Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

her?’
    ‘Followed you.’
    ‘Bullshit. You can’t track me any more than I can track you.’
    Goatee smiles. ‘You need to get with the times, Rafa. We tracked you online. Honestly, we thought you were bored and planted that story to draw us into a fight.’
    I look from one to the other. This has to stop. ‘Will somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on here?’
    Goatee tsks. ‘I see you haven’t lost that foul mouth.’
    Maggie is beside me, linking her arm through mine. ‘Let’s just go. We’ll get to Rick’s and then we can sort out all of this inside.’ She pulls me across the path towards the playground and, beyond it, the bright safety of the supermarket. We’ve taken only half a dozen steps when something flashes out of the trees and slams into us.
    Maggie cries out and we both hit the grass. Pain jolts through my shoulder and I raise my head to see a girl roll past me and spring back up. She’s about my age, dressed in a dark shirt and jeans, like Goatee, her black hair tied in a severe ponytail. She’s already crouched, ready to attack again. Her head whips around to Jason, who’s helping Maggie back to her feet.
    ‘Don’t even think about it,’ she says to him. ‘Just stay there and you won’t get hurt.’
    I scramble back, the grass cool and slick under my fingers, and she follows, more cautious now.
    ‘What do you want?’ My voice is hoarse.
    ‘Taya,’ Goatee says, flicking nervous glances at Rafa, but moving closer. ‘Be careful.’
    Taya hasn’t taken her eyes from me. ‘I want to know why you betrayed us.’ Another step. ‘Was it worth it? Did you find Semyaza?’
    I back up against a tree with nowhere to go. Panicked, I look for Rafa. I try to stand, but my legs don’t want to work.
    ‘You know they’ll do what they have to, Gabe, to take you back,’ Rafa says. He’s still on the other side of the path, his face in shadow. ‘I suggest you drop the bullshit right now. Get up and fight.’
    ‘You bastard.’ Jason glares at Rafa, and then charges across the path at Goatee. Goatee doesn’t flinch. He spins around and kicks Jason in the chest, hard, sending him flying.
    ‘Stop it!’ Maggie rushes over to him. ‘Rafa, what’s going on?’ She helps Jason sit up. There’s blood trickling from her knee.
    Rafa doesn’t move.
    There’s grass and a piece of broken glass under my fingertips. In the distance, bass thumps from somewhere on the esplanade. The dusk has slipped out of the sky and the dark is hunkering down. As I crouch there, it occurs to me this may be my last twilight. I may actually die here. A few months ago, I might have welcomed it. But not now. And not here, like this.
    A jolt of adrenaline launches me to my feet, but before I can swing at Taya, she smashes her fist into the sideof my head. The park reels around me and I reach for a branch to steady myself as she grabs the back of my shirt. I’m airborne. And then I slam into a tree. I bounce off it. Face-plant into the dirt. My ribs are in serious trouble. There’s blood in my mouth and on my face. I’m still trying to work out if I can move when someone kicks me in the kidneys. White light explodes behind my eyelids. I grunt and curl into a ball, but the kicks keep coming. Dimly, I hope Maggie has got away.
    ‘You’re a traitor.’ Taya is panting as she lays her boot into me, this time to my spine. ‘You’re going to tell us—’ But she doesn’t finish. There’s a yelp, and then silence. I lie there, every breath like a knife in my lungs.
    And then Rafa is kneeling down in front of me. He touches my face and tries to roll me over, but my whimpering stills his hands.
    ‘Oh, shit,’ he says. ‘Shit. Shit.’ He stands, and all I can see are his boots as he paces in front of me. I’m losing consciousness when he crouches down again, his warm fingers back on my face. ‘Fuck.’

LOST IN CONFUSION
    ‘Gaby.’
    Maggie’s voice is far away, indistinct.
    ‘Don’t touch her,’ Rafa