Sunblind Read Free Page A

special-effects display was brought to you by the letter O for Omikami,” Jess explains. “Just something I’ve been working on for a while to, you know, test the limits of my skill set.”
    I nod my head in gratitude, too exhausted and shocked and confused to respond.
    â€œWe’re very much the same, you and I,” she adds.
    Looking at her splendid beauty, I have no idea what she’s talking about.
    â€œWe’re both works in progress,” she says, one hand running its fingers through my fur. “We’re both finding our places in this world and in our new selves.”
    Impatiently, I nod my head. Not because I don’t agree with Jess or want to hear what she has to say, but because the hunger has returned. Licking my lips, I walk toward the dead rabbits, unable to contain my joy.
    â€œAnd that, Dominysan, is my cue to leave,” Jess says. “I love you, but I cannot watch you eat. It is beyond gross.”
    Before I can say good-bye, Jess disappears, taking her sunshine with her and leaving me alone in the glow of the moon. The truth, however, is that I’m never alone. I’m never just me. For the rest of my life I’m destined to have a companion, a connection. Like darkness and light, like the sun and the moon, the wolf and the girl will never be separated.
    So which came first, the wolf or the girl?
    It doesn’t really matter, because it looks like they’re both here to stay.

Chapter 1
    The first day of school. A time to reconnect with friends you haven’t seen all summer long, a time to ponder which new clubs and sports you should join, a time to promise yourself that this is the year you’ll finally get that 4.0 GPA. For me, it’s a time to figure out which one of my fellow classmates wants me dead.
    Munching on a trans-fat-free French fry that tastes more like imported cardboard than France’s most delicious import, I scour the lunchroom, looking like an eyewitness trying to pick out a criminal in a lineup through a one-way window in a police station. My stare is focused, yet indifferent. Who could be the guilty party? Could it be Rayna Delgado? She’s always been jealous of my red hair. Once in eighth grade she dyed her own black hair to match mine and turned out looking like Ronald McDonald’s younger, but way uglier, sister. Luckily for her it was a few days before Halloween, so the whole school thought she was getting a jump start on the festivities. I knew better.
    It could also be The Dandruff King himself, Danny Klausman, if he somehow found out that I’m the one who dubbed him The Dandruff King. I can’t imagine he would interpret that nickname as a term of endearment. Either of them could have been part of last night’s witch hunt, but it could have been anyone at school for that matter. Since I was hidden by Jess’s wall of flames, I couldn’t see who obtained a membership. Other than Barnaby and Louis, whose voices I recognized, I have no idea who the town vigilantes are. Scratch that! A third member just sauntered into the lunchroom—Jody Buell. He’s my brother’s best friend and Siammate—I call him that because he and my brother are joined at the hip. If Barnaby was playing teenage avenger, guaranteed that Jody was his superhero sidekick.
    Incredible how one night can change everything. Yesterday, most of these kids were my friends; today I look at them with a much more cynical eye. I mean, I know that high school can sometimes be a battleground, with everyone jockeying for the top spot, but I never got caught in the crossfire. I’m not the prettiest or the most popular or the smartest, but at Weeping Water High School—Two W to us locals—I’m way closer to the top spot in each category than to the bottom. Translation: I’ve never had to work that hard to be liked by my fellow classmates or, honestly, most of my teachers. It doesn’t hurt that my father