Chasing Shadow (Shadow Puppeteer) by Christina E. Rundle Page A

where a scratch like that can put you if the government found out? Do you know what this means?”
    “Actually, I have no idea. Please enlighten me on the subject,” I snapped.
    “Being non-human doesn’t just happen with that virus in your system. I knew today, when I smelled it, that you weren’t human. If I could smell it, so could others. Sonya will know I lied.”
    This was exhausting. “Okay, cut to the chase. What does she want?”
    Sable was willing to lie to protect me and Rex, well, he was willing to do the same.
    “A few years ago there was a public claim that the Reincarta successfully raised the spirit of Hecate and put the Goddess in the flesh of a baby girl. The baby went missing and there was nothing but a trail of blood in the snow. Now they believe she’s alive and are determined to find her. I have no idea what Sonya’s been propositioned, but she’s got her eyes on you. World Congress is in the process of intervening in the search.”
    I thought about Len’s sister, Lori. Where were the girls being taken? My headache was getting worse. I was ready to head back to the tree house and sleep this nightmare away.
    “Can you take me back to the road?”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    A twig cracked and I felt the rush of energy. I turned in time to catch Amber springing from the brush. Before I could respond, I was jerked back with such force that I couldn’t catch myself and fell flat on my butt. It was a quick tussle that ended with Amber face down in the leaves.
    “She’s bad luck. We need to destroy her before Sonya comes knocking on our door,” Amber hissed.
    “Nothing is going to happen to the pack or her, I won’t allow it,” Rex said. He raised his knee off Amber’s lower back and she sat, wiping a hand over her mouth.
    “Other groups, worse than World Congress and the Berserkers will come searching for her. You know the rules, Rex. Kill the threat,” she said.
    “Go back to the house Amber. I’ll deal with this.”
    Amber glared at him, but didn’t challenge his order. She rose sulkily to her feet and didn’t look at me as she walked barefoot back to the house. I tried to listen for her, but she was nimble enough to walk unheard.
    “Just so there aren’t any misunderstandings, things are going to be fine between us until Sonya comes knocking on your door, right?”
    He shrugged. At least he wasn’t in the habit of sugarcoating the truth.
    “I should be getting back to the tree house.” I made a weak throw of my thumb behind me, indicating I should be leaving. The forest made it difficult to tell which direction I needed to go.
    I was relieved when he led the way back to the road.

ELEVEN
    T he wind up alarm clock slapped dully against the wall. Something dinged within the rusted tin and the alarm died before I could turn it off. I stared at the low ceiling with dreary recognition of the previous day. The best part was my arm didn’t ache, though my back did from lying on a board with only a blanket between my body and the floor.
    I stretched, forcing the muscles into submission before rolling into a seated position and gathering my book bag. When I got back to the tree house last night, I immediately fell asleep with no further thought about the day. I couldn’t go to school with World Congress looking for me, but the school would be warm and I’d get breakfast and lunch. My stomach growled, voicing its opinion.
    I forgot to ask Starr to pick me up early so I could catch breakfast. At least I could shower in the girl’s locker room. Physical education was my first class. I threw clean clothes into my backpack and pushed the trap door open to a beautiful, foggy morning just below.
    I took a deep breath of the autumn rot and started down the rope, realizing halfway down that nothing hurt. My bruised tailbone and my wrist were the real surprise, but it would take a great deal of the day to stretch the wariness from my body.
    “Looks like you made it through the night.”
    I swung