Page 1 of Psycho Shifters

PROLOGUE

SADIE

I waited until Dick’s heavy footsteps stopped.

The tavern was eerily silent now that the beast was gone.

A smile split across my face, and I jumped off my bed. Although, bed was a generous term—I slept on a scratchy blanket spread across the hardwood floor.

Still, it was a great day. It was time to get my younger sister, Lucinda, so we could enjoy our freedom.

I dug out my stolen paper clip and began to work it into the door’s lock. It took me a while, my small ten-year-old fingers slipping and cramping as I contorted them.

Click.

The door opened, and I hurried to free Lucinda from her bedroom, which had a normal bed, desk, and dresser, unlike my mostly empty room.

We were both Dick’s servants, but he hated me and seemed to tolerate Lucinda. I didn’t know why he treated us differently, but Lucinda was a six-year-old angel of sweetness, so I hoped it stayed that way.

I could handle his anger.

Giggling and laughing, we grabbed our old wool coats and laced up our boots. Mine were a couple sizes too small, but I didn’t care; I was too excited to go out into the woods and away from the tavern.

I held Lucinda’s tiny hand as we stepped out into the cold temperatures of the shifter realm.

Cold wind howled, and a thick layer of snow covered the ground like usual.

Today, the red sun was high in the sky and blazed with warmth.

The brutal cold didn’t smack us in the face and steal our breath like normal. Instead, snow flurries drifted lazily from the partially blue sky.

It was a glorious summer day, and probably the warmest of the year.

I looked back and forth across the cobblestone street that ran in front of a few shops, the public library, and Dick’s tavern.

The library was the only place Dick let us occasionally visit, and we loved it there, but we couldn’t visit today because someone might see us and tattle.

Dick was our master; we were his servants.

This morning, he’d locked us in our rooms and taken his Yukata horse to do business in a neighboring town. Since we’d both been orphaned at his tavern as kids, we were Dick’s property.

Everyone in town knew it.

Now none of the realm’s furry horses clopped past. Usually I loved seeing the horses with their long, shaggy fur, which let them survive the realm’s freezing cold.

But at the moment, I was glad no people were riding them about, since it meant we could escape without being caught.

I held Lucinda’s hand tight as we sprinted across the road into the thick forest. We ran, and ran, and left the sprawling valley town behind us.

“Finally, we are free of the beast!” I yelled as we hurtled deeper into the forest, weaving around thick tree trunks.

Pine needles blotted the sky, and the gaps through the branches revealed the towering white mountains that surrounded the valley.

Lucinda ran ahead of me, giggling like a maniac. She loved when we played “explorer” and chased each other through the mountainside.

“I’m going to get you!” I hollered and gnashed my teeth in her direction.

With my hands in front of me like claws, I pretended to be an alpha warrior.

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