Shadows of New York Read Online Free Page B

wasn’t his nanny, but a creature wearing Aiden’s clothes. Some sort of half-man, half-beast, it stood there breathing heavily and turning in circles, looking at the men splayed on the ground. One of them started getting to his feet. The beast shot to the man like a dart, grabbing the front of his shirt and pinning him up against the wall of the building behind them. It was the Ringleader, and he was terrified. The creature’s bared teeth were inches from the guy’s face. A low growl came from between the long, sharp teeth.
    “Where’s Aiden?” Josh asked, his voice shaking with fear.
    The beast looked around with Aiden’s blue eyes. He let go of the Ringleader, who broke into a sprint the second his feet hit the pavement.
    The creature stepped from under the streetlights, retreating into the building’s shadow. In the darkness, Josh couldn't see what was going on. When the thing in Aiden’s clothes came back out into the light, it looked like regular old Aiden.
    “What?” Josh asked, the fear gripping his heart and making his breath catch in his throat. “How?”
    “Josh, I—” Aiden started.
    Josh didn't stick around for any explanations. He started running toward home.
    * * * *
    Aiden kept pace with Josh, staying a constant fifteen feet behind to keep an eye on him, but not crowd him. When they entered the apartment, Josh bolted straight to his room and slammed the door.
    Mrs. F-G sat at the kitchen table, working on something involving a large bowl and a red fruit. She gave Aiden a “what was that all about?” look the second he came in to deliver the yogurt.
    “What was that all about?” she asked when he failed to answer her eyes.
    “Just, um, you know. Normal pre-teen boy stuff.”
    She shook her head. “I know Josh. That’s not normal. Not for him, at least.”
    Aiden put the yogurt in the fridge, slamming the door a little harder than he intended. Condiment bottles clanked together. “Well, I hope that breakfast is good tomorrow. It might be my last meal here.”
    “Meaning?” She stood and took the bowl to the sink, tipping it on its side to pour out a considerable amount of water.
    “Meaning…I sort of wolfed out in front of Josh.”
    “Oh, dear.”
    Mrs. F-G held the bowl out to Aiden, who looked at it and said absently, “Oh. Pomegranate. I love these things.”
    “They’re right behind sausage gravy and biscuits on your favorite food list, yes?”
    “Something like that, yeah.” Aiden tossed a handful of red, juicy seed casings in his mouth. “How do you know all this food stuff? And, come to think of it, how did you know about…my condition?”
    “Food oracle,” she said, as if those two words would explain it all.
    Aiden shook his head, a blank look on his face. “No idea what you mean.”
    “You don’t know about food oracles?”
    Again, Aiden shook his head.
    “So you must have been bitten not too long ago. You didn’t grow up surrounded by all things mythical and mystical.” Mrs. F-G began cleaning up the white pulp and red rind from the sink, the bits of the pomegranate left over after picking out the edible seedpods. “Well, there’s no such thing as the classic oracle anymore, the kind you read about in books. The know-all, see-all, riddle-spouting fortuneteller. We have rather narrow fields. I can see the future, but only as it relates to food. You’ve noticed that I prefer to keep my quarters private?”
    “Yeah. Josh told me.”
    “There are some mystical items in my closet that are best kept secret.”
    Aiden nodded, mulling this over. “And how did you know about…the wolf part?”
    “Ah, well, I kind of cheated there. I know the Coopers use Staffing Solutions. It’s where all their entertainment-industry friends go for nannies and such. And I know that they place…people with our special qualities. As a matter of fact, I’ve known Cleo for quite some time.”
    “Oh.” That explained a lot. You’d think after so long, Cleo would outgrow her