It’s me, Sam, I wanted to tell her, but my new body did not seem to have any idea how to talk. It didn’t seem to know how to cry, either. Unable to do anything, I just left my paw there and kept looking at her, hoping she would get the message. Hoping we were still friends. “Zindavoor body make …

Sam’s mind was radiating fear, too, fear of the pain she had been through, and of the ugly dead thing she saw drop to the ground right in front of her face. With a whimpering sound coming out of her, she curled up into as tight a ball as she could make of herself. I wanted to comfort her, and …

I didn’t know why me being ‘The Amos girl’ explained anything, unless it just meant she knew my parents had a daughter. They did work for her, after all. They had us ride in the back of the police car, which was a first for me, and told Rufus to join us at the West house once his relief showed …

Unless Mom fibbed to me about what happened to the earlier ones, this was the first time I had actually killed a specter instead of just winging it. It was definitely the first time I ever saw one of these creatures so close. When they aren’t cloaked, they are frightful to see. Most of the time, specters cloak themselves and …

“Tawny, you say the weirdest things.” That confused me. It also hurt a little, and I tried to show it. Sam just laughed and shook her head. “Forget the sad puppy look. It doesn’t work for you,” she advised me with a smirk. It was another late spring day after school. In my home town of Berenice that means either …

To her relief, she felt him breathing when she rested her hand on his back. The outside world could have her attention now. She fired off calls through her nerve-ware to various channels. Nobody responded to short-range, long-range, or even the Meta-space communicator. She had to assume the ship’s comm no longer functioned either. Her mask communicator would still function, …

Tony allowed himself the tiniest of moments to be awestruck at the sheer madness of Poe’s plan. Until he heard it, he’d been ready to give credit to the girls’ belief that Poe was psychic and had read his mind. Instead, the FC had a plan even more audacious than his own. Of course, since his ship would be on …

Rad warnings wailed and her shield capacity meter turned yellow, declaring dangerous energy levels. She knuckle-balled out of the line of fire, then reversed her ship, flying tail-first while pumping fire into the outrider and cursing at herself. Vampire called, “Your six, high! Break off!” She hit the compensation matrix and the high-gee mode as an invisible pseudopod from the …

Tony tried to relax with a cup of coffee in the observation lounge while Rissa and Poe waited on the field. He’d completed his Moon Duty. Now he wanted to enjoy the show as a spectator, and he needed the break. For two weeks, his ‘RL’ self and his teenager spirit had faded into the background. He needed to find …

Dark eyes watched her from the other side of the lock as she waited for the inner door to close. She shuddered with the memory of their first-round flight, which had begun with this same boy in this spot. “What is it?” The tension in her voice surprised her a little. The door clanged shut, stirring up the gunpowder odor …