Ghost Shadow (Moon Shadow Series Book 4) by Maria E Schneider Page A

surprised because he usually ignored me. His tentative hello was filled with the same wariness he always exhibited.
    “Is Troy around?” I asked.
    He whined, worried.
    “Yeah, me too.” I sat on the nearest rock, wishing I could run up to the tree and jump inside and gather sparks and be full forever. But without Troy here, the tree was probably dormant.
    I forgot myself for a moment and reached over to pet Spook. To my surprise, he scooted one hop closer and accepted my hand. “Cinderspark told me that Troy is marked by something. Maybe a demon, or something similar. Can you see the mark on Troy, Spook? Is there one on me? I was hoping Cinder had returned and would tell me more. Martin says a mark can’t be good and that the balance In Between is all wrong right now.”
    Spook whined and barked again, a quiet sound of desperation mixed with urgency. He trotted in a circle, undecided, but then hopped quickly towards the tree. He barked encouragement, planting his feet as though inviting me to play, but his tone was not that of a game.
    I hesitated, but Spook whined again. “Is Troy in there?”
    Spook turned stubborn then, sitting and barking, demanding that I get up. He wasn’t interested in sharing Troy’s whereabouts, but he wanted me to follow him.
    “Okay. You know this is dangerous, right?”
    Spook barked a low growl, his version of a snort. He was right. Everywhere In Between was dangerous.
    The tree was silent. When Troy was around, the jagged side sometimes shifted as though swaying in the breeze, but today it was as still as a rock.
    Spook sat next to the tree and waited for me to approach.
    “Can’t you enter without me?”
    He didn’t answer. I reached for the smooth surface, feeling it immediately, a warmth that wasn’t felt In Between often. Troy had to be inside. I wasn’t sure whether it would be good news or bad if I ran into him, but there was no point in standing here with my back exposed.
    I slipped into the darkness, Spook at my heels. Just as before, there was a nighttime sky, but with less stars this time. Maybe it was cloudy. The ley line was barely visible in the distance to my right. I would have headed that way, but Spook took the lead, pressing me towards the starlight, precisely where I had no desire to go.
    Without the constant hazy light of In Between, my eyesight was lacking. I reached for Spook and held on. The further we drifted, the more out of breath I felt, which was entirely strange because the dead don’t need air. There was no edge to fray me, yet there seemed to be less of me.
    The tunnel was narrow with rocks that contained varying hints of color; dull reds and yellowish browns as if they might be real, might be part of dirt-side.
    As we floated upwards, larger tree roots began to appear, a darker color than gray, poking through the rocks. The further we ventured, the thicker the roots, until they were crossing the tunnel and running along the bottom. My ghostly feet brushed against them, and I wasn’t too proud to slurp up the energy they contained.
    Water trickled somewhere, feeding these roots. The happy sound scared me because water In Between was an open invitation to another realm.
    Spook didn’t care about my fear or the water. He whined and coaxed me along.
    The tunnel narrowed further, forcing us to float single file.
    A dip was followed by a Y-shaped choice. The surface, probably full dirt-side, was still impossibly far away, but Spook chose that tunnel. The ley line was the other direction, beaming light down the corridors in a flickering dance even as we traveled away from it.
    Finally, Spook halted. He pushed his ghostly nose into an impression in the rocks. The dim glow from the ley line illuminated lighter brown roots. An odd shaped piece of metal, a ring, glinted up at us.
    I knelt, wondering about the root that had grown through the ring. The gemstone was flat and winked with color, a deep red with flecks of gold from the band that housed it. The