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Liam s shoulders throbbed.
He said to Sally,  Thanks, but not right now. Maybe tomorrow.
 Okay. She walked away.
He watched as Sally joined a couple of other girls, and they started a new game of hopscotch.
Then he looked back at Andrew and the tools.
While he had been looking away, one of the tools, Brad, had disappeared. Andrew and Joel leaned
their elbows on the railing, still watching him.
Liam s heart kicked. On reflex, he spun in a circle, but Brad was nowhere in sight. Andrew smiled
at him, and it wasn t a nice expression.
It was obvious they were planning something, but what? Liam didn t know. He was starting to feel
twitchy again, and after giving that first big kick of surprise, his heart kept pounding, only this time it
didn t feel good. This time, he didn t have any idea what he should do or where he should go.
Was this how Perrin had felt, when the three other boys had bullied him?
As Liam stared at Andrew, a slow, wild anger started to burn through his uncertainty.
I m not prey. I will never be prey.
But he could still be hurt.
They could still hurt him. They could still hurt other kids.
When Andrew crooked a finger at him in unmistakable invitation, he started forward. He glanced
around at the buildings and the open land on the other side of the school fence. He still couldn t see
Hugh or any of the other guards.
Moving toward the other boy, he slipped one hand into his pocket.
And turned off his phone.
Chapter Four
The sun felt hot on his head and shoulders as he crossed the asphalt expanse toward the other two
boys, and he burned with energy.
He also had plenty of time to think things over, just as he had when Andrew had tried to punch him
at morning recess.
What am I going to do? What should I do?
Maybe those were two separate things.
Other questions occurred to him. What would Dad do? Or Uncle Graydon, or Hugh? Or Mom?
Trying to figure that out was much trickier than trying to hold on to a cloaking spell. They were all
very different people, which meant they might make very different choices from each other.
Maybe that meant there was more than one right way to deal with something, and maybe . . . more
than one wrong way to deal with something too.
To be sure he dealt with this in the right way, he might have to grow up some more. His dragon
side liked that idea and tried to push to get bigger, but he managed to stay in control of that for now.
Eventually his dragon side would win and he would go through another growth spurt, but he could
postpone it for a while.
The only thing he knew for sure was that dealing with cows was easy compared to dealing with
Andrew and the tools. As Hugh had said about the cows (or hunting any other kind of prey), take only
what you need, kill them quick and don t let them suffer.
When he reached the stairwell the other boys straightened from the railing and started over to him,
both walking with a bit of a swagger and darting glances at each other.
Were they egging each other on? Where had Brad gone?
Giving the area outside the playground one last glance, Liam jogged lightly down the bare,
concrete steps in the stairwell. There was nothing at the bottom of the stairs except for a few dried
leaves, and a metal, locked door that led into the school building.
Nobody would be able to see what happened down here, unless Hugh or one of the other guards
flew directly overhead, which they might choose to do, but he hoped not. He wanted to figure this out
on his own.
Turning, he put the concrete wall at his back and looked up at the other two boys who stood at the
top of the stairs. Then the predator in him went quiet and waited.
Come on, he thought. I was fast earlier, and that surprised you, but I m just a first grader and you
guys are third graders. There s only one of me, while there s two of you.
Andrew and Joel must have arrived at the same conclusion, because after exchanging a grin, they
bounded down the stairs after him.
Okay, then. He got ready.
Andrew said,  How s your back? I heard you fell down earlier and got a boo-boo.
Joel snickered.
 Maybe you ll fall down again someday soon, said Andrew. The expression in his eyes had
turned hectic, and he looked excited.  Maybe you ll get more than just a boo-boo. Maybe you ll lose
some real blood.
Anger flared, bright and hot like the summer sun. Liam leaped at the other two boys, and before
they could do anything, he shoved them against the wall, one hand around each of their throats. Shock
bolted over their faces, as they slapped and kicked him.
He was too mad to really feel the blows. Leaning his weight on his arms, he held them pinned in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]