Battle of the Beasts

Chapter 40 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 41 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 42 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 43 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 44 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 45 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 46 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 47 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 48 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 49 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 50 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 51 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 52 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 53 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 54 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 55 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 56 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 57 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 58 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 59 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 60 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 61 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 62 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 62 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 63 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 64 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 65 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 66 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 67 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 68 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 69 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 70 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 71 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 72 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 73 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 74 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

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Brendan Walker knew the package would be there by eight a.m. It had to be. He had selected “FedEx First Overnight” on the website; he had confirmed that in his zip code (in Sea Cliff, San Francisco), “First Overnight” meant eight a.m.; he had even woken up continually during the night to hit Refresh on the FedEx tracking page. If the package didn’t arrive at his house by eight, how could he go to school?

“Brendan! Get down here!”

He turned away from his laptop and went to the trapdoor that was the only exit out of his room. Sometimes he thought it was strange that his room was actually the attic of a three-storey, Victorian-style house, but mostly he thought it was cool. Besides, it was one of the least weird things about his life.

He hit the latch. The trapdoor swung away, unfolding into steps that led from the attic to the hallway below. He hopped down and folded the steps back behind him, tucking the rope that hung from the trapdoor inside, so it dangled down several centimetres less than normal. This way, if anybody entered his room while he was at school, he would know.

“Brendan! Your breakfast is getting cold!”

He ran towards his mom’s voice.

In the hallway, Brendan passed three photos of the home’s former owners: the Kristoffs. They had built the place in 1907. Their pictures were faded, overlaid with pastel colours that appeared to have been added years later. Denver Kristoff, the father, had a grim face and a square beard. His wife, Eliza May, was pretty and demure. Their daughter, Dahlia, was a cute, innocent-looking baby in the photos – but Brendan knew her by a different name, with a different set of skills.

She was the Wind Witch. And she had almost killed him half a dozen times.

Fortunately, she hadn’t been a problem for six weeks. She was … How would the cops put it? “Missing and presumed dead”, Brendan thought. Brendan’s little sister, Eleanor, had used a magical book to banish her to “the worst place ever” and they hadn’t heard from her since. Which meant it was probably time to take down her picture. But whenever Brendan’s parents brought up that idea, Brendan protested, along with Eleanor and his older sister, Cordelia.