Synopsis | Reviews | Excerpt
School's out for summer, but Allie's hip deep in trouble of the faery kind. Before she can save her world, she'll have to save theirs.
Junior's back from Mexico with his movie-star entourage. Beck's using his half-demon charms to "heal" a new girl. Mom's still whacky and now she's dating Principal Hostetler. High school is still an obstacle course of drama queens, bullies and nutjobs. The Trimarks are still a menace, and the moonstone pendant has revealed even more mind-boggling powers.
In other words, Allie Emerson's life as the Girl Voted Least Likely to Save The World From Evil has gone from Weird to Super-Charged Super-Weird, and it's about to get even weirder. "You're a faery princess." So says the mysterious Ryker, whose handsome talents include turning himself into a hawk. By the way, he and Allie are destined to marry. In faery land. If they can save it from forces even more deadly than Trimarks and high school.
The third book in the Unbidden Magic series plunges readers into a rich other-world of danger, humor, romance, fable, fairytale and magical destiny.
"…a fun addition to the storyline, and full of great stuff – faeries and werebats and toadlings and all sorts of wonderful craziness." -- Katy Sozaeva, Now Is Gone
After Ryker and Manny drove off, I went looking for Chad. He wasn't behind the fruit stand. I walked around to the front, fully expecting to see him sitting on a stool. No Chad. I fought off a wave of panic and dashed behind the counter, checking out all the places a small boy could hide.
"Chad!" I yelled. "If you're hiding from me, get your butt out here right now!"
Mercedes, who was sweeping a pile of dirt into a dustpan, said, "What's your problem? Chad's not here."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, duh, I've been in here the whole time."
My pulse kicked up to double time. "Do you think he's with Ryker and Manny? Maybe he climbed into the truck when they weren't looking."
Mercedes grinned. "Listen, girlfriend, we've got six kids in our family. If one goes missing for a while, no big deal. They always come back."
"This isn't funny, Mercedes. We're talking about Mr. Hostetler's kid. I'm supposed to be keeping him safe."
She sighed, pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number. "Hey, Manny! Is Chad with you?"
She listened for a while. "Are you sure? Look behind the seat." My heart sank to my shoe tops.
"Okay, thanks." Before she could disconnect, I yelled, "Wait! Wait! Tell them to come back and help look for him."
Mercedes rolled her eyes, but dutifully repeated my message. When she clicked off, I said, "Call 911."
"Are you nuts? He probably just wandered off. Let's look for him first."
I hoped and prayed she was right. "Five minutes. Then, we call 911."
Of course, Mercedes didn't know the whole story and that made all the difference. An icy band of fear gripped my chest and squeezed, leaving me breathless. Maybe someone trying to get to me had snatched Chad. I put that idea out of my mind. If I allowed the panic to grow, I wouldn't be able to think straight.
Pop, pop, pop. The sound of Faye's target shooting added another layer of fear. What if Chad had wandered out into the pasture and one of her bullets went astray? I tore off across the parking lot and down the narrow shoulder alongside Peacock Flats road. I was in a full-out sprint when I hit Uncle Sid's driveway. Manny and Ryker were just pulling out.
"Check the barn. Chad likes to sit on the tractor," I gasped and took off running toward the sound of the gun shots. I found Faye behind the trailer. With Blaster gone, the gate to the pasture was open and Faye was blasting away at a scarecrow dressed in one of Brain Dead Roy's old shirts. The shirt was full of holes.
"Faye!" I yelled. "Hold up. Chad's missing."
Faye pointed the gun at the ground and turned to face me. "Did you call 911?"
I shook my head.
"I'll do it." She jogged around the end of the trailer.
I saw the flatbed pull in by the barn. Since Ryker and Manny had that area covered, I ran toward the apple tree. That's when I saw Chad and my heart stopped. Straining with effort, he was trying to lift the cover off the old cistern.
"Chad, no!" I screamed as I ran to him.
He looked up at me and smiled. "I heard my name. Somebody was calling me. Would you help me lift the lid?" It didn't seem possible, but he was paler than usual. His eyes were huge and held a dreamy, faraway look, making me wonder if he even knew where he was.
Tempted as I was to yell at him for scaring me to death, I simply took his hand and led him away from the cistern. After a couple of steps, my trembling legs collapsed. I pulled Chad down beside me, wrapped an arm around his frail body and held him close. Now was not the time for scolding.
Faye popped around the corner of the trailer with the phone in her hand. She spotted Chad, waved in acknowledgement and spoke into the phone.
Chad and I sat together silently until my breathing slowed. The rapid fluttering of his heart against my body felt like tiny butterfly wings. Finally, he whispered, "Don't you see? I'm supposed to be there. It's where I belong."
Before I could come up with a good answer, Ryker appeared. He stood with his arms folded across his chest, staring down at Chad. "Little man, you gave us a fright."
Chad scrambled up and threw his arms around Ryker, who whispered to him in his strange faery language and patted his back. Suddenly, he froze and murmured, "Ava."
"Now what?" I struggled to my feet.
Ryker's hand skimmed over Chad's back, pointing out two knobby protrusions, one on each side of his spine. My mouth dropped open. Oh... my... God. Chad was growing wings.
