The light around us wasn’t great, so it was possible I could lift something off them. I strode toward them, using other pedestrians as cover until I was close enough to hear the women chatter.
“OMG, did you see what that Kim was wearing? All that outfit did was show off how big her ass really is.”
A round of giggling followed the woman’s words, and I took that moment to slide beside the woman on the outside edge of the group, dip my hand in her purse, and quickly lift her wallet.
Tucking it under my shirt, I hung a right and ducked down another alley, waiting to hear someone shout that they’d been robbed, but there was nothing.
There wasn’t even a flutter of wings from Ash. For the moment, I’d thrown him off my tracks. I hoped. Sweat broke out along the back of my neck again, but there was no warning lighting up my spine for once.
A few people shot me looks, and I didn’t blame them. I made homelessness look like a goal.
“Hey, kid.”
I turned to see a tall black man with a thick mustache and no hair standing at the mouth of the alley. I hunched a little, ducking my face so he couldn’t see me clearly.
“What?”
“Easy, kid. You got a place to stay? There’s a youth shelter not far from here.” He gave me a smile as I peered up at him from under the edge of my ball cap. “Good place to get a shower. Maybe some clean clothes. A good meal and an even better night’s sleep.”
I wanted to say no. That I was good on my own, but I could feel a different truth in my bones. I needed help. I needed a minute or two to breathe. “Thanks. Where is it?”
He gave me directions, and I gave him a quick nod of thanks.
“Take care, kid. Tomorrow will look better. I’d lay money on it. And if you go the the shelter, tell them Carson sent you,” he called after me as I hurried off the way he’d sent me. There was no tingle of warning. No one was after me at that moment, but I still felt the weight of threats at my back.
I turned around as he disappeared. I don’t mean around a corner.
I mean he damn well disappeared. Into thin air.
“Well, shit.” Was he a ghost? Or something else? My money was on something else.
I ground my teeth, hating the indecision. He’d given me no reason not to trust him, but free advice from someone who was there one minute and gone the next . . .
Taking a chance, I followed his directions. And a few blocks over, I found the shelter he’d told me about. Down a set of stairs, it was underneath a block of buildings housing second-hand stores and a food bank. The sign on the door was covered in dirt which made it hard to read. I brushed my hand over it.
Castoffs and Outcasts.
I grimaced. That was not what I would call a “feel good” sign. But it was all I had, and I would take it, at least for a few minutes. A place to gather my thoughts and figure out what direction I was running.
I let myself into the shelter and took a quick look around. The matron running the place waved me over to a desk. “Come on in, don’t be shy. You look like you could use a good clean-up and a place to lay your head.”
I walked over to her, keeping my shoulders slumped and my head down, doing my best to keep my face covered.
She shoved a bunch of stuff into my hands. “I’m Mary. Here’s a stack of towels, soap, and toiletries. You can change into these.” A pair of fluffy bright pink pjs went onto the stack. “And we’ll wash your clothes for you. After that, I’ll give you a room. If you’re hungry, we have food too.”
Too easy.
I shoved the towels and bright pink pjs back at her. “Thanks, but I just need to sit a few minutes and think about my next step.”
From under the brim of my hat, I could see her eyes widen. “You sure? We have room. And you’ll be safe here. I promise.”
False, her words felt false. “I’m sure.”
She tapped a pen on the table. “Don’t suppose you will give me your name? So that if you have family wondering how you are, we can let them know you’re okay?”
The urge to give her my name so she could call my dad was there and then gone, an impossibility. I was dying to know how he was, to talk to him and the twins, but I had to keep my family safe and that meant keeping away from them. I shook my head again. “No, thanks.”
I took a step back and pointed at an empty table. “You mind if I sit there?”
“Go right ahead, and if you change your mind, you just come on back over here.” She patted the top of the towel stack and pointed at the fluffy pink pjs.
While getting clean was a priority, running through the streets in bright pink pjs wouldn’t exactly help me blend in, so it was a no go.
I slumped into my seat and put my back to the wall so I could see the doorway. Just in case Ash managed to follow me.
I pulled out the wallet I’d lifted from under my shirt and laid it on my lap. The symbol on it told me it was a high-end brand, but for the life of me I couldn’t think which one. Prada maybe? Burberry? On a quick count there was just over four hundred dollars in cash and a couple of credit cards. Those wouldn’t help me unless I used them right away. But maybe I could use the wallet for a trade. It had to be worth a couple hundred bucks. Then again, it was clunky and no one would think for an instant a street kid owned an expensive wallet. I lowered it under the table and tucked it between my feet, hiding it from view.
Movement out of the corner of my eye had me swinging around to my left. A girl approached me, her eyebrows raised, and her mouth was turned up like she was laughing at me
Even though I looked away and angled my back toward her, she still came and sat at my table. Her gaze dropped to the wallet at my feet before lifting to me.
“You look a little lost,” she said. “Me too. That’s what this place is, made for the lost ones.”
I glanced at her. “I’m sorry, did it look like I wanted to talk?”
She grinned at me. “No, your kind usually don’t. Though to be fair, your kind rarely end up here. They usually die before they ever get kicked out.”
Your kind.
My heart picked up speed. “What do you mean?”
She leaned in and flashed her pointed teeth at me. “Your kind. A Shade.”
4
Wild
The not-dead-yet vampire girl sat across from me in the youth shelter. “How did a Shade end up getting kicked out of the academy? Because you don’t even really need magic for your house. They’ll even keep the nulls if they’re good enough at killing. I mean, it’s not like they’re worried about you dying anyway.”
I blinked a couple times and didn’t bother to answer her questions because she seemed far too eager to buddy up with me. After the guy who’d given me directions here had just disappeared, running into a not-dead-yet vampire was no small coincidence in my opinion. Then again, it shortened any explanations I needed to give.
“I need weapons. I’ve got some cash. If you can help me with that, we’re golden. The rest is none of your business.”
“You can call me Izzy,” she said. “And I can get you to some weapons for sure. But is that what you really want? Are you here working for one of the Chameleons?”