Free The Book Of Shade (Shadeborn 1) by K.C. Finn

sounds so boring.”
    “Restoration’s what historians are all about,” Jazzy said over the thrum of the dance beat all around them.
    “Besides, I need the money,” Lily added.
    Michael seemed to understand that concept better. He had finally persuaded Lily to give Guttersnipes a try, and going on a weeknight turned out to be pretty nice. The rest of the Illustrious Minds had swiftly become the Inebriated Minds after deciding it was a good idea to start the night with Vodka and end with lemonade instead of the other way around, but Michael, it transpired, was much more of an encourager than a drinker. He explained gleefully that he liked everyone else to be much more wasted, so that he could be the one to take all the pictures and embarrass them on Facebook the next day. Since Jazzy was drinking a mix that was ten percent Sex on the Beach and ninety percent sparkling water, she wasn’t in any danger of becoming a Facebook victim, and Lily didn’t particularly want to get hammered and start spilling the beans on the fact that she wasn’t actually human after all.
    It was hard to accept that, much harder than the idea of having supernatural powers, a prospect that she actually quite liked the sound of once she’d passed through the initial phase of shock. Novel had left her with an open invitation to return to the Theatre Imaginique should she want to begin exploring her powers, so long as she arrived between the hours of 5p.m. and 5a.m.. She didn’t like to ask about the unsociable time, but at least it didn’t interfere with any classes.
    “Come on then, let’s see you dance,” Michael insisted, setting Lily’s drink down for her and dragging her to the floor.
    Lily quickly beckoned for Jazzy to follow so that they would be in a group. She wasn’t sure what was stopping her from pursuing anything with Michael, but the instinct was there and so she had followed it. She definitely fancied him – how could anyone not, with his model looks, floppy hair and muscles sneaking out everywhere under his clothes – but his personality required more investigation. Lily hadn’t really got under his skin, or seen anything about him that was deeper than his daft college boy charm, so there was no sense in getting involved until she knew more. Lily wasn’t about to make the fatal mistake of having a quick fling with a guy she’d have to spend the next two years making awkward conversation with afterwards, even if he was a Grade A stud.
    The three of them went out to join the crowd of people dancing, avoiding a section of violently drunk twerkers that now included Bianca and Jess. When they found a good spot, Lily let the Katy Perry song take her back to a less complicated time, hardly listening as Michael and Jazzy remarked on how wasted the others were and started the process of committing their images to digital memory forever more. In her musical reverie, Lily started to wonder if all the tension with her mother had something to do with this shade thing. Though she loved her mum in that automatic, dutiful way that all good kids did, they had never really gotten along, always bickering and butting heads on every little issue, even when Lily was tiny. And then there’d been the silent treatment: those times when her mother would come in from work, shut herself in the living room and just plain avoid conversation with her daughter.
    It made Lily a little queasy as she remembered how it felt, that iron weight in the pit of her stomach, making her feel like she had done something wrong, even though nothing had really happened. She swayed a little slower as the club song changed, starting to feel warm as other people closed in around her. Maybe I didn’t have to do anything wrong. Maybe I am wrong. The throng of thrashing bodies filled with alcohol was starting to get on her nerves. Somebody nearby starting jumping and moshing and soon the whole floor was doing it. Lily took an elbow to the shoulder that gave her a sharp