel closely. Flecks of pure diamond radiated from the delicately scalloped shape. It was exquisite.

Yet something about it looked familiar. The shape. Where had she seen such an incredible crystalline form before?

It was hypnotic, sparkling with brilliance, yet below the surface, Kara could feel tremendous power pulsing like a mighty river.

Gingerly, she felt for the magic, letting her senses reach out. Prickling energy ran up and down her arms and through her hair. Kara felt lightheaded as magic surged through the very core of her being. It was like nothing she had ever felt before—strange, wild, and wonderful!

She realized she was breathing too fast as the force crested like a tidal wave. Suddenly she was terrified of losing control. She frantically willed it to stop. Electricity pulsed through her body, trailing off her fingertips like faint static.

Just imagine what would happen if she
really
let the power go!

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, is this the coolest jewel of them all?”

A dull spark flashed in the misted glass. Kara wiped away the steam and regarded her reflection. Something wasn’t quite right. Age lines creased out from her eyes, a streak of white parted her blond hair like a lightning bolt. Her skin looked cool, alabaster like a porcelain doll—had her summer tan faded already? And her eyes . . . Kara looked closer. Shivers ran up and down her spine. They weren’t human. They were the slitted eyes of an animal!