Page 39 (1/2)

After practice, ent to a hipster restaurant in don Decatur for some real food

"Do dhampyrs hate us?" I asked Dad as we ate

He pursed his lips "I would iine that each individual has his or her own opinion of our kind h, spawn have earned their bad reputation"

"Elyssa’s mom is a hair stylist," I said "A hair stylist! I would never think someone like her was a dha"

He made it sound so mundane How many people could say their hairstylist was a half-huhed "So there’s probably no chance of Elyssa and I getting back together"

"Ah, to be young and foolish," Dad said "I hate to say it, son, but it sounds like she has sos that will be hard to overcoht of his words hit me like a hammer, even if Elyssa had already told me in no uncertain ter I could do about it Just like I couldn’t changedemon spaas probably more extreme than most people wanted to deal with

We left the restaurant and walked down an alley forlass littered the pave trotted past us, so from its mouth We reached the junction of a service entrance where four buildings backed up to each other Due covers in the middle of the service alley I wrinkledan otherwise crisp autu

A crackle and a low hu a power transformer to explode Dad took a couple of steps forward He bounced back as if he’d hit a wall

"Oh crap" He lunged forward and rebounded again He pressed against the air like aan invisible wall

"What is it?"

"We’ve got a proble on "What are you doing? There’s nothing there"

"It’s a confine man, probably in his twenties, caave us a triumphant look "Well that was easy"

"What do you want?" Dad asked

"The bounty, of course," replied the man He strutted over like he was the cock of the walk and studied me "You must be the little monster everyone’s so worked up about" He looked at my dad "You, on the other hand, are wanted by the Conroys I guess it’s for the best if I turn you in with your ’son’" He flashed air quotes to deht about our family relations "I’ll let the authorities sort it all out" I hadn’t known this guy for thirty seconds and I already hated him

Dad clenched his fists "The Conroys put a bounty on ed "I don’t know I just turn the monsters in to the Conclave and let theether "Now, if you’ll just cooperate, I pro really tired of this dude’s insinuations thatmore than monsters for him to ship off

I stepped forward Dad stopped h it, son It’s a circle"

"A circle?"

"It’s what sorcerers use to trap deround

"A chalk circle?" I pshawed "That’s stupid Who in the world came up with that rule?"

The man listened to us with an ae rune-covered staff and waved it around in a way that probably wasn’t good for our near future

I knew so horrible was about to happen to Dad Before I could think, I blurred forward and snatched the staff from the round I grabbed the --probably just like Coach Wise preferred--as I chucked him at the dumpster He bounced off the open lid and landed inside with aI blurred over to him and looked inside He was out cold

I approached the oh-so-dangerous chalk circle and rubbed out a section withat me with amazement

"How did you do that?" he asked

"I, uh, just walked across it," I said "I felt a little static in the air, but that was it"

"You knohat this means?" he said

"That I can step across a chalk line?"

He shook his head "You are part hurinned "Oh, you’re definitely demon spawn, but you have a huht half-breeds were i if they took Ivy"

"Maybe Or perhaps they’re just evil people"

"That goes without saying about anyone who’d steal a baby from her parents" I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the dumpster "What about him?"

"I don’t knohat to do about him This is bad news If he found us, there will be others looking to collect the bounty"