We ran for all we were worth. The glass doors of the store were shattered. Fluorescent lights flickered. The disjointed humming rattled my ears. Willa’s mom sat on the curb, crying. There was no one else in sight.
“Mom!” Willa slowed as she approached. “Are you okay?”
“Willa?” For a moment there was no recognition in her eyes. Simon and I hung back near the corner. Simon was tense. He popped his back and shook out his hands. A muscle in his jaw was twitching. As Willa drew closer her mom smiled and opened her arms to her daughter.
“Mom are you okay?” Willa asked again.
“Oh darling, I’m just fine. Just getting some eggs for breakfast. I’m not sure where everyone went, though. Or what happened to the store. I believe I was just in there.”
“Mom, why did you leave the apartment I set up for you?”
“Oh dear, the muskuppies were getting very loud. I couldn’t sleep at all. I moved to a different spot.”
“Mom, muskuppies aren’t real. It’s just your imagination.”
Footsteps. They weren’t running away like the others. They were getting closer. I slowed my breathing to listen. Six sets coming this way. Their pace was direct. We were in trouble.
“Guys, we have to move.” Willa’s mom sprung up from the curb and backed away from me.
“Mom don’t worry. These are my friends. They’re twins. Simon and Sophie.”
“Willa, we have to move. Upholders are on the way.” Willa’s eyes flared opened wide, and she took a couple of steps back. I recognized the look in her eyes. She was trying to hold on to her animal form. It was too late to run. The Upholders were close enough now I could sense their feelings. None of them were distressed. We had to get out of here.
“I’m going to fly us out of here.”
“Sophie, you can’t.” Simon grabbed my arm and stepped in front of me. “You don’t exactly blend in. If they see you, they’ll know who you are. You’ll get in trouble.”
“Simon, it’s our only chance.” His grip tightened on my arm. Then he gave a curt nod and let me go.
“Willa, when I shift get your mom on my back as quick as you can. Simon, climb up behind them. I’m going to fly really high really fast so hang on tight. When we are out of danger, I’ll find somewhere in Central Park to set us down where no one will see.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. The Upholders were only two streets away. My dragon was waiting. Before I even closed my eyes, she exploded out of me. In seconds my shift was finished. Willa hoisted herself on and pulled her mom up behind her. Simon leaped up at the back. I hoped they were ready for this.
My muscles contracted, and I launched myself into the sky. The wind whistled in my ears as I pumped my wings and climbed faster than I ever had before. The buildings below us looked like toys before I stopped climbing. I dove into a nearby cloud. I hung there until I could concentrate enough to pull the shadows around all of us. When nothing but darkness shimmered around us, I turned my attention to the store.
The six Upholders were searching the area. Two of them were peering into the store and the other four were working the block in a grid-like pattern. None of them were looking up.
Satisfied we hadn’t been spotted—yet—I headed for Central Park. Frost was forming on the tips of my wings. The humans on my back had to be freezing. It took a few minutes of soaring before I found a spot big enough and deserted enough to land. I tucked my feet up under me and lifted my wings to descend. I came out of the air fast and landed with a bump. Immediately I rolled over on my side so my passengers could slide off. As soon as I felt Simon’s weight move, I shifted back to human. I plopped down right in the middle of the field. My whole body was shaking.
“I just need to rest,” I said.
“Wow Sophie, I’ve never even seen Dad shift that fast.” Simon knelt down in front of me. He handed me a water bottle, and I drained it in three big gulps. Willa and her mom stood away from us. Willa was trying to talk, but her mom wasn’t listening. She turned and caught sight of Simon and me.
“Oh, hello. I’m Emily, are you guys friends of Willa’s?” Simon and I exchanged glances.
“Yes, Miss Emily. Actually, Willa called me because she said you have a muskuppie problem? Well, I’m a muskuppie expert. If you’ll show me your apartment, I can get rid of them for you.” Simon always knew what to do.
“Oh, Willa. Thank you my dear. And you always tell me there’s no such thing. Well here’s an expert to tell you differently. Right this way, my boy.”
Willa mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Simon as we followed her mom through Central Park to the apartment. Once we got there, Simon entered first to do his check for Emily’s imaginary pests.
“All clear,” Simon declared when he reemerged. Willa ushered her mom inside. Simon and I stayed on the stairs to make sure no one was following us.
“Mom said you got an invitation to spend Christmas with some of your friends? Are those the friends I met today?” Simon asked.
“It’s a different friend. Drew, from one of my classes. He invited a bunch of us to his parents’ chalet way up north. But I’m not going. I want to come home with you.”
“Are Willa, Hudson, and Sophie going?”
“Oh, no. They don’t know Drew and his friends that well.”
These were all things Simon could have asked me earlier today. I suspected he was
