AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you get tired of waiting for chapters, the entire book is avaible on Amazon in print and on Kindle!

  Chapter een

  I burst through the doors of the Grand Lark.

  "Somebody's got some expining to do!" I yelled as loudly as my poor, battered lungs could manage.

  The cil chamber froze, four sets of eyes turning to stare at me in shock. I hobbled inside, leaning on Sptsy like a crutch. On the left side of the room, sitting right in front of the massive hole I’d blown into the wall during my fight with Legion, was Grandpa Teddy. On the ter right atrion, representative of the Purples on the cil of Shnoob. On the far right, imperious and arrogant, sat Ichabod Hench, representative of the Reds—and the rotten schmuck responsible for all my problems. His lip reflexively rose in disgust when he looked at me.

  To Patricia's left stood ay seat. Normally Victoria Verde, representative of the Greens, would sit there. But ever since she had made her panicked escape from Legion’s atta the Grand Lark, nobody had been able to find her. So for the past two months, while the rest of the cil sat with their thumbs up their he Greens had gohout a representative.

  Someone grabbed me by my shoulder, and I spun around, expeg to see that Ombo and bo had overe their initial shock. The duards still hadn't fotten how I had clobbered them both the same day Victoria went missing. That was the only thing Legion had done while wearing my body that I hadn't minded.

  Instead, it was Ethan.

  "Henry, stop!" he begged me. He was breathing hard. Even though I could barely stand on my ow, I had gotten over here so fast that he'd barely been able to keep up. "Please, don't do this!"

  The fear in his eyes made me pause, but my hesitation was quickly burned away by the rage that was inside me. I pushed his hand away a him there. It wasn't like I was going to murder the cil or anything.

  Gring at each of the representatives in turn, I limped to the ter of the room. A lone Purple stood there, eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

  "I…I…I…" he stammered. "I h-have an a-appoi."

  I gred at him too.

  "Okay, then," he whimpered, bag away. "I'll just wait outside."

  The heavy doors closed behind him, and for a long moment the entire room was silent.

  "Well, I hope you have a good excuse for this, Hea," Ichabod's booming voice echoed through the chamber.

  I gripped Sptsy so tight that my fingernails dug into her wooden handle, and just barely resisted the urge to blurt out that, yes, I did have a good excuse, and tell everyone his dark and terrible secret: that he was the one building the ughter farms. He had created Legion. Everything that was happening was his fault!

  But I swallowed those accusations. They wouldn't do me any good if I didn’t have proof. He would get what was ing to him, but today I had other problems to deal with.

  "What is wrong with you people?" I demaurning to look at all of them again.

  "I hardly think that's the proper attitude to take, young dy," snapped Patricia, "seeing how you just interrupted a very importaing."

  Ichabod snorted. "Yes, very important."

  Patricia pursed her lips. "Making sure Mauldibamm's sewage system remains operational may not be gmorous, but it is important."

  My cheeks turned blue with anger. I had barged ihe way I had because I thought that'd make me impossible to ignore. What did I have to do to keep these idiots' attention? Blow up the Grand Lark a sed time? A few choice curses came to mind, and I opened my mouth—

  "Henry, you're supposed to be in the hospital!" Grandpa Teddy excimed before I could speak.

  "I think I deserve some kind of expnation," I yelled, spinning to face him. He flinched, and I immediately felt bad for talking that way to him. If there was one kon in this room I could trust, it was him.

  "I wasn't aware that the cil had to justify anything it did," Ichabod said mogly. "Especially not to spoiled children."

  Grinding my teeth, I turo him again. "I deserve to know why you're doing this to me! Why are you restrig my ughter supply? Why are y to keep me in the hospital? I know you're the one doing this, you fat ball of—"

  "Henry Rider!" Grandpa Teddy cut me off. Good thing too, because I don't think the word out of my mouth would have been a type of food. "Ichabod isn't the one who made that decision. I am!"

  The room fell silent again. Those words echoed in my head. I am. I’m the one who kept you in a a for a week, Henry. I'm the one who isn't letting your body heal. I'm the one who betrayed you!

  I felt like I was going to faint.

  "But…" I stammered. "But why?"

  Grandpa Teddy sighed, looking down at his hands. "Henry, the m after you were brought to the hospital, another body was found."

  "Another…oh, creens!" I gasped in horror. The ghul girl! With everything else that was happening, I'd fotten all about her! "Grandpa Teddy, I know who's been killing people! It's not , there's another—"

  "Enough, Henry!"

  I froze in shock. Grandpa Teddy never raised his voice!

  "I told you that any further casualties would be on your head," he went on. "You've been ag very recklessly tely. That is a quality that the Hunter has nht to have. People have died because of your irresponsibility, Henry!"

  "Because of me?" I echoed back, uo believe what I was hearing. Had someohrown me bato Feverdream Field? Was this all another mushroom induightmare?

  "If you had acted instead of wasting time trying to prove an ungrouheory, then there would have been no sed victim!"

  "But isn't—"

  "And that is why I decided you o be punished." Grandpa Teddy gave me a cold scowl. The expression looked wrong on his face. "You are to remain in the hospital until you are fully healed. You will only be given enough ughter to keep you alive, so that your body will be forced to heal itself naturally. That will give you plenty of time to think about your as."

  Tears were stinging my eyes now. "Grandpa…"

  "When you are eventually released, you may resume your duties as Hunter. Hopefully by then you will have learo take your position more seriously. Until then, we have made arras for someone else to take your pce as Ag Hunter."

  Ag Huhose words reighe ahat had driveo e here in the first pce.

  "Okay, fine." I argued. "Maybe I screwed up. I admit that. But you couldn’t find ater to repce me than—”

  "Me!"

  The chamber doors burst open again, and I spun around just as a red haired, leather cd figure strode into the room with a desding smile.

  "—than Cousin Gumdrop?" I finished.

  The grin fell from her face, her paintmarks fshing with red light, and she took a step toward me with her fist raised.

  "Alicia!" Grandpa Teddy snapped.

  Cousin Gumdrop stopped, but her eyes stayed locked with mine, and I could see just how badly she wao hurt me.

  Grandpa Teddy got down from his seat, his e clig softly against the marble floor. "Yes, Henry. Alicia Wolfe has assumed your duties as Hunter. She is fully qualified, so you don't have to worry. She will keep things well in hand while you're incapacitated. And when you recover, she will stand down a you take up your duties again."

  "Assuming they still want you to," Cousin Gumdrop sneered.

  Grandpa Teddy ignored her. "Ombo? bo?"

  The Grand Lark's guards poked their heads timidly into the room.

  "Take my granddaughter back to the hospital, please."

  The look of horror on their faces would have been a treasured memory in any other circumstaoday all I felt was betrayal. Betrayal from the one person I thought would always have my back. I fought to keep the tears from esg my eyes, but I could tell it was a losing battle.

  "I don't need an escort!" I yelled, hobbling toward the exit before they could see me cry.

  I would do what he said. I'd go back to the hospital and wait for my body to heal on its own. Maybe my feelings would heal by then too. would be okay, I told myself. Once I got released, I'd find that hul and—

  "Oh, and don't worry about your little ghul problem," Cousin Gumdrop called just as I reached the door. "I'll have it all taken care of by the time you're back!"

  I froze, horror crashing down on me. Would she really…oh, yes, she absolutely would! If it hurt me, there was nothing she wouldn't do.

  And that meant was in grave danger.

  I limped as quickly as I could out of the Grand Lark, not looking back or even gng at Ethan as he joined me. My heart was rag. My blood felt like ice. And with every step I took, Cousin Gumdrop's mog ughter rang in my ears.