A Stitch on Time 5 by Yolanda Sfetsos Read Free Book Online Page A

phantasms. The spooks’ entire mass was made of electricity, buzzing in different colored arcs and travelling over the cables connecting to each home. A few people lay dead and glassy-eyed, but others were running around lost. I approached a woman, and grabbed her forearm until she stopped screaming. I didn’t recognize her and she stared at me with the same wide, frightened eyes Michelle had.
    “Listen to me,” I said. “You need to leave the estate right now!”
    “No, I have to find my children.”
    “Listen to me,” I said, more forceful, while dragging Michelle forward until she stood next to the woman. “You both have to shift and run as far away as you can.”
    “No. I can’t.” The woman attempted to pull her arm away so I tightened my grip.
    “You have to.”
    “Let me go.”
    “Beryl, listen to her.”
    I turned to find a woman I recognized approaching. She seemed too calm for this crazed scene, but she’d been the same way when Papan was injured. I’d had several disagreements with Martha already.
    “Get them to change and run. Surely you have a rendezvous point,” I snapped.
    Martha nodded. “Leave them with me. I’ll help find Beryl’s children and we’ll leave.”
    “Why are we taking orders from her?” Beryl asked, dismayed.
    “We have to listen because she’s the alpha’s chosen mate. Don’t pretend you don’t know. It’s as clear as daylight.”
    The woman named Beryl growled, but it was shortly silenced by another explosion. The phantasms were shorting out all the circuits and making the houses go up in flames. I had to stop them before they burned everything to the ground.
    “Just go, I’ll take care of these monsters.” No point in waiting for a response. I’d handed out my instructions—it was up to the pack if they chose to listen or ignore them. I wasn’t a figurehead, just wanted to save as many people as I could.
    I ran into the middle of the estate and swiveled around in a circle. The colorful phantasms were everywhere, but I couldn’t find Mace. Strange thing was the phantasms all seemed to be ignoring me. Or were they avoiding me? Whatever it was, if they wouldn’t come willingly, I would force them.
    The flame-filled night fell away in seconds, leaving me in the now comfortable silence of my dark patch. Not long ago, I’d tried to stay away from this darkness because I believed it tainted my soul and stole a little more of my humanity every time I inhabited it, but I was wrong. The more time I spent inside, the stronger I got. And now that Hecate had properly marked me, I had greater control over my patch.
    “Hey!” I yelled, and my voice shattered the silence.
    Every hollow-eyed phantasm turned their horrid blobby features towards me. They paused in mid-motion as if drawn by my voice. Or maybe it was a lot more than that—maybe my voice could now command them. After all, only a handful of days ago I’d singlehandedly obliterated an entire shadow patch out of existence.
    It was time to test my theory against a different enemy. The phantasms didn’t have their own patch, but I was hoping to manipulate them via mine.
    “Hey, you blobs of energy! Come and get me.”
    Individual phantasms seemed to merge, becoming one huge blob of multi-colored flickering light. As the mob approached, the air inside my dark patch became positively charged with white arcs. My skin prickled and my hair was static.
    I stood my ground, spreading both arms on either side like a martyr. Only the spooks didn’t realize I was the one controlling this gig.
    When they struck, I felt every electric jolt flow through me. There was no need to astral project to finish this. Actually, I didn’t even need to touch any of them. I could see and feel how these spooks saw me—as willing bait they desperately wanted to possess. Just like the shadow monsters before them, the phantasms slithered into my mouth, nose, ears, even filled my eyes with their gaudy, shapeless bodies until all I could