Fallen Stars (The Demon Accords) Read Online Free PDF Page B

protect them from strangers and recognizing that those strangers had just saved them.  Awasos pushed past all of us and flopped down at the girls’ feet.  Instantly, all three dropped to the ground and started to pet him.
     
    I handed half the necklaces to Stacia and held the other half in both hands to better display the variety.  “Why don’t you each pick one?”
     
    The twins reached almost as one for two of the necklaces in Stacia’s hands.  A bear and a wolf were the choices.  Awasos gave me a smug look as Stacia put the leather thongs around their necks.  The third girl, Jep’s daughter Lindsey, chose a badger from my right hand.  Her mother helped her get it over her wet hair.
     
    “Now, there are two very important things about these necklaces.  First, you must keep them on at all times, okay?  And second, you each need to name your animal.”
     
    The jewelry picking and furry wolf petting had revived them enough that their natural spunk was fast returning.  One of the twins looked me in the eye, put one hand on her ten-year-old hip and announced, “Naming a necklace?  That’s for kids!”
     
    “Actually, these necklaces will protect you from the things that just haunted you.  Naming them makes the necklace stronger.”
     
    All three girls looked at me with big eyes while their worried mothers tried to rein in their sudden fear at my words.
     
    “Mine’s name is Hugo,” the twin with the wolf said suddenly.
     
    “Mine is Ollie,” Lindsey said.
     
    After a pause, the other twin pointed at Awasos.  “What’s his name?”
     
    “Awasos.  It’s Abenaki for bear.”
     
    “Then mine is named Awasos!”
     
    The damned wolf at their feet smirked at me.
     
    “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, why don’t each of you take a necklace as well,” I said, handing out one to each of them.  Jep’s wife, Lisa, reached for another bear, this one a bit bigger.  I pulled it away.
     
    “Oops, sorry. That one is taken.  My fault.”
     
    She shrugged and grabbed a mountain lion instead.
     
    “Okay, we’re gonna go find a motel or hotel.  We can regroup tomorrow.”
     
    Granger stepped forward with some cards in his hand. “Gordon, the Pack owns a motel not far from here.  We’ve already arranged rooms for you there, and they won’t give Awasos any grief.  We’ll spend the night there as well and maybe we can meet for breakfast in the morning?” he said, handing us each a card.
     
    It had the hotel address and logo on it, as well as a number and his signed initials.
     
    “Great. We’ll see you in the morning,” I said, glancing at the wall clock. “Or I should say later this morning.”
     
    They said goodbye, their faces a mixture of expressions.  Jep’s broad face was forthrightly grateful as I took the safe from his arms; his wife’s was a mixture of weariness and fear. Rose Granger’s was tear-streaked but unbelievably happy, her arms clutched around her daughters, who looked at their new necklaces with curiosity.  Ned’s face was thoughtful as he nodded goodbye to both of us, and the young Malcolm was slightly awed whether he looked at me or Stacia, but likely for different reasons.
     
    “You stink,” my partner said as we headed to the car.  “I’ll drive and you can sit on a couple of garbage bags.”
     
    I was covered in crud from wrestling the three filthy demon children.  Awasos was clean as a whistle, a result of Changing forms.  The rapid change in shape and mass left all the dirt and filth behind.
     
    “Fine, as long as we swing through a KFC for a couple or three buckets of chicken or so.  I’m hungry.”
     
    “You’re always hungry!  Worse than any were in the whole New York pack!”
     
    She drove and I navigated, first through the nearest fried chicken emporium my smart phone could find, then to the hotel.
     
    “Oh yeah, by the way, this necklace is for you,” I said, handing her the bear necklace I had held back.
     
    “Wow, and you