Seals by Kim Richardson Page B

thought carefully about the
connection, the worse she felt. Had she made a mistake in telling
everyone?
    Mr. Patterson looked her in the face.
    “Because, my dear, if you are linked
to it…then it is also linked to you.”
    Kara felt like the oracle had slapped her.
She bit her bottom lip. “I…I didn’t think about that.”
    “Try not to fret, my dear. We’ll make sense
of this, I promise.”
    But Kara only felt worse. She wasn’t sure
what she had expected to hear, but that definitely wasn’t part of
it.
    “You mean like it could read her mind or
something?” inquired Jenny. “It could find out about the legion’s
secrets and plans. Everything.”
    Could Jenny be right ?
    Kara shivered at the thought of the knights
rummaging through her mind, discovering her deepest secrets. Not
just the legion’s but her own. Could they sense what she was
planning?
    No.
    She couldn’t read their minds or sense them
at all, so she was certain that they couldn’t read her mind either.
Whatever link they shared, it wasn’t telepathic.
    This conversation was not proceeding as Kara
had planned. Jenny had not tried to anger her. She was just
speaking her mind as she always did.
    “I don’t think it can read my mind,” she
said quietly to Jenny.
    “Are you sure?” pressed Ashley, before Jenny
could answer. “I mean, how would you know for sure?”
    Kara’s gaze shifted to Ashley. “Because I can’t read their minds—”
    “So they can’t read her mind.” David
looked at Kara. “Makes sense.”
    “But that’s if it works that way,” said
Ashley. “How can we know for sure? We can’t, can we? Are we willing
to take that chance? Kara…are you?”
    Even though she didn’t want to admit it,
Kara knew that Ashley was right.
    “Of course not. But what am I supposed to
do? I still don’t think they can read my mind. And if you are right, you still don’t have much to worry about since
the legion’s never shared any secrets with me.”
    She couldn’t help sounding bitter. “I don’t
know anything about any plans. There’s not much in my head that can
harm anyone, really. Just stupid stuff.”
    “Even so,” began Mr. Patterson. “It would be
wise if you didn’t go back to Horizon. At least not until I speak
with the oracle mothers. I believe it would be best for
everyone.”
    Kara was taken aback.
    Was that an order? She couldn’t go back
to Horizon? Was he afraid that she would infect the legion with her
disease ? Horizon was her home. She hadn’t realized how much she
cared about it until he suggested that she stay away. Even if it
was just temporary…
    The oracle was only trying to help her by
telling her the truth. And she needed the truth. Besides, she
needed to be here on Earth for her plan to work, and right now she
needed to stick to her plan.
    “Okay, I get it. I won’t take any more risks
with the legion. I’ll stay here for as long as I can.”
    “I know this is difficult to hear, but it’s
for the best.” Mr. Patterson brushed his crystal with his sleeve
and then looked up at Kara, “And it won’t be forever.
    “I believe we went a little off track. So,
what of your theory for a cure? What is it you think you know?”
    At the mention of her theory, Kara’s
miserable thoughts about Horizon vanished.
    “Like I said, it’s just a theory…but I think
it’s going to work.”
    “Go on.”
    Kara was excited to continue.
    “We know the archfiends are responsible for
my changes. We still don’t know why exactly, but we all know it’s
them. We also know that the archfiends created the knights. I think
that I have some of whatever they used to create the knights in me.
That would explain the bond I have with them. When I saw the wound
on my arm after I stabbed the knight, I just knew. It became clear
to me.”
    “What did?” David said.
    “That I could kill it.”
    “But Kara—”
    “The only way to get rid of my curse,” Kara
shuffled her wings, “is by getting rid of the