All at once Allie knew where she had seen these two before. It wasn’t their faces she recognized—because the faces were different—but their presence was the same. This was the old man and the little boy she had run into in the last town. But they had never been a little boy or an old man, any more than she had been the chubby girl eating a snickers bar. They were skinjackers!

The “businessman” pushed her painfully back against the gas pump, jarring loose the nozzle, which clattered to the ground. “Looks like we’ve finally caught up with Jackin’ Jill!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Don’t lie to us!” And his grip on her shoulders got tighter.

Well, they weren’t the only ones who could use flesh to their advantage. Pain was a two-way street. She lifted her knee sharply, nailing the “businessman” where it counts. His cold eyes went wide, and he doubled over in pain, yowling. Then, as the “gas station attendant” reached for her, she grabbed the gas hose, and swung the nozzle at his head. It connected with his jaw, spinning him around.

Wasting no time, she peeled herself out of Wanda, returning to Everlost. The two men were on the ground now, and Allie could see the skinjackers inside them beginning to squirm their way out. They must have been spying on her the other day when she jumped into the Snickers girl. If they had been there to watch her skinjack, and saw her peel out, too, it would be easy to follow Allie all the way here, jacking these two men as soon as she took over Wanda.

Well, Wanda and those poor men would have to sort this out for themselves, because Allie wasn’t about to stand there and wait to be attacked again. She turned and ran to the dock, where Mikey was waiting.

Mikey, however, was having his own problems. He had hopped off the horse right after Allie had left, and as soon as she was out of view, he began to practice changing again.

It took a minute or two to gain enough focus to do it— especially with the rain, which was an unpleasant distraction. Just as before, he trained all of his attention on his right hand—this time trying to force the growth of a sixth finger. It worked! The finger sprouted right between his thumb and index finger, growing to be just as long as his pinky— but then kept on growing. Soon it was as long as his index finger—and still it didn’t stop. No big deal, he thought. He just needed to regain his focus. He started this, so he could stop it. But then a seventh finger began to grow next to his pinky—and an eighth sprouted from his palm.