The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler Page A

coming with us to Jareth’s concert at the Pike Place Show Box, a small nightclub type of place in Seattle. Betty picked us up directly after school and played a Jareth CD as we drove across the bridge into downtown. We parked at the waterfront and walked through the public market, tasting all the free samples we could find before coming across a fish stand where guys were throwing fish at each other.
    I yelped as a huge salmon whizzed by my cheek. Surprised, I snapped a ruffled, “Hey!”
    The man cocked a brow at me and grinned. He picked up another huge fish and hurled it to one of his buddies.
    “Aren’t they going to get in trouble for goofing off?” I murmured to Ellison, shocked.
    Ellison doubled over in laughter.
    “They’re tossing the fish up to be wrapped,” Betty explained, patting me on the back. “It’s part of the show. It attracts customers.”
    Feeling a little silly, I felt my ears redden a little and hurriedly moved away.
    By the time Betty bought us sandwiches, I was already full from tasting mini-donuts, smoked salmon, and iced cappuccinos.
    We didn’t have to stand in the long line forming for the concert. After all, we had the VIP passes, but only two. I gave mine to Ellison. Grace and Betty looked surprised, but I told them that I wasn’t the social sort and didn’t really want to meet Jareth in person. Grace bought it, because she saw me pretty much always hiding from people at school and knew I didn’t like a lot of attention. Betty was suspicious and asked me if I felt sick. Ellison, however, was immensely pleased to get the VIP pass.
    Ellison and Grace disappeared into the doors of the nightclub a good hour before Betty and I could. We decided to wait at a coffee shop across the street and sat down to sip hot tea and browse the local newspapers.
    By the time we got into line, I was getting excited.
    The Pike Place Show Box was a fairly nice place, but the walls were painted a dark red that, combined with the awful opening band, made me wonder several times if I were in Hell. Grace and Ellison were up front, waving and screaming, but I sat at one of the little round tables in the back with Betty and sipped on diet cokes.
    I could tell she was concerned about me. Every ten minutes, she leaned forward and screamed over the noise, “Are you feeling ok, honey?”
    “Yes!” I smiled each time.
    Finally, the opening bands finished screeching, and there was a break while Jareth’s crew set up and changed the stage.
    Through the crowd, we couldn’t see Ellison and Grace, but they began to text us. They had actually met Jareth, and he’d been pretty cool. He’d signed Grace’s notebook and Ellison’s stomach. They had each gotten a T-shirt and a signed photo.
    I was starting to feel a little foolish, and honestly, a little jealous. I had obviously let my paranoia get in the way of having a bit of fun. I began to regret, just a tad, my choice of giving Ellison the VIP pass.
    “Honey, why don’t you join them?” Betty kept prodding.
    I shook my head, and then conversation became impossible as Jareth came out on stage, and all the girls in the building began to scream at once.
    From where I was, I couldn’t see what he really looked like. He was wearing so much make-up, and his teased black hair stood out from his head in all directions. He could have looked like anything underneath it all. His voice was amazing and he sang all my favorite songs. He was an incredible showman, prancing up and down the stage with fireworks exploding behind him in all directions, and he seemed to change outfits in the blink of an eye.
    Soon, I found myself screaming and clapping with the rest. All thoughts of spying were long gone, and the energy in the room sucked me in.
    Finally, as he ended the last set, Betty insisted I get a little closer for the encore.
    Giving her my sweatshirt, I pushed my way through the crowd, successfully squashing any concerns that I had and letting myself get caught up in the