Secret of the Unicorn (Avalon: Web of Magic #4) (19 page)

Harpies weave spells using musical enchantments. Not true shapeshifters, the harpy’s music creates a beautiful vision, sort of a dream-time state—disguising it just long enough to get close so it can attack. Only those with powerful magic of their own can see the harpy’s true form.

K
ARA HEARD THE
knock at the manor’s front door and only barely beat Adriane to it. She smiled brightly as Johnny and his mix master, a dude called Inky Toon, stepped inside.

Johnny was, as always, totally laid-back and cool.

“Hello, paradise!” Johnny whistled as he looked around the spacious foyer. “This place is awesome!”

Kara smiled. “Welcome to Ravenswood Manor. I’ll be happy to show you guys the digs.”

“Cool crib, girl,” Inky said. “You know what I say, life is always a par-tay, and this is a place where we can work it.”

Looking vexed that Kara was getting props for welcoming Johnny and his people to the manor, Adriane cleared her throat. Inky nodded toward the raven-haired girl and handed her his leather jacket. “Yo, guitar girl—hang that up for me? We got a few things out in the car, too. Thanks!”

Adriane took the jacket, adjusted the guitar still hung over her back, and walked off with it. “Yeah, sure, you’re welcome...”

“Everyone else is on their way,” Inky said.

“Everyone else?” Kara stopped in mid-grin.

“Yeah, you know what I’m sayin’—we got our crew to take care of.”

“Sure… okay, I guess.”

Soon, the entire mansion was buzzing. Johnny’s band and all his technical people had arrived, along with Emily and Gran. Adriane’s grandmother looked concerned about the way the manor was being taken over. She even took Adriane outside for what looked like a stern talking-to.

Good, Kara thought.

The band’s equipment piled up in the immense dining room, which would be used for rehearsal space. The parlor, kitchen, and adjoining sitting rooms were overflowing with the newcomers, including a reporter interviewing Mrs. Windor!

“I do
not
listen to rock and roll music,” Windor was droning on. “Big events are dangerous for a small community. Attracts all the wrong elements.” She eyed the reporter suspiciously.

“All right then, thank you, Mrs. Windor.” She signaled her crew to move on to Johnny.

Mrs. Windor sneered as the rock star walked past. “Ravenswood should be shut down, not saved!”

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “I’m here to support a worthwhile, charitable cause.”

“You have no idea what kind of animals are
really
here!” Mrs. Windor snapped. Kara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had to do something!

Suddenly, Inky was sweeping in ahead of Johnny. “Come on, now, people,” Inky said with a broad sweep of his big arms that forced Mrs. Windor out the front door. “Animal rights is an important issue and we’re here to support
all
animals.”

“Soon the whole world will know what you’re hiding here!” Windor bellowed as the door closed in her face.

“Who was that?” Johnny asked Kara.

Kara flushed. “Mrs. Windor. She’ll do anything to stop this concert.”

Johnny chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about her. Something tells me she’s going to go ape over this show! Trust me.” His dark eyes glittered with the bright lights held by the camera crew.

Kara smiled. Of course he was right.

“Believe it.” He winked.

Someone slipped a disk in a boom box and the room filled with a hip-hop blaster that was tearing up the charts. Johnny spun around the room demonstrating some of the hot dance moves that had catapulted him to stardom. Everyone cheered and got into the groove.

Kara leaned next to Emily against the wall beside the fireplace. Johnny had a way of making her feel so relaxed. He was just
so
cool.

“What do you think of Johnny?” she asked.

Emily fluttered her hand over her heart and rolled her eyes. “He is
so
cute!”

“Back at ya!”

“Everything okay with you and Adriane?”

Kara tensed, thinking of the unicorn horn she had swiped. Guilt overwhelmed her at the thought of Emily finding out what she had done. But one look at Johnny and the feeling vanished. “Don’t ask.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.” Kara remembered the book she’d found in the library—and the mysterious visitor who must have been looking it over. She told Emily about it and they quietly slipped upstairs to investigate, away from their company. They unlocked the library and went inside. Emily popped on the light. She started—and pointed at the rug. “Look!”

Kara focused on the large woven area rug by the door. The red, blue, and gold weave was splotched with brown.

“Someone tracked mud in here,” Emily said. Those weren’t splotches—they were footprints. Looking closer, she determined that the prints were wide, with three toes. “Only these prints are not human. Some kind of animal.”

Kara and Emily exchanged worried glances. “It can’t be bad,” Kara said. “The dreamcatcher would have stopped it.”

“That Fairimental warned us about something dangerous,” Emily reminded her. “Is that the book?”

“That’s it.”

For an instant, Kara thought she heard someone singing in the hall. Then the sound faded and her mind filled with calm.

Deciding it was just music from downstairs, Emily and Kara read a passage from the book:

Spellsing as one

See your work done

Spellsing as three

What you picture will be

“It sounds like it’s talking about us,” Emily said. “The power of three.”

“So spellsinging must be some kind of spell casting using music,” Kara mused.

“You think whatever was in here was looking for this magic?”

“Knock, knock,” a deep voice called.

Kara and Emily spun to see Johnny standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his confident grin. That’s weird—Kara thought she had locked the door behind them.

“What an incredible room!” Johnny eased into the library, admiring all the shelves of books and the odd little curios, all fashioned in an animal motif. “So this is the famous Ravenswood Manor library!”

Kara slapped the book closed and passed it to Emily, who slid it behind her back.

“Look at all these books!” he continued, walking around the circular room. “And these paintings are awesome! An original Parrish, a Bates, and this….whoa! The Munro Orrery.” He gazed up at the intricate mobile.

“Awesome,” Kara agreed, totally in awe of her guest.

“How do you know so much about Ravenswood?” Emily asked.

“I’m a history-head.” Johnny smiled. “Especially when it comes to haunted houses.”

“Haunted houses?” Emily glanced at Kara.

“Yeah, I live for this stuff. Ravenswood and the woods around the preserve are famous: full of ghosts, witches, and monsters!” He laughed.

“The woods aren’t haunted,” Emily said. “That’s just kids’ stories.”

“No? I’m sure there are some extra-special things going on here.” Johnny’s deep blue eyes sparkled as he smiled.

Kara nudged Emily’s arm. “Maybe you should take our
homework
to Adriane.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Emily said, bumping into bookshelves as she edged out the door.

“Soooo,” Kara said, smiling and sidling to the reading table, away from the secret computer panel. “You’re a Ravenswood buff. That’s cool, Johnny.” Her smile faltered and her heart started racing and suddenly she felt like a complete idiot. “Johnny. I called you Johnny…
Can
I call you Johnny? Or should it be Mr. Conrad, or Mr. C, or—”

Johnny laughed, and it was such a friendly laugh, an almost musical sound, that it instantly calmed Kara’s jitters.

“Johnny’s my name, don’t wear it out.” The rock star smiled, turning his baby blues to the rows of books. “I love to read.” He ran long fingers over the rich leather-bound volumes.

“You do?”

He laughed again and a warm, comforting breeze seemed to wash over her.

“Of course,” Johnny said softly as he scanned the titles on the shelves. “I’m on the road all the time. I’ve got to do something to make it less boring.”

“Boring?” Kara asked incredulously. “Your life, boring? I don’t believe it.”

He glanced her way. “Well, there are some pretty exciting moments. Like meeting new people and seeing new places…”

His sigh even sounded like music, and it made Kara’s heart beat like thunder. Suddenly, all she could think about was what he was going to say or do next.

“And getting onstage,” Johnny said quickly, “performing for my fans, singing my music. It’s like… magic.” He faced Kara, and for a split second she caught a flash of fire in his eyes.

Kara took a step back. She felt feverish. This was unreal.
She
was getting to spend time alone with Johnny Conrad!

Just wait until she told Heather and Molly and Tiff about this… she had the sudden impulse to sing it to the world!

“So you’re a singer, too,” Johnny said brightly.

Kara was startled. “Huh?”

“Your dad told me you were dying to win the contest, you and your pal with the guitar. Though, I hope for her sake that she’s got one top-notch voice, ‘cause you’ve got her way beat where it counts.”

Kara nearly choked. “I do? R—r—really?”

“I know about these things,” he said, low, musical tones seeming to echo beneath each of his words… words that filled her with the same confidence that radiated from the singer. “You’ve got something special. I can feel it. You know what that is?”

Kara thought of the unicorn horn… No, that was crazy. Johnny didn’t have anything to do with magic.

“Star power,” he answered for her. “And I’m never wrong.”

Before Kara could even think of what to say, Inky and two others were in the doorway.

“Wow. What a spread!” Inky commented, taking in the vast library. “This place rocks!”

“Come on, Johnny, press is waiting,” one of the others said, popping her gold- and pink-haired head into the room. “We promised you’d do more interviews.”

“Okay,” Johnny said, walking to the door. He turned back and gave Kara a wink. “Star power,” he repeated.

As Johnny and his crew hurried off, she felt her head start to clear and realized she’d have to be more careful in the future. This library had to remain off-limits to visitors. And there was the computer, which held secrets practically beyond imagining.

She locked the door on her way out.

Star power!
Kara beamed. “Finally, someone notices!”