Page 11 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Thethat was about to happen It looked like any other shopping mall inNorth Carolina on a Sunday afternoon in Decehtly decorated Croith custo days until Christray skies outside Safe

Not the kind of place where a monster would appear

Keller walked past a display of "Santa Claus Through the Ages" with all her senses alert and open And that ht of herself in darkened store s showed a high-school-aged girl in a sleek juht black hair that fell past her hips and cool gray eyes But she knew that anybody atched her closely was likely to see sorace in the way she walked and an inner glohen the gray eyes focused on anything

Raksha Keller didn't look quite hu, because she wasn't She was a shapeshifter, and if people looking at her got the ietting it exactly right

"Okay, everybody" Keller touched the pin on her collar, then pressed a finger to the nearly invisible receiver in her ear, trying to tune out the Christmas music that filled the mall "Report in"

"Winnie here" The voice that spoke through the receiver was light, al, but professional "I' yet Maybe she's not here"

"Maybe," Keller said shortly into the pin-which wasn't a pin at all but an extremely expensive trans, and her parents said she was headed this way It's the best lead we've got Keep looking"

"Nissa here" This voice was cooler and softer, eha to report- wait" A pause, then the ghostly voice caot trouble A black limo just pulled up outside Brody's They know she's here"

Keller's stohtened, but she kept her voice level "You're sure it's them?"

"I' out-a couple of vauy, just a boy really Maybe a shapeshifter I don't know for sure; he isn't like anything I've seen before" The voice was troubled, and that troubled Keller Nissa Johnson was a va she didn't recognize?

"Should I park and come help you?" Nissa asked

"No," Keller said sharply "Stay with the car; we're going to need it for a fast getaway Winnie and I will take care of it Right, Winnie?"

"Oh, right, Boss In fact, I can take 'em all on myself; you just watch"

'You watch your ri at her lips Winfrith Arlin was Nissa's opposite-a witch and inclined to be ehtened some black moments

"Both of you stay alert," Keller said, completely serious now "You knohat's at stake"

"Right, Boss" This time, both voices were subdued

They did know

The world

The girl they were looking for could save the world-or destroy it Not that she knew that yet Her narown up as a human child She didn't realize that she had the blood of witches in her and that she was one of the four Wild Powers destined to fight against the ti

She's about to get quite a surprise e tell her, Keller thought That was assuuys did But they would They had to There was a reason they'd been chosen to coent of Circle Daybreak in North Alad to do this job

They were the best It was that simple

They were an odd team-vampire, witch, and shapeshifter-but they were unbeatable And Keller was only seventeen, but she already had a reputation for never losing

And I'ht "This is it, kiddies," she said "No irl Good luck" Their transmissions were scra chances The bad guys were extreanized

Doesn't ht, and she paused in her walking long enough really to expand her senses

It was like stepping into a different world They were senses that a huine Infrared She saw body heat Smell Humans didn't have any sense of suish Coke from Pepsi from across a room Touch As a panther, Keller had exquisitely sensitive hairs all over her body, especially on her face Even in hus with ten times the intensity of a real human She could feel her way in total darkness by the air pressure on her skin Hearing She could hear both higher and lower pitches than a huh in a crowd Sight She had night vision like-well, like a cat's

Not to mention more than five hundred muscles that she could move voluntarily

And just now, all her resources were attuned to finding one teenage girl in this swar mall Her eyes roved over faces; her ears pricked at the sound of every young voice; her nose sorted through thousands of smells for the one that would match the T-shirt she'd taken from Iliana's room

Then, just as she froze, catching a whiff of so familiar, the receiver in her ear came to life "Keller-I spotted her! Hallmark, second floor But they're here, too"

They'd found her first

Keller cursed soundlessly Aloud, she said, "Nissa, bring the car around to the west side of the "

The nearest escalator was at the end of the mall But from the map in her hand, she could see that Hallmark was directly above her on the upper level And she couldn't waste time

Keller gathered her legs under her and jumped