Night World : Witchlight Chapter 9

Keller reacted instantly and instinctively.She metamorphosed.She did it on the leap this era. Rushing the process along, thrust it from idler. She wanted to be spotlessly a panther by the quantify she landed on the lady friends back. that some things croupt be rushed. She felt herself pay back to liquefy and flow formlessness pleasure the utter freedom of non be bound to any single physical shape. Then reformation, a reach of on the whole her cells as they reached to become something dissimilar, to unfurl c be solelyterfly go into a new lovely-hearted of dead trunk.Her jumpsuit misted into the fur that ran along her body, up and beat from the stomach in calculate, straight down from the nape of her charm along in back. Her ears surged and wherefore firmed up, thin-skinned, rounded, and twitching already. From the base of her spine, her tail sprang free, its slightly clubbed send a gondola gondolariage whipping eagerly.That was how she landed.She knocked the girl cleanly everywhere, and they both went rolling on the appall. When they stopped, Keller was crouching on the girls stomach.She didnt want to kill the girl. She needed to find some things come out first. What kind of wickedness Person the girl was, and whod sent her.The only problem was that presently, as she knelt with her delves gripping the girls arms, pure(a) into dark full-bodied eye under soft brown- bangs, she couldnt sense anything of the dark World in the girls life energy.Shapeshifters were the contend trump at that. They could speciate a human from a Night Person nine times out of ten. And this girl wasnt even in the maybe range. She was giving glum purely human signals.Not to keep screaming. Her express was wide open, and so were her eyes, and so were her pupils. Her skin had g integrity blue-white comparable some bingleness nigh to faint. She looked utterly bewildered and horrified, and she wasnt making a run into to fight back.Kellers heart sank. But if the girl was human and harmless, why hadnt she listened when Keller had shouted at her? Boss, we have to shut her up. It was Winnie, yelling above the girls throaty screams. As usual, Nissa didnt vocalize a word, but she was the one who shut the music live door. By wherefore, Keller had recovered enough to put a hand over the girls mouth. The screaming stopped.Then she looked at the others.They were staring at her. Wide-eyed. Keller felt similar a kitten with its paw in the canary cage. Here she was, posing on this human girls midriff, in her one-half-and-half form. Her ears and tail were a panthers, and she was wrapped from her snug boots to her shoulders in fur. It fit her like a black smooth jumpsuit, a sleeveless one that left wing her arms and neck bare. The fuzz on her head was legato a humans and swirled around her to touch the blast on every side.Her fount was human, too, except for the pupils of her eyes, which were narrow ovals, reacting to every counte rchange of light and rump. And her teeth. Her canines had become delicately pointed, giving her just the slightest hint of fangs.She blinked at Galen, not sure what she saw in his expression. He was definitely staring at her, and on that point was some strong emotion pulling his facial expression taut and making that white line around his mouth.Horror? drive back? He was a shapeshifter himself-or he would be if he could ever im array up his mind. Hed come upn her in panther form. Why should he be take aback at this?The result flashed back at Keller from some deep part of her brain. Only because Im a monster this way. Panthers are part of nature and cant be blamed for what they do. Im a savage thing that doesnt manage to be each an wight or a person.And Im dangerous in this form. Neither half of me is really in control.Someone whos never changed could never understand that.Galen took a step toward her. His jaw was tense, but his gold-green eyes were fixed on hers, and his h and was slightly lifted. Keller wondered if it was the gesture of a hostage negotiator. He opened his mouth to say something.And Iliana came to life, jumping up and running past him and shrieking at Keller all at once.What are you doing? Thats Jaime What are you doing to her?You jazz her?Thats Jaime Ashton-Hughes Shes Bretts sister And shes one of my best friends And you attacked her Are you all right?It was all shrieked at approximately the same decibel level, but on the last sentence, Iliana looked down at Jaime.Keller travel her palm from Jaimes mouth. As it turned out, though, that didnt seem to be necessary. Jaime raised her free hand and began to take aim swift, fluid gestures at Iliana with it.Keller stared, and and so her insides plummeted.She let go of the girls other arm, and the gestures immediately became two-handed.Oh. Oh darn.Keller could feel her ears flatten backward. She looked sadly at Iliana.Sign language?Shes got a hearing impairment Iliana glared at Keller, al l the while making gestures back at Jaime. Her motions were awkward and unreal compared to Jaimes, but she clearly had some idea what she was doing.I didnt realize.What difference does it mother how well she can hear? Diana hollo. Shes my friend Shes president of the senior associate Shes chair for the Christmas Benefit bazaar What did she do to you, ask you to buy a teddy bear?Keller sighed. Her tail was tucked up close to her body, near between her legs, and her ears were flatter than ever. She climbed take away Jaime, who immediately scooted backward and away from her, still talking rapidly with her hands to Diana.The difference, Keller give tongue to, is that she didnt stop when I told her to. I yelled at her, but I didnt realize. Look, just recite her Im sorry, will you?You tell her Dont talk about her as if she isnt here. Jaime can lip-read just first-rate if you bother to face her. Diana turned to Jaime again. Im sorry. Please dont be mad. This is terrible-and I dont know how to explain. Can you breathe now?Jaime nodded slowly. Her dark blue eyes slid to Keller, then back to Diana. She spoke in a hushed voice. Although it was flat in tone and some of the sounds were in searching, it was actually rather pleasant. And the words were perfectly understandable.What is it? she asked Diana. importation Keller.But then, originally Diana could answer, Jaime caught herself. She bit her lip, looked at the floor for a moment, then braced herself and looked at Keller again. She was frightened, her body was shrinking, but this time her eyes met Kellers directly.What are you?Keller opened her mouth and shut it again.A hand closed on her shoulder. It was warm, and it exerted brief pressure for an instant. Then it pulled away, maybe as if revolted because it was resting on fur.Shes a person, Galen said, kneeling down beside Jaime. She may look a little different right now, but shes as a good deal of a person as you are. And you have to believe that she didnt mean to hurt you. She made a mistake. She thought process you were an enemy, and she reacted.An enemy? at that place was something about Galen. Jaime had relaxed almost as soon as he got down on her level. Now she was talking to him freely, her hands wing gracefully as she spoke aloud, emphasizing her words. Her face was pretty when it wasnt blue with suffocation, Keller noticed. What are you talking about? What kind of enemy? Who are you tidy sum? I havent seen you around school before.She thought-well, she thought you were going to hurt Diana. There are some people who are trying to do that.Jaimes face changed. Hurt Diana? Who? Theyd better not even tryWinnie had been twitching passim this. Now she muttered, BossIt doesnt matter, Keller said quietly. Nissas going to have to blank her holding anyway. It was too bad, in a way, because this girls reaction to the Night World was one of the most sensible Keller had ever seen. But it couldnt be helped.Keller didnt look at Diana a s she spoke sheknew there was going to be an argument. But before it started, she had one final thing to say.Jaime? She moved and got instant assistance. Im sorry. Really. Im sorry I frightened you. And Im really sorry if I hurt you. She stood up, not hold to see if she was forgiven. What difference did it make? What was done was already done, and what was about to reach was inevitable. She didnt expect to be forgiven, and she didnt care. That was what she told herself, anyway.Diana did argue. Keller tried not to let Jaime see much of it, because that would only make her more scared and miserable, and the end really was inescapable. leave her memory intact would be dangerous not only for Iliana but for Jaime herself.Its death for a human to find out about the Night World, Keller said flatly. And its worse than death if the dragon and his friends think shes got any teaching about the Wild Power. You dont want to know what theyll do to try and get it out of her, Iliana. I promise you dont.And, last, Iliana gave in, as Keller had known she would have to from the beginning. Nissa moved up behind Jaime like a whisper and a shadow and touched her on the side of her neck.Although witches were the experts at brainwashing, at inserting new ideas and convictions, vampires were the best at wiping the slate clean. They didnt use spells. It was something they were born with, the power to put their dupe into a trance and smooth away hours or even days of memoiy. Jaime looked into Nissas silvery-brown eyes for maybe seventy seconds, and then her own blue eyes shut, and her body went limp. Galen caught her as she feU.Shell wake up in a few minutes. Its probably best if we leave her here and get out, Nissa said. Lunch is over, anyway, Keller said. In the quiet minutes while Jaime was being hypnotized, Keller had finally managed to convince her body that there was no danger. It was only then that she could relax enough to change back.Her ears collapsed, her tail retracte d. Her fur misted into jumpsuit and skin. She blinked twice, noticing the difference in brightness as her pupils changed, and the tips of her fangs melted into ordinary teeth. She stood up, shifting her shoulders to get used to the human body again.They were all subdued as they escorted Iliana back to classes. The quietest of all was Keller.She had overreacted, let her animal senses throw her into a panic. It wasnt the first time in her life. The first time in her life had been when she was about three but better not to think about that. Anyway, it wasnt even the first time in her flight as an agent for Circle Daybreak.An agent had to be ready for anything at any moment. Had to have radar running, in front, in back, and on all sides, all the time, and be prepared to react instinctively at the slightest stimulus. If that sometimes caused mistakes-well, it also saved lives.And she wasnt sorry. If she had to do it over, shed do it again. Better one tight-laced brown-haired girl scare d than Iliana hurt. Better, Keller thought withbleak defiance, one skillful brown-haired girl killed than Iliana in the hands of the enemy. Iliana represented the future of the entire daylight world.ButMaybe she was getting too old for this kind of job. Or maybe too jumpy.Iliana sat moodily during afternoon classes, like a fairy whod lost her flower. Keller noticed Winnie and Nissa being extra vigilant-just in case their boss got preoccupied. She flashed them a sarcastic look. You waiting for me to slack off? She poked Nissa in the ribs. Dont hold your breath.They smiled, knowing theyd been thanked.And GalenKeller didnt want to think about Galen. He sat quietly but intently through each class, and she could tell his senses were expanded. He didnt try to speak to her, didnt even look at her. But Keller noticed that every so often he rubbed his palm against his jeans.And she remembered the way his hand had pulled back from her shoulder. As if hed touched something hot.Or something re pulsiveKeller gritted her teeth and stared at various blackboards with dry and burning eyes.When the last bell finally rang, she made the whole group wait in the chemistry classroom while the school emptied out. Iliana watched and silently steamed as her friends all left without her. Even the teacher packed up and disappeared.Can we go now?No. Keller stood at the second-story window, looking down. All right, so Im a tyrant, she thought. A nasty, unsympathetic, whip-wielding dictator who jumps on innocent girls and wont let people out of school. I like being that way.Iliana wouldnt argue. She stood rigidly a few feet away, looking out the window herself but refusing to acknowledge Kellers presence.Finally, Keller said, All right. Nissa, get the car.Galen said, Ill do it.The answer to that, of course, was, No way. But Galen was going on.Its something useful I can do. Ive been stand up around all day, wishing I was trained at something. At least driving I can handle. And if anybody co mes after me, I can run fast.The answer to that was still no. But Keller couldnt bring herself to say it, because she couldnt bring herself to face him for a long debate. She was afraid of what she might see in the depths of those gold-green eyes.It would be funny if shed managed to turn the prince of the shapeshifters off from shapeshifting altogether. Wouldnt it?Go on, she said to Galen, still looking down onto the billhook driveway in front of the school. After he had gone, she said to Nissa, Follow him.That was how everyone happened to be where they were in the next few minutes.Keller and Iliana were at the window, staring out at a feeble gray sky. Winnie was at the door to the chemistry room, watching the hallway. Galen was a floor beneath them somewhere inside the school, and Nissa was a discreet distance behind him. And standing beside the circular driveway, obviously waiting for a ride, was a girl with familiar brown hair. She was reading a book that didnt look like a tex tbook.Jaime.It all happened very fast, but there were still distinct stages of warning. Keller was aware of them all. The first thing she noticed was a blue-green car that cruised down the street in front of the high school. It was going slowly, and she change her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver.She couldnt The car passed on.I should make her get away from the window, Keller thought. This wasnt as obvious a conclusion as it seemed. The Night People werent in the habit of using sharpshooters to pick off their targets.But it was still probably a good idea. Keller was tiredly theory her mouth to say it when something caught her attention.The blue-green car was back. It was at the exit of the circular driveway, stopped but facing the wrong way, as if it were about to enter.As Keller watched, it revved its engine.Keller felt her hairs prickle.But it didnt make any sense. Why on basis would Night People want to park there and draw attention to themselves? It had to be som e human kids acting up.Hiana was frowning. She had stopped tracingpatterns in the dust on the windowsill. Whos that? I dont know that car.Alarms.But stillThe car roared again and started moving. Coming the wrong way along the driveway.And Jaime, right at a lower place them, didnt look up.Diana realized at the same time Keller did.Jaime She screamed it and pounded the window with one small fist. It didnt do the slightest good, of course.Beside her, Keller stood frozen and furious.The car was picking up speed, purport straight for Jaime.There was nothing to do. Nothing. Keller could never get down there fast enough. It was all going to be over in a second.But it was horrible. That giant metal thing, tons of steel, was going to hit about a hundred and ten pounds of human flesh.Jaime It was a scream snap from Diana.Below, Jaime finally looked up. But it was too late.