Free The Guardians (MORE Trilogy) by T.M. Franklin

and, fortunately for them, putting the tops down. Katherine reached under the steering column to pull out a handful of wires.
    “You sure you know what you’re doing?” Ava asked, opting to open the door instead of climbing over.  
    Katherine shot her a glare. “I was doing this before you were born.” The engine roared to life, and she let out a little squeal. “Sixty-six, Candy Apple Red Mustang convertible . . . a very good year.”  
    She wiggled her eyebrows, and Ava realized it was the first time she’d actually seen Katherine excited about anything. But now was not the time. “Head east,” she said as Katherine put the car in gear. “Toward Belmont Park.”
    Katherine sped through town, and in a few minutes, they wound past the park to the neighborhood Ava now recognized from her dream. She watched the street signs, letting out a distressed sound when she spotted the crooked one identifying 152nd Court Southeast.
    “Turn here,” she said quietly. “To the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. And be careful.”
    To her surprise, Katherine didn’t have an indignant response to that. Instead, she slowed down a little and turned off the headlights, her superior sight more than enough to avoid any obstacles.  
    The wind picked up as she pulled to a stop, and Ava scrambled out of the car, searching the area in front of the house with first her eyes, then reaching out with her Race senses.
    “What is it?” Katherine asked, coming up to stand beside her. “What’s happening?”
    “I’m not sure,” Ava replied slowly. She walked toward the house, avoiding the basketball and the Rollerblade, just like in her dream. A light flicked on upstairs two houses down and Ava caught a glimpse of someone peering out the blinds before it went out again a few minutes later.
    Her eyes darted back and forth from the front door to the shadow of the trees where she’d seen the mysterious figure in her dream. But he wasn’t there. Perhaps she was early. Maybe she’d gotten there in enough time to warn Officer Simmons.
    Or maybe she was too late. Her eyes flashed to the garbage cans at the sidewalk, but there was no body lying next to them.  
    Thank God.  
    That didn’t necessarily mean anything, though. Her dreams were not always literal and could have been a reaction to a potential threat, not necessarily a specific one.
    She made her way to the front door and knocked—first tentatively, and then with a bit more force—glancing over her shoulder to where Katherine stood in the shadows, ready to intervene if it was necessary. In a few minutes, the door opened, and Ava exhaled in relief when she saw Officer Simmons standing before her, rumpled and sleepy, half-mast eyes blinking in confusion.  
    “Ava? Do you know what time it is? What are you doing here?”
    Oh, now that’s a good question.
    “I was, uh . . .” She scrambled for an answer and settled on the first one to pop into her mind. “I couldn’t sleep and was just . . . walking and I thought I . . . uh . . . I saw something suspicious.”
    “Really?” He squared his shoulders, instantly in police mode. “Where?”  
    “I’m not sure,” she said. “I thought I saw someone in the shadows.” When he started to step out onto the porch, she moved to block his way. “They’re gone now, I think. I just thought you’d want to know. I mean, I didn’t know it was you, Officer Simmons, obviously, since I didn’t know where you lived. But I thought whoever lived here would want to know.” She heard a quiet snort behind her and decided she owed Katherine a kick in the shins. “So, yeah. You might want to keep an eye out. You know. Just in case,” Ava said. “Be careful.”
    “Okay,” Officer Simmons said slowly. “Thanks for the warning.”  
    She nodded once and turned to leave, then had a thought. “By the way, have you taken your garbage out tonight?” His mouth dropped open a little, and Ava was pretty sure he thought she