Lightbringer by K.D. McEntire Page A

POD,” Lily said, speaking of her missing Lost. “Your best bet is to search there first, to see if you can find any clues. They took him…” her expression twisted painfully as she forced out the words, “they took him intact rather than eating him, which is strange for a Walker.”
    “I bet you anything it's the White Lady,” Elle muttered. “Rumors all over town chatting about more Walkers, fewer Shades. Everything's gone to hell since that dame came to town.”
    “Where is Dunn's place of death?” Piotr asked Lily, ignoring Elle, though he secretly agreed with her. Things had been a shade off normal the past six months and had been getting progressively worse.
    “Mountain View, near Castro Street.” Lily drew a map with her finger in the dust on the floor, tapping streets to indicate the direction he would have to go. “The actual place of death was a tenement building once, but it burned down. Now his POD is the diner that replaced it. He liked to sit in the empty booths and listen to the chatter.”
    Whistling low, Piotr shook his head. “Dangerous game to be so near the living.”
    “Dunn didn't care,” Lily said. “He missed his family.”
    “Specs was like that,” Piotr agreed, glancing over his shoulder at the staircase. “He haunted his house for years. Even now he tends to stay indoors.”
    “Yeah, we all got one or two who won't forget being alive,” Elle grunted, pushing away from the window and strolling over to their huddle. She crouched down and tapped the map. “Do you even know what you're looking for, Pete? Besides this walking lightshow, I mean? Walkers? Some piece of Dunn he might've left behind?”
    “Net , not really, but I'll know a clue when I see it.” He smirked and tapped Elle's dagger at his hip. “Why, are you worried about me?”
    Elle snorted and rose. “Not a bit. But the longer you hang around this gin joint, the more likely the Walkers are gonna start nibbling on Dunn's toes. You get the picture?”
    “Indeed. Be safe.” Piotr nodded towards the huddle of children, each lost in their own thoughts. “Watch my kids, Elle.”
    “Always.”

“O y, Sleeping Beauty! Rise and shine.” A hard poke in Wendy's side jostled her awake.
    Blurrily, Wendy squinted up at the figure hulking over her bed. Her head felt fuzzy, full, and her mouth tasted like a skunk had crawled in there and died in the night. The remnants of a horrible dream echoed at the edge of her waking thoughts. “Dad?”
    “Already took off.” Another hard poke, this one just under her ribs, and with it came the smell of bacon. “Come on , Wendy, get up! Eddie's waiting downstairs.”
    “Jon, come on, cut it out,” Wendy grumbled at her younger brother, rubbing the grit out of her eyes. “Man, that was a crappy dream. Where's Chel?”
    “Michelle is downstairs making breakfast,” Jon said stiffly, taking a bite out of a truly gigantic breakfast burrito. He spoke around his mouthful with difficulty, holding up a hand to keep from spraying her with food. “There's eggs left, I think, if you want ‘em.”
    “Oh for…are you two still fighting?” She flung off her comforter, checked her watch, and groaned. “He's early. Probably knew I'd sleep in.” Stumbling to her closet Wendy grabbed tattered jeans, her favorite corset, and a sports bra to tuck in her bag. Today was Thursday, which meant gym. Wendy grimaced. She hated to sweat.
    “Grab my boots from under the bed, will ya?”
    Jon shoved the rest of the burrito into his mouth until he was chipmunk-cheeked, hunkered down, peered under the dust ruffle, and pulled out a chunky lime-green platform. “These?”
    “No, the Vietnam jump boots uncle Randy left. The ones with the red ribbons to lace ‘em together.”
    “There's like three of them,” complained Jon, sitting back on his heels and pushing his carroty mop off his face. “You are such a shoe fiend. Little more specific please?”
    “Oh for…here, shove over. Watch.” Wendy