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

made no difference. My eyes were burning from lack of sleep, so I closed them and tried to think of what to do next. And then my thoughts faded, and I must have drifted off to sleep because when I opened my eyes again it was early evening.
    “Good evening, Sleepyhead,” Betty greeted me as I entered the kitchen. “Grab a bun, honey. The hamburgers are ready.”
    Grace was reading a book at the table. She looked up and gave me her customary grunt of recognition and I nodded in return.
    “Did you get a lot of visitors last night?” Betty asked as she plopped a juicy burger onto my plate.
    I briefly wondered if I should tell her about the dark-haired stranger, but Tigger decided to let out a bark and it distracted all of us. He rarely expended the effort to bark. I’d only heard him do it twice before, and on both occasions it was due to the fact I hadn’t given him a bite of my dinner. This time, he was staring at the front door.
    Someone knocked.
    Feeling a rising panic, I shivered and eyed the butcher knives as Betty made her way toward the door.
    It was the FedEx man. He didn’t come nearly as often as the UPS guy did, but when he did, he always brought a doggie cookie for Tigger.
    With the mystery solved, I relaxed and returned to my hamburger, watching the bloodhound munch his treat. Betty exchanged light-hearted gossip with the FedEx man as she signed for an envelope.
    Grace yawned and turned the page of her book.
    “It’s for you, Sydney.” Betty smiled when she returned. She tossed the cardboard envelope onto the table.
    I eyed it suspiciously.
    “What is it?” Grace asked after a few moments. “Aren’t you going to open it?”
    Frowning a little, I pulled the tab and shook the contents out. Several glossy sheets of paper slid out onto the kitchen table. I could see big, bold letters, “Congratulations! You Have Won Two VIP Backstage Passes To Jareth!”
    Grace and I squealed at the same time.
    “You lucky girls!” Betty laughed, picking up the envelope to throw it away. Something fell on the floor. She picked it up and said, “Oh, there was still something in there, honey.”
    It was a folded white card. I opened it up and nearly fainted.
    It was a personally signed photo of Jareth.
    As Grace shrieked in delight, I immediately lost all interest in seeing him.
    Now I knew why the dark-haired stranger on the porch last night looked familiar. I was looking directly at him in the photo. There was no mistake. The eyes and the makeup were the same.
    I was freaking out. Why would Jareth, the most famous rising rock star in the country, try to push his way into my house on Halloween?
    “What is it, Sydney?” Betty asked with a note of concern. She had been watching my reaction.
    I almost told her, but it would have sounded too crazy. Instead, I shook my head. “Just tired.”
    Grace snagged the picture from my hand and I let her have it.
    I ate my hamburger, lost in thought. Maybe Jareth had been drugged out. That would explain his odd behavior of trying to push his way into a random stranger’s house. It wouldn’t be the first time a celebrity had done something like that. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with an explanation of how he had disappeared into a puff of mist.
    I washed the dishes, volunteering to do Grace’s part as well so she’d leave me alone. She skipped outside to play soccer and to wait for Rafael to drive by. Betty sat down to read a book in the family room. As soon as I was finished washing the dishes, I decided to google Jareth.
    Sitting down in front of the computer, I began the almost impossible task of finding any real information about him. There were so many photos of him plastered everywhere and tons of magazine articles, all claiming to have the exclusive scoop on Rock’s Latest Sensation, but it was all marketing, filled with what parties he had attended, what he wore, what he ate, and who might be his latest girlfriend. There was nothing real.
    A