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logs.
    “Is he just going to lie there all night?” one of the girls said.
    “Pathetic,” said another sneering at me. “He couldn’t even make it over the fence.”
    I sat up and stared at them. What did they mean? I’d made it all the way to the top, I’d fallen almost forty feet with nothing but a few bruises to show for it. Why weren’t they celebrating me as some sort of miracle boy? An image flickered across my mind. Me slipping on the fence and just letting go. Me falling to the ground with a thud, and just lying there, as they all laughed and booed. I hadn’t made it to the top after all. So why did I remember it so clearly?
    I rubbed at the back of my head, trying to work out what the hell was going on. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
    I twisted around to see The Girl. She pulled her cigarette out of her mouth and flicked it into the air. It fizzed as it hit the damp grass.
    “Tyler?” she asked. “Scott Tyler?”
    I nodded, dumbly.
    “You’re under arrest.”

Chapter Three
    Asmall hand pulled me to my feet, then punched me in the arm.
    “What exactly do you think you were doing?” she said.
    “Whaa?” I was never good around pretty girls. Especially bad when it appeared I’d done something to really piss them off.
    “Shifting in public. Just to show off to your mates! Are you nuts?” She shoved my shoulder.
    “Oi! That hurt.”
    “It’s nothing compared to what the Regulators will do to you when they get here.” She shook her head and tutted.
    “Huh?’
    “So you can come in nice and quiet with me, or wait and get bagged and tagged, up to you.”
    “I really don’t know what you’re on about. Sorry,” I added, not entirely sure what I was apologising for.
    She took a step back and looked me up and down, her pale forehead wrinkling. “You’re a Shifter, right?”
    “Er, no. Not that I know what a Shifter is.”
    She tilted her head and stared at me, sizing me up.
    “Scott?” Hugo walked over. When he saw The Girl his eyes lit up and his eyebrows disappeared under his shaggy fringe. “Well, hello, there. Enchanted, I’m sure.” He stretched out his hand. The Girl ignored it. I had to hide my grin as Hugo glanced at his empty hand and then slipped it back in his pocket. “So. What is a lovely lady like yourself doing in a nasty place like this?”
    I’d never seen Hugo around a girl before, and I was glad I hadn’t. He was an embarrassment.
    “I’m here to steal Scott away for the evening.”
    To my shock, The Girl slipped her arm under mine and leaned her head against my shoulder. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. All I knew was that there were little bolts of electricity shooting up my arm and across my chest.
    “I… I…” was all I managed to say.
    “Well, lucky old Scott,” Hugo said, waggling his eyebrows. It looked as if he was having a stroke.
    “I guess. Must go. Great meeting you.” She grabbed my jacket and yanked me away. I goggled helplessly at Hugo. He made an obscene gesture and waved me on. Some friend he was turning out to be tonight. Didn’t he realise that this girl was clearly insane?
    Stumbling, I was dragged down an alleyway. It stank of tramp piss. I saw a rat skitter past.
    “Nice,” I said,
    The Girl pushed me against the wall.
    “Stop doing that!” I said, rubbing at my throbbing shoulder.
    “You seriously don’t know?”
    “Don’t know what?”
    She gave me that up and down look again, as if she was disappointed by what was standing in front of her. “You’re a Shifter.”
    “I’ve said already, I have no idea what you’re on about. And if you’ve done shouting at me, I’d like to leave now.”
    I half turned, but she grabbed my arm, a little more gently this time.
    “I’ve heard of rogues, but never people who just didn’t know,” she said, more to herself than to me.
    Her eyes met mine: the green of the sea in winter. Any pretence I might have made at leaving evaporated.
    “Who are you?” I asked, my voice