Like the Dawn (Lark #3) (24 page)

              My mouth dropped open. What had she just called me? “Uh, so you know why I’m here?”
              Madriel shook her head. “I don’t need the details. You want to know where Valeska is.”
              “Valeska?” I nearly choked on my next words. “Is that the wi- is that her name?”
              “You can say witch you know? It’s not a bad word.” Madriel rolled her eyes.
              “Sorry.” I felt completely out of depth with this woman. “Can you tell me where I can find Valeska?”
              “Don’t you know how this works?” she said with knitted brows. “I need payment for risking my life by supplying information about a witch, blah, blah, blah.”
              Her words surprised me. No one had mentioned anything about payment before. I didn’t have much money, so I wasn’t sure what to give her. Anxiously, I stuck my hand in my pocket and my fingers brushed against two somethings that felt like thread.
              Realized that I did have a form of payment, I pulled out one of the strands. It glittered like gold in the light, and Madriel’s eyes widened at the hair. Yeah, I was carrying around hair in my pocket.
              “I’ll take it,” she said without pause and snatched it up with a wrinkled hand.
              Madriel chuckled to herself as she turned it over in her hands, seeming pleased with the item. She was so engrossed by it that I had to clear my throat to get her attention.
              “What is it?” Her head shot up and that look of annoyance filled her leathery features again. “Oh, right.
That
. When you get out of here, find your way back to the main street. From there take a left into Elusian Avenue and turn right at every intersection until you reach the dead end.”
              Talk about being vague, you’d think this woman was some undercover intelligence officer the way she gave directions. Her behavior made sense though--witches were hunted by Parlum because of their unnatural powers and she was putting herself at risk by supplying me with this kind of information.
              “Is there anything else I need to know?”
              “Don’t ask stupid questions.” She pointed to a second door at the other end of the kitchen. “Go out that way in case someone’s following you.” There was that whole covert thing again. Without another word, she turned back to the sink and resumed washing dishes like nothing had ever happened.
              Still trying to wrap my head around what had just transpired, I followed her instructions and headed out the back door, trying to remember everything she had said. This was it. I was at the final leg of my journey. I would finally get the answer I had left school to search for.
              “FREEZE!”
              My heart froze along with the rest of my body. What the hell was going on? Through my panic, I managed to make out three figures flanking the lane and blocking my exit.
              My first thought was to turn around and bolt back inside, but then I realized that Madriel might have been the one who’d turned me in. My only way out was to move forward.
              “Don’t even think about it!” a female snapped. “We have the kitchen staked out just in case you get any brilliant ideas.”
              My heart sank. So I had been betrayed.
              Scouring my surroundings, I noticed the chain link fence that ran along to the left. Problem was, I’d still have to get past my assailants in order to scale it.
              “Guard the fence!” the female snapped again as if sensing my thoughts.
              Realization quickly hit me. She wasn’t guessing my next move; she was reading my mind. My school and Parlum had really pulled out all the stops. They had sent a telepathic angel after me.
              “Drop any weapons in your possession and put up your hands! Do not move, stay where you are,” a male warned.
              I was still trying to figure out how I could put my hands up without moving when a third and final voice spoke—also male. “Katerina Abella Lyrille, on behalf of Parlum and Esteré Academy, we are here to retrieve and return you to Esteré Academy to face the criminal allegations made against you.”
              I blanched, not at what he had said—because I already knew all this—but because of who had said it. That voice sounded eerily familiar.
              Three figures stepped beneath the streetlight and dread filled me as I recognized them. The angel was beautiful with wavy medium length blonde hair. One of her male companions had dark skin, dark hair, and zany tattoos. These two were the ones I’d noticed on the way to
Palace
. She was the girl who’d slipped on the street and the guy was the one who’d given me the awkward smile. The other male, with his stormy blue eyes and dark hair, was all too familiar.
              It was the bartender from
Palace
.

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