Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1)
Page 19
“Does she ever make a sound?” Bohdan laughed.
“Nope,” Arkadia answered with a laugh.
In the living room, Eloise sat on the sofa, and the twins stood over by the wall with Raven apparently having some kind of mini family debate. There was a strange girl sitting on the chair, her legs and arms were crossed and she had a scowl etched deeply on her face. This strange girl’s appearance was shocking. She was clad in black leather jeans, a dark blue T-shirt, a beat-up black leather jacket, and well-worn army boots. Her long disheveled blonde hair hung lifeless around her shoulders, and to say she was wearing too much black eyeliner was a massive understatement. Standing behind her was Rumor Winslow, the council member that had been Arkadia’s case manager.
“Good Morning, Arkadia. So nice to see you under less life-threatening circumstances. Are you well, child?” Arkadia had never heard Rumor speak with any emotion at all, so this small inflection of caring was surprising.
“I am good, thanks,” Arkadia said to Rumor, and then looking over to Eloise she asked, “So, what’s going on?”
“We have a new member of the house. Rumor thought I was the perfect person to help with her latest case,” Eloise said softly. Arkadia was unsure if Eloise’s voice was one of forced politeness or genuine appreciation of her abilities.
Rumor said, “This is Neveah Haloni. She is sixteen and will be attending Huntsville High school starting next week. She needs somewhere to live, and Eloise has graciously offered her a room here. I am most satisfied with this house for Neveah’s development. I think this is the perfect place for her.” Arkadia looked from Rumor’s satisfied face to Eloise’s face which while it looked calm, Arkadia could see a little twitch at the corner of her mouth. She glanced over at Raven, who was seething with frustration, and then at Emerson and Zahmali, who honestly, didn’t seem to give two hoots either way. Emerson just looked hungry.
“So then I will take my leave; should you need anything, Eloise, just call me.” Rumor handed a card to Eloise and glided out the door. A shocked silence fell over the room, and no one was quite sure what to do next. After a few minutes, Eloise got up and straightened her shirt.
“Arkadia, pop on the kettle, I could do with a coffee, I think. Neveah, Raven will show you to your new room. I suggest you use the next few hours to settle in and make it your own. Lunch will be in two hours.” Raven was about to protest when Eloise raised her finger to stop Raven from talking. “Raven,” Eloise said a firmness in her voice, “You WILL show Neveah up to the spare room, now her room, and you WILL make her welcome.” Eloise walked out into the kitchen with Arkadia and Bohdan following.
Raven put her hands on her hips as she puffed up her chest ready to show who was territorially in charge. “So, you’re a fallen angel, huh?”
Within a blink of an eye, Neveah was toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with Raven, her ice blue eyes alight with flames of anger. Her voice full of hatred, she spat at Raven, “I am NOT fallen. I am broken. Get it right, bitch. Just show me the goddamn room and back off.”
Raven stood her ground, not prepared to show she was terrified of confrontation. “Second door on the left at the top of the stairs. Find it yourself, bitch.” Raven walked away leaving Neveah alone with her black duffle bag standing in the middle of a strange house, in a strange neighborhood, in a strange world.
“Well, this should be fun,” Neveah said, finding her room and slamming the door.
~The End~
I hope you enjoyed the story.
Check these links for more books from Author Dzintra Sullivan.
Goodreads Links
Click on the links below to add to your TBR list.
Arkadia - Halfway House #1
Coming Soon
Raven - Halfway House #2
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@DzintraSullivan
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fernandrose@rocketmail.com
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About the Author - Dzintra Sullivan
I'm a happily married mother of four amazing children. I fell in love with books as a young girl, reading Judy Blume and Enid Blyton. I progressed onto loving the supernatural genre as a teenager and never left.
I live up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
It has always been a dream to write a book, but I've never had the self belief that I could. Until this year when I celebrated my 40th birthday. It hit me, "now or never" so here I am, releasing my first novel in what I hope will be a series of seven books.
"Arkadia" is the first book, soon to be followed by "Raven".
I blog and run the Facebook page "Book Friends Forever", please come and say hello, always lots of fun and giveaways, new releases, and gossip.
It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope to be a part of your reading life for a long time.