Over My Head (Wildlings) Read Online Free PDF Page B

out of. A moment later and there he is. He saunters around the corner of the adobe building looking very pleased with himself, and I realize that while I haven't been thinking about him, he's been obsessing about me.
    I glance behind me. Allan Laramore and Christian Willert are standing there. All five of them are blue-eyed and blond—which isn't hard to find in So-Cal—but it's like the junior branch of the Aryan Brotherhood has tracked me down.
    "There's no place to run, Saunders," Erik says. "You're not going anywhere."
    I turn back to him. "What do you want?"
    "What do you think I want? You made me look like an asshole in front of the whole school. It's payback time."
    "We don't have to do this."
    He grins. "Oh, but we do . We're going to find out how tough you Wildlings really are."
    "I'm not a Wildling."
    That grin gets bigger. "Then I guess this is really going to hurt."
    I have this long moment of clarity—or at least it feels long. I guess it's more like how time seems to slow down when you're in the middle of an accident. But I have all this time to think. I realize that I could probably take all five of them—without even having to shift into a mountain lion. The problem with that is, there goes any chance I have of salvaging a normal life. Nobody's going to believe I could take on all these guys by myself unless I am a Wildling.
    So I take option two.
    I let Allan and Christian grab me from behind. I struggle in their grip—but not like the mountain lion wants me to. It wants me to shred the pair. I only struggle enough to sell myself as being a kid, outnumbered and in trouble.
    Then Erik hits me and I almost let the mountain lion go. It's not the pain of his fist in my face. It's the smarmy look of triumph on his. I want to wipe it off. The mountain lion wants to rip it off.
    The next fist hits me in the stomach and I double over. Allan and Christian let me go and I fall down. I start to get up, but one of them kicks me in the back and I go down again. Then they all start kicking me and I realize this wasn't such a bright idea. If I didn't want a confrontation, I should have just taken off. I could have left them all behind in half a block.
    But this—
    Erik sits on my chest and starts pounding on my face.
    "Hey, easy, man," I hear someone say. "You're going to kill him."
    I don't have any choice. I have to let the mountain lion out now or he is going to kill me.
    But before I can, I hear a car squeal to a halt right beside us. A door opens and a familiar voice yells, "FBI. Nobody move."
    Except they all take off like scared rabbits. The mountain lion wants to chase them down and snap their necks, one by one. I just lie there on the pavement and try to breathe as I listen to them run off.
    Something blocks the sun. I squint through swollen eyes to see Agent Solana bending down toward me. Agent Matteson is standing behind him. The last time I saw them was when they came by the house to tell me that the security guys from ValentiCorp were out on bail but I didn't need to worry about them. Part of their bail restrictions was that they weren't allowed back in Santa Feliz.
    "Jesus Christ, kid," Matteson says. "You're a freaking mess."
    Solana puts a hand behind me and gently helps me sit up.
    "You—you should see the other guys."
    It's hard to talk. My lips feel twice their normal size. My tongue finds a loose tooth.
    "We did," Matteson says. "They didn't have a mark on them."
    His lip twitches and I realize he's trying to make a joke.
    "Why—are you guys—still following me?"
    "We just happened to be driving by," Matteson says.
    Yeah, right. But all I say is, "Lucky—for me."
    "Yeah, no kidding. You must have really pissed those guys off."
    "We need to get you to a hospital," Solana says. "And call in the locals. Can you identify any of your assailants?"
    I shake my head. That hurts, too.
    "No hospital," I say. "And no police."
    "This is serious," Solana says. "Those boys could have killed you."
    "Did—you