Shadow Walkers by Micheal Kostura Read Free Book Online

for a meeting, stop by once you figure out your powers.” Her father's eyes glisten as he turns to look at her, a wicked grin stretched upon his face. “And what powers they will be. Soon you’ll be able to show everyone what the Marxon family name means.”
    Without another word to his daughter, Marcus Marxon disappears into the shadows. Gone again, without a hug or a kiss goodbye. Without even a ‘good luck honey’ or a ‘make me proud’. Allison sighs as she begins climbing up the staircase leading to her bedroom. She’s never expected to receive anything close to love or appreciation from her father, but he’s been growing more and more distant over the past few years. Tonight was the first time she’s seen her dad in the past month, and they didn’t even hug each other. Allison feels a wave of shame wash over her as she struggles to fight back her tears of frustration.
    Her father wanted so much from her, and she has to live up to the expectations of her family name or else she’ll be considered a failure. Allison sighs an aggravated breath as she hops onto her bed.
    Being the daughter of a Council member just couldn’t be any more stressful.
     
    ***
     
    The following day Allison decides to arrive at the training center extra early. She sits in silence as she waits for her teammates to arrive. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about being on a team with complete strangers. On one hand, she could create a legacy by making the most powerful team in the Pit. But on the other hand, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to get along with the others, or even worse- they’d just slow her down. And then there was Nick. Allison didn’t really have an opinion on him yet, but she knew that there was something special about him. He was definitely someone to keep an eye on.
    After a few minutes Hector- one of her new teammates- casually walks into the lobby. He sees her and waves, then proceeds to walk over and sit down with her.
    “So how long have you been here?” He asks as he pulls a small black cube out of a plastic bag and pops it in his mouth.
    “About twenty minutes.” She pauses, hesitant to interact with the boy. She was getting a weird vibe from this kid. He didn’t make a very good impression by showing up late to the Guard’s orientation. And he was especially rude by snatching his chain away from Advisor Amanda during their enrollment. Allison could already foresee the amount of problems Hector would bring to the team, yet for some reason, she wasn’t feeling as nervous as she should’ve been. If they were going to be on a team, they’ll eventually learn to put up with each other. Allison figured that the least she could do was start that process.
    She eyes Hector as he reaches for another black cube. She realizes that the boy is eating Shadow Sugar- a brand of medicine that helps rejuvenate a Walker's energy. He plops the cube into his mouth and chews away. Allison cringes in disgust. “How can you eat those without getting sick?”
    Hector grins. “I guess you can say I just have a strong stomach.”
    Allison rolls her eyes. “But they aren’t meant to be eaten so casually. Wouldn’t it be smarter to save them for the middle of a battle or something? You do know that if you eat too many in a day you can die, right? Your body can’t handle all of that.”
    Hector shrugs. “Well I’ve never even gotten a stomach ache from eating them.” The boy looks to the ceiling as if contemplating something. “Maybe I’m just immune to the side effects.”
    His deliberate ignorance lights a fire in Allison that makes it difficult for her to not shout at him. “I don’t see how that could possibly-”
    Allison stops as she notices that two bodies were emerging from a shadow across the room. Isaac and Nick both rise out of the ground, the young boys dazed expression making it obvious that he wasn’t used to shadow jumping.
    “You two are here early.” Isaac says. “Don’t teenagers