Free Othersphere by Nina Berry Page B

cookie-cutter than I was used to. So 1491 only differed from 1493 and 1495 because it had been painted a lighter beige and had a familiar white pickup truck parked in the driveway.
    â€œThat’s one of the trucks we saw last night,” I said.
    â€œThen we’re going in,” London said, shooting Arnaldo a look.
    â€œReconnaissance is ready,” Arnaldo said, pulling his sweatshirt over his head.
    â€œYeah, yeah, me, too.” November rolled up the bag of candy she’d been dipping into for the last hour and stashed it.
    We parked around a bend in the road, waited till an SUV filled with kids in soccer uniforms drove by, and let Arnaldo and November slip out. Arnaldo’s eagle form was too large for him to shift completely inside the car, so Lazar slid the moonroof back. Arnaldo stood up on his seat, bare chest poking out of the roof, and, with a tremble of air, shifted.
    I could just see a gnarled yellow talon holding the edge of the open moonroof. Then his fierce head, covered in snow-white feathers, poked down, and he fixed us with one shining golden eye.
    â€œOkay, okay,” November said. She kept talking, but after a brief pause, the words became squeaks. What had been a girl in the back seat in a fatigue jacket and skinny jeans became a pile of clothing and crumbs. A lump under the jacket moved, chittering, and November’s little pink nose peeked out, her gray-and-white whiskers bristling. London opened the door for her, and November leapt onto the strip of grass next to the sidewalk.
    Arnaldo lifted his head and with a flap of his huge brown wings, rose from the roof of the SUV, shoving it away with his powerful feet.
    â€œHe’s awfully big for the suburbs,” London said, craning her neck to watch the eagle fly toward number 1491 Cherry Drive.
    â€œBut federally protected,” I said. “The worst thing that happens is someone sights him and they think, ‘Cool! The bald eagle is really coming back.’ ”
    â€œUnless Ximon has infrared cameras on his roof,” Caleb said, his voice bland.
    â€œUnlikely,” Lazar said, even more neutral. “They aren’t cheap or easy to install discreetly, and it’s not like he had time to take any with him when he ran off.”
    â€œAnd if they set off an alarm, they set off an alarm,” I said.
    London stepped out of the car. “Time for us to go.”
    We followed her out of the SUV and split up. Caleb and London strolled back around the corner toward the front of 1491, while Lazar and I headed in the opposite direction to go around the back. There was no alley behind the houses here. They sat back to back with another row of houses just like them, separated by a tall wooden fence. So we would have to move a little faster and do more climbing than our friends.
    Lazar took my hand. Nervous, I glanced over my shoulder before we rounded the corner to see the long dark line of Caleb walking next to the loping, lanky form of London, the blond top half of her head faintly green under the streetlights. Caleb turned at the last moment to look back our way. I yanked my hand out of Lazar’s; then we turned the corner.
    Lazar was staring at me. “I need my hand,” I mouthed to him. But his face was blank. Did he realize I’d pulled away because of Caleb?
    â€œTesting,” I said, a finger to the receiver in my ear. Lazar had fashioned headsets for us a few weeks back, and we’d practiced using them in a few classes. Now that I could channel excess energy into the ground, I could keep it from shorting out. Probably. Caleb had refused to wear one, as if the fact that it came from Lazar and the Tribunal tainted it.
    â€œI hear you.” London’s voice was tinny in my ear. “We’ll wait for your signal.”
    â€œThanks.” I turned to Lazar. “Let’s get ahead of them. Count down.”
    We picked up the pace to a slow jog. “One,” Lazar said