Shadowed Read Online Free PDF Page A

or killings. That had come as an unwelcome surprise.
    Director Jennings' statement brought another spate of overlapping conversations—Ashe even heard a bit of profanity—before the Director restored calm.
    "You're saying that my dad isn't my dad?" a girl asked tearfully.
    No, your father is your father. You are a half-human, half-Elemaiyan child. Ashe, will you come up here, please?"
    Ashe rose reluctantly and walked unsteadily toward Director Jennings, turning to face the crowd when he arrived. "Ashe is what you are," the Director stated. "With a few differences, I think. Ashe, tell them about your parents."
    "My mother is a shapeshifter," Ashe began nervously, his blue eyes betraying a bit of concern over spilling his parents' secrets to humans. His first admission caused a ripple of murmurs throughout the room. "My father—my dad—is a vampire." The room exploded.
    "That has to be a lie," a mother stood and pointed a finger at Ashe.
    "No, ma'am, not a lie," Ashe shook his head, nearly quaking before the disbelieving crowd.
    "Ashe is also a shapeshifter," Winkler, who'd leaned against the wall beside the television screen, straightened and came to stand beside Ashe. "Show them, Ashe, what you are." Ashe gulped anxiously before allowing his clothing to drop. Fluttering and hovering as the bat, his audience sat in stunned silence for seconds before riotous discussion began. People pointed at him and spoke in incredulous whispers to others. It made him uncomfortable. Once conversation died down a little, Ashe flapped toward Trace and Jason at the back of the room.
    Now what? Ashe sent to Trace as he dipped and bobbed before the tall werewolf's face. Without a blink, Trace snatched Ashe's tiny bat from the air and tucked him onto the top of his shirt pocket. Thanks , Ashe said mentally, folding his wings and getting comfortable on Trace's shirt.
    "No problem, kid," Trace said softly, grinning.
    "We are moving you to a special, paranormal community in Oklahoma," Winkler informed the crowd while attempting to hide a smile. He'd witnessed Trace's quick grasp of Ashe's tiny bat. "It is inhabited by shapeshifters, vampires and werewolves."
    * * *
    "Just when I think my life can't get more messed up than it is," Philip grumbled as he climbed into a van with his mother.
    "Director Jennings assures me it is safe," his mother hissed, climbing onto the back seat with her son.
    "Why can't we ride with Luanne?" Philip muttered.
    "For safety," the agent in the passenger seat turned and said. "It'll take four hours or more to get there. We'd prefer not to make any unscheduled stops on the way." He turned back in his seat, accepting no argument from Philip.
    * * *
    "Mom, this can't be happening," Luanne Jansen shook her head in confusion as she huddled in the back seat of a van between her parents.
    "Honey, don't worry about it," Linda Jansen soothed. "This is to throw those people off our trail. Director Jennings says we'll leave at the end of summer and go somewhere else—somewhere normal ." The driver cleared his throat, causing Linda Jansen to fall silent.
    "I think our driver is one of them ," Luanne whispered.
    "He is and can hear better than you ever will," the driver retorted, backing up to allow the lead van through. Luanne gripped her father's arm, suddenly terrified.
    * * *
    "That bat was so cool," sixteen-year-old Edward Pendley loaded into a van behind his father. "Dad, do you think I might be able to do that? I'm half, too."
    "Son, I don't know," Steven Pendley replied distractedly. "Talk to that boy—he may know."
    "I will," Edward declared and clicked the lap belt around him. "Do we still have to finish our lessons?"
    "If you want to graduate, you do."
    "Darn." Edward had always been homeschooled—his mother died shortly after he'd turned three and with pointed ears, his father had little hope that his son wouldn't be ridiculed at a public school. Using the insurance money from his wife's death, Steven Pendley had