Night of the Dark Horse (An Allegra Fairweather Mystery) by Janni Nell Page A

panting. He nodded and established a white-knuckled grip on the branch. He really did seem tired. Purple circles shadowed his eyes and his lids looked heavy. Of course he could just be tired from all that swooping and hair-rearranging. I gave him a long hard look. All I saw was a frightened kid, but that didn’t mean I was buying it. I had questions, but they could wait until we were on solid ground. “Hey you know what? This branch is digging into my butt. I’m going down. Wanna come?”
    “Might as well.” He shrugged. “There’s not much to do up here anyway.”
    I moved back along the branch, inch by inch, until I reached the trunk. After easing myself onto the branch below, I stopped, pretending I needed to rest so I could steady Liam if he slipped again. There was no need. Once he got moving and concentrated on descending, he lost his fear. I hated to admit it, but he was more agile than me.
    When we were safely on solid ground, he said, “You’re American. That’s awesome. What’re you doing here?”
    “Ronan hired me. I’m Allegra, the paranormal investigator. But you know that, don’t you? I expect the whole of Dingaleen is gossiping about me.”
    “Nobody tells me anything.” He kicked the ground. “Not in the village, anyway. It’s better at school. They don’t know what I really am.”
    “And what’s that?”
    He folded his arms. “You’re the investigator. You tell me.”
    I wasn’t going to accuse him of being a changeling unless I was sure. For all I knew he was just a kid who was different.
    He pointed to my forehead. “You’re bleeding.”
    “Had a disagreement with an eagle. I lost.”
    “Does it hurt?” Was he gloating, savoring my pain and suffering?
    “Not much,” I said, and got down to business. “Have you seen the eagle? It’s got glossy black wings and yellow claws.”
    “Sounds awesome.” He looked up as though hoping to see it.
    I pulled a tissue from my pocket and dabbed at my forehead removing half congealed blood. “You like eagles?”
    “They’re grand. I wish I could fly away.”
    It wasn’t the reaction I’d expect from someone who was a shapeshifter. Still, shapeshifters didn’t always remember what they did in their different incarnations. For some shifters the memories were clear. For others they were vague at best. A few swore they’d never shifted even when there was evidence to the contrary. It wasn’t uncommon for a kid, who’d recently begun to shift, to be completely in denial.
    “You’ve smudged the blood,” said Liam. “You look gross.”
    More tissues were needed, but all I found in my other pocket was a wish-pebble. One wish-pebble. The other must’ve fallen out during the climb down the tree.
    “Liam, I’ve lost something. A smooth white pebble just like this one. Help me find it.” I dropped to my knees and began to search.
    Liam said, “What’s with the smiley face?”
    “Huh?” Was I smiling? I didn’t think so. Not when I’d just lost a wish.
    “On your head. Did you shave that into your hair on purpose?”
    I touched the top of my head, feeling one long curved bald patch and two smaller round ones. “Does it really look like a smiley face?”
    “Yep.”
    Not a good look for a tough PI. But I had more important things to think about than a lame haircut. “Are you going to help me search for this pebble or not?”
    “Sure I’ll help you.” His sight was way better than mine—and mine’s 20/20. A nano-second later he swooped down and scooped up a pebble. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
    “Yep. Thanks, Liam, you’re awesome.” He ducked his head, but I saw his shy smile. Reuniting the wish-pebble with the one in my pocket, I offered him a lift back to Dingaleen.
    Liam was quiet during the drive. I hoped his parents would be happy I’d found him, but they were so absorbed in the latest achievement of the golden-haired girls they hardly noticed our arrival. It was small comfort that his mom didn’t get