Othermoon by Nina Berry Read Free Book Online Page A

Siku’s leg, squeaking in a way that sounded
     uncannily like mocking laughter. London got in front and kicked the guy square in
     the crotch, a move I recognized from our brief martial arts class back in school.
    The man gasped, doubling over as best he could with Siku holding onto him.
    I opened the passenger-side door as Caleb rounded toward the others.
    “Low blow, London,” I said.
    She grinned. “Yep!”
    It kept the man immobile in agony long enough for Siku to release him and for Caleb
     to land a neat punch to his jaw, followed by an uppercut and a hook. The man crumpled,
     unconscious.
    Caleb shook out the fingers of his right hand. “Haven’t thrown this many punches in
     one day since the last time we all rumbled,” he said. “I have missed you guys.”
    November had run back down Siku’s leg and dived into the guy’s pockets. But I climbed
     into the SUV’s passenger seat and jiggled the keys that were in the ignition. “We’d
     better move,” I said. “Load everything into this car, and let’s get out of here.”
    In short order, Caleb had backed the SUV up to Amaris’s van, and we transferred their
     stuff from one to the other, tossing in our own backpacks and suitcases.
    Amaris got out of the van and threw the keys into a Dumpster before jogging up to
     give me a hug. She looked ten times better than the last time I’d seen her, disheveled
     and lost after her father and brother’s betrayal and her decision to leave them and
     join us. Now she was animated, alive, face flushed with excitement. She’d cut her
     thick blond hair to a layered shoulder-length bob that suited her high cheekbones
     and huge brown eyes. Now that she didn’t have to wear the Tribunal’s traditional high-necked
     white dresses to cover up her amazing figure, she looked like a Victoria’s Secret
     model slumming it in cigarette jeans and a simple green T-shirt.
    “Good to see you!” I said, hugging her back.
    She pulled back a little and whispered, “We need to talk soon. Alone.”
    I nodded, puzzled, as she released me and turned to the others, giving them a nervous
     little wave. “Hi.”
    They hadn’t seen her either since the night we’d destroyed her father’s compound,
     and though they knew she’d changed loyalties to help Morfael and Caleb build the new
     school for otherkin, there was still a chill of hesitation in the air between her
     and the shifter kids. They didn’t know her through Caleb the way I did, and seeing
     her as a friend was going to take more time for them.
    “Hey,” said Siku. He was throwing November’s enormous suitcase into the SUV and laying
     out the clothes she’d left behind when she’d shifted. November leaped into the trunk
     and, from the rustling in there, I could tell she had shifted back to human and was
     getting dressed.
    “Hi, London.” Amaris made a point of catching London’s eye. “I like your hair.”
    London blinked at the compliment. “Thanks.”
    “Let’s get a move on,” said Caleb. “I’ll drive.”
    “What, not Dez?” November emerged from the trunk, rumpled and pulling down her shirt.
     “Don’t you want the car to break down in the middle of the desert?”
    Everybody knew about my propensity for shorting out machinery. It made life very inconvenient
     at times. As Caleb took the driver’s seat, taking a minute to disable the GPS so the
     Tribunal couldn’t track us, I nabbed shotgun next to him. Siku took up two seats behind
     us, with November squeezing in beside him thanks to her narrowness.
    London and Amaris took the third row of seats in the way back. “You won’t make the
     engine die just from being inside the car, will you?” London asked me as she squeezed
     her way back.
    “Hasn’t happened yet,” I said. “I think I have to be operating the machine to make
     it die.”
    “Remind me never to loan you my phone,” said Siku.
    We slammed the doors shut, and Caleb hit the accelerator.
    As we cruised oh-so-casually