Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter seventeen. house of chance

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A shrill, terrified scream wakes me up from a dreamless sleep. I snap awake, grabbing a pen off my nightstand as I look around the room wildly for the source. No smoke lady. But the screaming is coming from Amber, who looks terrified.

"Amber!" Nina shouts, getting out of her bed and running toward the blonde, grabbing her hands. I push the covers off myself, rushing over to sit beside her. "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Amber," I add in a gentle tone, "are you okay? What happened?"

"I saw the spirit lady," Amber tells us, sounding and looking freaked out. Nina and I share a wide-eyed glance. Amber had a nightmare just like we did of her. "She came after me. She offered me her hand."

"You didn't take it, did you?" Nina asks cautiously.

"No, no," she says. I close my eyes. Amber's not cursed. The spirit laid her hand on Nina, Fabian, and me when we had our dreams. That's how she cursed us and gave us the Mark of Anubis. So long as Amber doesn't touch her, she's safe. "Tell me it was just a dream."

Nina glances at me briefly before assuring her, "It was just a dream. I'm so sorry for dragging you into all this, Amber."

"Same here," I agree reluctantly.

"Hey, you didn't drag, either of you," Amber counters. "I pushed. And I'm glad."

Nina's eyebrows furrow, as do mine. "A crazy spirit has targeted Fabian, Ashley, and me, and now she's after you? And you're glad?" she repeats.

"Yeah, I'm missing the glad part as well," I say.

Amber tilts her head. "Well, glad might be stretching it. But with you two here, life's never dull. Unlike your hair, Nina." She reaches out and grabs a lock of her hair. "You really have to do something about these split ends. Ashley even has better hair than you. And she uses banana-scented shampoo."

"Hey," I say, faking offense as I reach for my hair. "My hair smells very nice, thank you very much. Thanks to the bananas."

"If you say so."

Leave it to Amber Millington to make a bad situation better, or at least funny.

—

"Oh, Patricia and Eddie are so going to kill each other," I mutter to myself, watching the pair glare at each other in the lounge. They've got their feet tied together today for the fake fundraiser and I honestly think they'll hate each other more than they already do by day's end. Trixie might be more likely to make it out alive, though. "Hey, Eddie, have you accepted your fate?"