Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) by L.A. Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

we don’t discuss any of this till we get to school,” Tami said, staring at her nervously. “Like, if your parents and mine are already spooked, they might tell us we can’t go until next semester, which would really suck.”
    Too weary to comment, Sarah just let Tami babble on as she leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes.
    “But you’ve gotta tell me what happened when you went down that hole,” Tami said, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial murmur. “More important, how the hell did you get out?”
    Sarah cringed at the word
hell,
and Tami gave her hand a squeeze.
    “My bad…wrong choice of words. Look, why don’t you stay in my room tonight? You shouldn’t be alone, and I know you aren’t a fan of the dark. I’ll keep the lights on, too, I promise. Because after what just happened, I’m not really feeling all that brave myself. ‘Kay?”
    Sarah just nodded, too numb to do anything else but so glad that Tami shared her fear for once. There was no doubt that she was going to sit up all night in Tami’s room, giving her the blow-by-blow details, but there was so much she really didn’t understand. Maybe there had been some light-powered trip wire out there, a booby trap set by seasoned Neteru Guardians that the demon had rolled onto and exterminated itself as it dragged her into the demon hole. Or maybe it was something else? Who knew, and who cared? There was only one thing for sure: She didn’t care if she never saw another demon or dark forest again in her life.

Chapter 3
    S leep had, as predicted, been impossible once they’d gone to Tami’s room. Sarah was too wired from her near miss with the demon, and with the whole night left to sit up and talk about it, she’d taken advantage. Plus, her girlfriend apparently had more vamp in her than she did, but even so, staying up all night was a ritual that they’d definitely have to break once they got to school. Now they were paying the price of not sleeping. Dawn had come with a vengeance.
    The only saving grace was that Tami was as snake-bite mean in the morning as she was, so she didn’t have to make nice like she would have had to if she’d been hanging out in Hyacinth’s or Allie’s room. Those two took Miss Merry Sunshine to a whole different level.
    The smell of pancakes drew Sarah and Tami out of bed, but it was still a painful process.
    “Meetcha downstairs,” Tami muttered, staking her territorial claim on the bathroom.
    “Yeah. Thanks for staying up with me,” Sarah said, dragging herself to the door with a yawn.
    “De nada,”
Tami replied with a wave of her hand, and then stopped, squinted and stared at Sarah full on.
    “What?” Sarah quickly looked down at her body and then felt her neck. Had she been nicked by the demon after all?
    “You are gonna be so pissed. There’s a huge zit at twelve-o’clock right between the ole eyebrows. Kinda Cyclopean, if you ask me.”
    Horrified, Sarah gasped, and her hand flew up to her forehead. Sure enough, a very tender, volcanolike mound had formed right where the glowing being had touched her. What was her savior doing handing out zits? Weren’t goddesses or angels or whatever she was supposed to do good things for the people they saved?
    Sarah groaned aloud. Why was it that other girls walked away from their fairy godmothers with dresses, cool shoes, a fly ride—even a handsome boyfriend—and all she got was acne?
    “That thing is about to erupt,” Tami said, making a face. “Put a hot compress on it and squeeze it before you come down to breakfast. It’s disgusting.”
    “Sure,” Sara muttered, and then slipped into the hall. What else were best friends for, other than to tell you the brutal truth?
    Hurrying to her bedroom, Sarah rushed in and ran straight for the bathroom. A mini snow-capped mountain had formed in the center of her forehead, just like Tami had said. Sarah leaned on the sink with both hands and let her head drop forward. Why did something like