Free Black Moon Sing (The Turquoise Path Book 1) by L. M. Hawke Page A

daylight was unusual enough to attract mild interest. In her animal form, the imperative to move northeast—back toward the Navajo Nation, toward whatever called to her—was even stronger, more difficult to resist. She shook her head and the ruff of gray-brown fur around her neck, and kept on moving.
    What is Hosteen doing now? she wondered. Is he any closer to solving the murder and finding justice for Roanhorse?
    And what on Earth did he think of Ellery for flying off the way she had?
    Undoubtedly he thought it was unforgivably rude, but Ellery didn’t care. Served him right for trying to spring another cop on me .
    Still, maybe she ought to go back and make amends… apologize to him. After all, he was working on behalf of Roanhorse, and Ellery cared about her friend….
    Yes, maybe I should go back. Back that direction. Back toward—
    The blaring of a car’s horn and the screech of tires on pavement jarred Ellery back to her senses. She leaped and twisted in the air, narrowly avoiding the car that had been speeding toward her. The heat of the road’s paving seared up through her paws as she touched down again; Ellery spun, disoriented, and saw nothing but lanes of traffic all around her, speeding cars, staring human faces, and smelled the stench of exhaust and oil.
    She was in the middle of the street.
    How the hell did I get here?
    Snuffling with rising fear, staring helplessly around as cars zinged past, she spotted the edge of the sidewalk across a lane of traffic. She crouched, trembling, and a car slowed as it approached. Ellery seized the moment and bolted in front of it, running as fast as she could toward the sidewalk. The driver honked at her, but Ellery was fast enough to avoid its bumper.
    She kept running past the sidewalk and darted into a prickly hedge at the edge of somebody’s yard. There she curled up in the cool shade, huddling tight around her own coyote form until her breathing grew steady again, and her heart slowed to a less frantic pace.
    I almost got hit. I almost got hit! How could I have been so careless?
    It was that damn calling—the force pulling her back toward the Rez. It had completely overwhelmed her senses, had shut out all conscious thought. Like a fool, she had let her guard down and had surrendered to its power.
    That can’t happen again . Another brush with traffic could kill her, and then she’d find herself in the other world with her dead spirit-animals.
    A chill struck her then, so sharp and deep it cut off her breath for a heartbeat or two.
    Is this what happened to Vivi? Did she shift into her cat form and give in to that force? Was she lured out into the street, and… and…
    No!
    Ellery wouldn’t allow herself to believe it. The smells of hot pavement, noxious fumes, and thick rubber were still thick in her muzzle, and the terrible vibration of cars at close range still rattled through her bones and ruffled her fur. He couldn’t imagine Vivi’s cat, so much smaller than Dusty, dragged helplessly into traffic by a force she could neither understand nor resist.
    And it’s clear that I can barely resist this force anymore, either. I need help if I’m going to be of any use to Vivi .
    When her paws felt steady enough to continue, Ellery crawled out from beneath the hedge and set off along the sidewalk again, headed for Sylvia’s pink adobe duplex. Her hour of searching wasn’t up yet, but Ellery would be worse than useless if she got herself hit by a car. She had to have some defense against that strange, summoning force, or she’d be roadkill before the next sunrise.
    She only hoped Sylvia could provide a solution to her problem.

CHAPTER EIGHT

     
    E llery was huddled on Sylvia’s front step, hugging her knees to her chest, when her friends returned from their search.
    “Did you find anything?” River asked.
    But when Ellery made no reply—only hunched there, grim-faced and trembling—he sank down on the step beside her.
    “What’s the matter,