Free Novel Read

The Wizard Returns Page 9


  My hand hit the back of the drawer. All I found were socks.

  I pulled the drawer out and rifled through it. Nothing.

  The money was gone. Everything I’d spent my life saving up for. Gone.

  It was no mystery who’d taken it. It was less of a mystery what she’d spent it on. With no cash, no car, and no one to wave a magic wand, I was stuck where I was.

  It didn’t matter anyway. Leaving was just a fantasy.

  In the living room, Al Roker was back on TV. His frown was gone, sort of, but even though his face was now plastered with a giant grin, his jaw was quivering and he looked like he might start crying at any second. He kept chattering away, going on and on about isotopes and pressure systems and hiding in the basement.

  Too bad they don’t have basements in trailer parks, I thought.

  And then I thought: Bring it on. There’s no place like anywhere but here.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DANIELLE PAIGE is a graduate of Columbia University. Before turning to young adult literature, she worked in the television industry, where she received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She currently lives in New York City.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  BOOKS BY DANIELLE PAIGE

  Novels

  Dorothy Must Die

  The Wicked Will Rise

  Novellas

  No Place Like Oz

  The Witch Must Burn

  The Wizard Returns

  Collections

  Dorothy Must Die: The Other Side of the Rainbow Collection

  BACK AD

  DISCOVER

  your next favorite read

  MEET

  new authors to love

  WIN

  free books

  WATCH

  the latest videos

  SHARE

  infographics, lists, quizzes

  SIGN UP

  for bookish fun & news

  * * *

  epicreads.com

  COPYRIGHT

  THE WIZARD RETURNS. Copyright © 2015 by Full Fathom Five, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © January 2015 ISBN 9780062280787

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  FIRST EDITION

  ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada

  www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive

  Rosedale 0632

  Auckland, New Zealand

  www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF, UK

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  www.harpercollins.com