ARC: Cracked by Eliza Crewe Read Free Book Online Page B

guys.
    Jo lets out a gust and her shoulders relax. Apparently she really was worried about getting caught. “That’ll work.”
    Hmmm. That only gives me a week. I was hoping for more. With Samson’s soul bubbling fresh in my blood, I won’t need to feed for four, possibly six weeks if I push it. But a week’s better than nothing. And really, pretending to be some kind of saint is going to stretch even my truth-warping abilities. Everyone has limits – saintliness is definitely one of mine.
    Jo cocks her head and examines me. “But she can’t be Cassia. Cassia’s a total goody-goody.”
    “So?” Chi asks.
    I know the problem and pull off my helmet. Fashion guru he may not be, but Chi recognizes my hairstyle as not exactly de rigueur for goody-goodies these days.
    “She can be my cousin Emma,” Jo suggests.
    “Emma? But Emma refused the Inheritance, why would she come visit here…” Realization dawns. “…which is why she can be here even though she’s not a Crusader.” Chi smiles and Jo smiles back, almost involuntarily. Chi’s smile stretches wider and Jo must have realized what she did because she pulls back with a cough and looks away.
    Interesting.
    “Right, well.” She turns to me. “Think you could pretend to be a bad girl? She’s kind of a bitch.”
    The laughter almost chokes me in its attempt to burst free. Through sheer force of will I manage to answer solemnly. “I can try.” I even manage to keep a straight face as I add, “Maybe you could give me some pointers?”
    Chi and Uri are less talented than I am and do choke on their laughter. To my surprise Jo isn’t angry. She won’t give me the satisfaction of acknowledging a point well-earned but she can’t stop her eyes from laughing.
    “We’ll have to get you something else to wear.”
    “You don’t like it?” I hold out the grey and gory mess.
    “The bloody nightgown is so last year.”
    “Where are we going to get clothes?” Chi asks.
    “My parents’ place. I have some old stuff still there.”
    Something about that answer must have come as a surprise because Chi starts. There’s a pause, but all he says is, “We gotta get the bikes back in the garage before someone sees they’re gone first.”
    “We’d better push them from here. I bet Professor Palmer is already up,” Jo says.
    Chi makes the mistake of asking her, “Can you push?” and receives the Return of the Death Stare.
    And we’d all been playing so nicely.
    Jo shoves off with a huff. The others push their bikes along and I trail, weak human that I am. It’s not far before we turn off the main paved road on to a gravel one cut into the woods. The road is more of a path really, two deep ruts where wheels have cut into the dirt, half-assedly scattered with gravel. The road arches up, making the bikes harder to push, and the boys and I pass Jo in the left rut. None of us are stupid enough to ask if she needs help. Well, they aren’t stupid enough. I just don’t want to.
    I’m a little excited now that we’re getting close. A secret society of demon-killing superhumans hidden in the North Carolina Mountains? Wild. What will their hideout look like? Will they have a castle, being Knights Templar? Or maybe a state-of-the-art underground complex like in spy movies? We come around a bend and I can see it. Spread out before us is…
    A trailer park.
    No, I am not kidding. Total letdown.
    A small valley spreads out before us, overflowing with trailers, as if they had been poured in and splattered on the nearby hills. A smattering of bigger, metal-sided buildings, carports and aluminum sheds dot the property and one enormous building squats on the far side, but I can’t make out any details. The sun is just rising and no sunlight reaches down into the valley yet, giving it the appearance of a dusky bowl of trailer soup.
    “You live in a trailer park?” I ask Uri, who happens to be closest. The road slopes downward now, meandering back and forth down into the