The Night Shifters (29 page)

The tree was
glorious, like something the Elves of Middle Earth would craft –
only quirkier, more down-to-Earth. Camilla had outdone herself,
this time. But I couldn’t spot her treehouse.

“This isn’t her
tree,” a silky voice informed me. “It’s yours, darling.”

“Mine?” I said,
doubtfully.

“You made it years
ago, don’t you remember?” said another voice. “You and your mother.
Don’t you like it?”

“Who are you?”

Three faces
appeared above me. They were more of the dark-haired men who
attended Camilla, slender, handsome – of a kind, yet each
distinctive in his own way, like One and Two. But this time around,
One and Two weren’t with them.

“I’m Three,” said
the first guy, who smiled like a fallen angel.

“And I’m Four,”
said the second, and winked at me with grey-green eyes.

The third one
waved. “Can I be Nine? I’ve always been fond of that number.”

“Fine with me,” I
said. “Is Camilla up there?”

“Nope,” said Three.
“She’s off on a mission.”

“What kind of
mission?”

“
For pity’s
sake,” Four stretched his hands toward me, “come up! It’s very
uncomfortable trying to talk this way. After all, it’s
your
tree, and I promise you – the view is much
more edifying up here.”

Of that last part,
I felt pretty sure. So I extended my hands and let them pull me
into the tree.

What little concern
I might have felt when my feet were on the ground was completely
dispelled by the journey upward, past marvelous tree houses on
giant branches whose arms stretched right into the stars, over
mountains and valleys and the eccentric streets of the City Of
Night. Camilla’s Faerie lights were blue, but mine were gold. “This
is even better than the first time I was up a tree,” I said.

“Of course it is.”
Four settled me on a high branch, overlooking the City. “Your
dreams shaped this tree. You’re quite an accomplished Dreamer, we
love your work.”

Nine ruffled my
hair. His hands were enormous, and even in his crouching position I
could see he was very tall. “I think I may be your biggest fan.
You’re the most entertaining addition to the City of Night since
Serena came along.”

“
I like
her
much
better than Serena,” declared
Three. “That girl has
issues
.”

“You know Serena?”
I looked from face to handsome face. “You’ve seen her?”

“Many times,” said
Nine. “I never thought you were her. Though she has changed her
appearance, each time her personality always gives her away. You
know, bossy, manipulative.”

Four laughed. “I
don’t blame the Masked Man for avoiding her like the plague.”

Like
the
plague
. That couldn’t
have sat well with Serena. “How did she make out with the Car
King?” I asked.

“She didn’t,” Three
said, shortly. “And she never will.”

“It’s a good thing
you tossed out that letter, just now,” Nine said. “You avoided some
nasty poison. Your instincts are getting better. Of course, that
just means she’ll have to think up some dirtier tricks.”

Not very
comforting. But what choice did I have? If I had done what she
ordered in the very beginning, I would be stranded in
Nowheresville. I couldn’t obey her, so I would just have to keep
fighting her off.

I looked past my
dangling toes, at the lights of a beautiful house. It had changed
since the last time I saw it, but I realized it must be the hilltop
house where the party was still in full swing. I could see figures
moving in the windows and lights glowing in the garden. “You said
Camilla was on a mission...”

“We can’t tell you
the details,” warned Nine. “But things are going to be different,
if she succeeds.”

“
Different
how
?” I wheedled.
Three’s Archangel smile seemed permanent. “Ask us about someone
else.
Those
questions, we
can answer.”

“Okay.” I wondered
where to start. “Is Voice all right?”

“She’s fine.” Nine
patted my shoulder. “She’s having fun with her new perspective. We
had a nice chat with her. I’m sure you’ll run into her later.”That
was a relief. “Is the Car King mad at me?”

“
Aren’t you
calling him
King
these days?” Four
gave me another wink. “I’m sure that flatters his ego, at least a
little. He probably
is
mad at you, but
would you do anything different, if you had to do it
over?”

“
No, because
I couldn’t
think
of anything
different.”

“Well, there you
are. You had to do what you had to do.”

Sure, but I better
not say that to King. “Where is the Masked Man?” I wondered.

They frowned.
Finally Nine said, “No one knows. He’s around somewhere, he’s still
shifting the Night, but no one has caught more than a glimpse of
him since he had that tryst with you.”

Yoips. Everyone
knew about it. Oh well. “What about Sir John?”

“He’s running
around trying to figure out what’s causing the hole. He’s looking
for you, by the way.”

“I sure wish he
would find me!” I gazed at the Party House, below. He must be one
of those figures moving back and forth in front of the windows. I
wondered if I should call to him. But that might look kind of
gauche.

“And where is
Serena?” I asked, at last.

“Lurking.” Three’s
smile was finally dampened. “We can feel her, somewhere close, but
we’ve never been able to track her movements. That’s one of the
reasons we didn’t trust her when she first showed up, even when she
acted like she wanted to team up with Camilla. We’re glad you came
along to expose her plot. Camilla, Nostradamus, and Sir John would
all have been diminished by that bad mojo. And then what would we
have? One, gigantic altar to the Celestial Whore.”

“
I tell you,”
Nine agreed, “that would have been
it
for
me. I would
not
stick around
for
that
.”

Now it was Four who
grinned at me. “All of us would have been obliged to pander to that
gigantic ego. Thanks to you, we won’t suffer a fate worse than
death. We’ve counted on you all along, Hazel, and you haven’t let
us down yet.”

He really seemed to
mean that. And even if he didn’t, I was amazed that he would say
it. I had thought I made a klutz’s progress through the City of
Night, but could I actually have done some good? Did I have as many
allies as enemies?

Beneath us,
mucky-mucks began to exit the house. They climbed into their fancy
cars. But there was something odd about the way they walked. They
should be strolling at a leisurely pace – laughing, deliciously
weary after a long, entertaining party. Instead, they strode
hurriedly, with an air of determination. Overhead, lightning
flashed, and some of them paused to look warily at the sky.

Camilla came out
and stalked down the drive, more purposeful in her prowl than I had
ever seen her. A silver BMW pulled up beside her, and King got out
to open her door.

“Where’s
Nostradamus?” I asked. “Aren’t they buddies? She arrived with him,
but she’s leaving with someone else.”

“
They
were
not
buddies,” said Four. “They were
partners.”

“
Were
?”

“Don’t ask,” he
warned. “She’s jealous of her business, if nothing else.”

Camilla and King
roared off down the road, into the Night.

A few people
remained, but I couldn’t tell who they were. They stood outside,
staring at the worsening storm.

“Was that really a
party?” I wondered, “ – or was it a pow-wow?”

“Good question,”
said Nine. “Very perceptive of you.”

And he shoved me
off the branch.

“
It
is
for your own good,” he yelled after me. “I
swear it!”

* * * * *

Note to self:
don’t get into any more trees with Camilla’s men.

Thanks to them, I
was getting to be a pro at falling. This time around, the last
thing I expected was to actually land. I figured I’d go through
freefall for a while, ask myself some penetrating questions, and
then – Voila! I’d sit up and take a look at the City of Night
4.0.

Fat chance. No more
than three seconds passed, and then I landed right on my butt.

It hurt, mostly
because I wasn’t expecting it – and I got my catsuit dirty again. I
stood, dusting off my ass and glaring into the branches. But this
tree was small and empty. It couldn’t possibly conceal any
smirking, wise-guy Camilla Helpers.

I angrily dabbed
the tears from my eyes. With friends like that, who needed enemies?
I started to dust off my knees, but on the way down my unhappy gaze
fell upon my boobs. Once again, they had shrunken almost to
nothing.

Clenching my fists,
I yelled at the Night sky, “Why do you keep doing this to me!?”

Someone grabbed my
arm and spun me around. “There you are, young lady! I’ve been
looking all over for you!”

The woman who held
my arm in a vice grip was about my age (or the age I ought to be,
anyway). And from the way she dressed, she could only be one
thing.

“Teacher?”

“And what do you
mean coming to school in that outfit? Is that what you call
appropriate clothing? I’m sending a note home with you, young lady
– and let me tell you, if you don’t bring it back tomorrow with
your mother’s signature, you’re going to have a date with Principal
Clifton and his paddle!”

“Mrs. Fee...” I
finally remembered her name. But I hadn’t remembered her being so
young. I guess when you’re eleven, anyone over twenty is old. That
explained Blue’s attitude, at least in part.

Mrs. Fee pulled me
through the schoolyard, past the monkey bars and swings. “Class has
been in session for fifteen minutes. You’re going to do twenty
minutes of detention.”

“Just one
question,” I said as she dragged me out of the playground and
toward the classrooms. “Don’t you think it’s kind of odd that it’s
dark outside?”

She stopped for a
moment and seemed confused. “What do you mean?”

“It’s dark. Classes
are only in session during the day.”

She looked around,
her face very sleepy and sad. Poor Mrs. Fee. Imagine teaching
school all day and then dreaming about it all night.

She focused
on me again. “Well – these are night classes! For students who need
extra study. Like
you
Hazel AAA. You’re
going to buckle down.” And she steered me toward the nearest
building, to room six.

Now that she
mentioned it, I remembered I hadn’t been that great a student in
grade school, either. I day-dreamed too much. Half the time when
she called on me in class, I had no clue what was going on, what
subject was being discussed, what passage in the book we were
reading aloud. I’m sure Mrs. Fee talked to Mom about that during
parent-teacher conferences, but Mom never said a word to me. Maybe
she knew I couldn’t help it. Maybe she figured dreams were all I
had.

Heads immediately
snapped down when we entered the room – well, most of them. A
couple of the boys sneaked looks, making faces at me when they
thought Mrs. Fee wasn’t looking, reminding me how much I disliked
boys. Boys are mean; they beat up on people and don’t have respect
for anyone else’s opinions. And god help you if they like you,
because then they stick frogs and bugs in your face. Boys are like
puppies on steroids, except that they never seem to get past the
chewing stage.

Everyone else
pretended to be busy with their social studies books. Mrs. Fee
parked me at a desk near the windows and plopped a book in front of
me. “Read,” she commanded. “Page 278 to page 307.” And she returned
to her desk, where she was grading papers.

I picked up the
book. It was completely blank, no title or printing anywhere on it.
I opened the book, and found it equally blank inside.

“Nice going, AAA,”
whispered the boy next to me. “Now we’ve all got extra
homework.”

I glanced at his
book. It had writing and pictures in it. But when I tried to get a
closer look, he pulled it away.

“Look at your own
book,” he hissed. “Dork.”

Going back to
college had been bad enough, but going back to grade school was the
last straw. At least in college I’d had the right to say the hell
with it all and drop out. If I tried that here, Mrs. Fee would
break my legs.

“AAA!” she snapped.
“Read!”

I sighed and
looked down at my blank book. At least it would give me a chance to
think, maybe figure a way out of there.
Recess
, I finally thought.
I’ll just bide my time until recess and
make my escape
then!
It was perfect. I
smiled at my own ingenuity.

“It looks like
you’re all having trouble concentrating on your reading today,”
announced Mrs. Fee. “We’ll just have to take turns reading aloud.
Skipper, you start at the top of page 278.”

Everyone groaned
aloud. Especially me.

Skipper sat at the
front of my row, four desks up from me. He started reading in a
halting fashion, so painfully I couldn’t make out what he was
saying. Kathy went next, and she read her paragraph in a soft voice
– so I couldn’t follow her, either. Johnny read the next part, and
I heard him mention something about the Salem Witch Trials and
public hysteria. I could feel my own brand of hysteria brewing as
Sally read the incoherent paragraph after that.