The Other Side of Truth (The Marked Ones Trilogy Book 3) Read Free

Viking helmet, a periwinkle tutu, a red superhero cape, a pair of fairy wings, and what I was pretty sure was a set of purple bunny pajamas.
    Chan-rin , the voice whispered again, with a sad, tragic sort of longing coating the name. A sadness that I didn’t quite feel myself.
    When Chan-rin finally released Travis, he crouched down in front of her. “Hey, Chan-rin, look what Aku got you,” he said with an equally large grin as he presented the orange pumpkin candy pail to her.
    “Yay!” she said, clapping her hands together, and then she stopped. “What is it, Big-Big Brother?”
    “Why don’t I let Aku explain it to you while I go talk to Ms. Cowens.”
    “Okay, Big-Big Brother!” Chan-rin said cheerfully before bounding over to me.
    Aku was what Chan-rin had known me as while we had spent our time in the Kakodemoss facility. And even though it dredged up bad memories and pain, I still let her use the name. Mainly because I didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t actually my real name.
    “They didn’t have a candy pail small enough for Nikko, so you’ll just have to share, okay, Chan-rin?” I said as I patted the head of the stuffed purple rabbit she never let out of her sight.
    “Chan-rin can share. Chan-rin is good at sharing!” Chan-rin replied good-naturedly, her eyes turning into happy curved slits.
    I crouched down so I was on her level, and pointed at the pumpkin. “So how this works, basically, is we go door to door and you say ‘trick-or-treat’ and people will give you candy.”
    “Chan-rin says ‘trick-or-treat’ and they will give Chan-rin candy?” she repeated uncertainly.
    I sighed, a wry smile spreading across my lips. When you had to explain it, the whole modern idea of Halloween did sound a bit ridiculous. “It will make much more sense when we get to the mall and you see all the other kids doing it, Chan-rin, trust me.”
    “Chan-rin has always trusted Aku,” Chan-rin stated firmly, the seriousness in her eyes seeming much older than eight.
    I will protect you always, Chan-rin. Never doubt that , the voice whispered again.
    I swallowed down the heavy feelings in my chest. “I just hope that pail is big enough for all the candy you’re gonna get,” I said around sudden lump in my throat.
    Chan-rin cocked her head to the side in confusion before she looked down at the candy pail again. She stared at the plastic pumpkin deep in thought for a moment as if it might possess some strange candy-granting magical powers before she looked back at me with an excited grin. She might not have understood the concept of Halloween, but she did understand the concept of candy being something good.
    I smiled at her conspiratorially. “When I was your age I got so much candy, I didn’t run out until—”
    A sick feeling hit me hard in the chest, stealing my breath. I had been two when the Kakodemoss had taken me. Which meant that every memory I had of trick-or-treating was a lie.
    Every.
    Single.
    One.

If You Could Be Anything
    Wednesday, October 31st

    NUALLA

    O kay, maybe the skirt was a little too short, I admitted to myself as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I had leaned over to finish tying the thick ribbons on my sleek black over-the-knee boots and the black shredded tutu had risen up to reveal the curve of my butt. In my defense, I was wearing thick white tights, but really, they weren’t doing anything to hide the fact that I was wearing a thong.
    I stood back up, and pushed the black feathered mask down my forehead into place with a huff. Well, fuck it, it was too late to change my mind now.
    I grabbed my stuffed gray cat off the shelf and flopped down onto my huge bed like I was about to make a snow angel. Though in these boots laced up like pointe shoes, a black corset, and this apparently way damn indecent skirt, I looked anything but an angel.
    We were going to Happy Hallow After, a fairytale themed Halloween rave party at the Glass Dragon that we had bought