“People see him and think that he's just a big, dumb guy. He likes radio because no one can see him and judge him on his appearance.

Madison likes it because she's everyone's equal in there. She can't see them, they can't see her."

Heda almost laughed. Billy was standing behind his friend and was physically pushing her out the door. She didn't look happy about it.

As soon as she cleared the door, her face fixed directly on Heda's location. Those eyes were white with just a trace of pink, and it was more than a little disconcerting. Billy looked at Sasha and then nodded his head in the direction Madison had been pushed out of. The girl stood up and went with her boyfriend into the back.

The tension was so thick you could almost walk on it. Heda stared at Madison, who seemed to be staring right back. Heda saw that glowing brown light encompass those eyes.

"I --" Madison started.

"I. . . I'm sorry," she said at last, looked completely humiliated.

‘Give her a break,’ Billy had asked. Heda sucked in a breath.

“It's okay. Sasha explained the whole Trojan Horse thing. I'm -—" She stopped. The girl probably didn't want pity.

“I'm not like that. It pisses me off that anyone could even think that was cool."

Madison's heart was thundering in her chest. She really didn't want to have this conversation, but Billy was right. She need to own up to the way she had behaved.

"It was just . . . just that Alvin harassed me, and suddenly you were there to introduce yourself. Alvin and his friends came after me in the woods, and you happened to be there."

Heda sighed.

"Wrong place, wrong time."

“But it wasn't. That's the most physical they've ever gotten, and I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there. One on one, I'll fight any of them as best I can she said, her voice determined now.

"But I can't face them all.

“How's your arm?" Heda asked.

“Okay. I shifted a couple of times and that helped. Not that it's going to help my case against him at all. I'm sure they'll have the ‘It doesn't look so bad. I'm sure he wasn't trying to hurt you,’ excuse Lined up."

“Hey, people appear to have heard of me, so we'll make my name mean something." Heda cocked her head.

"Mind explaining how you can see me?"

Madison blushed.

"I can't believe I was that careless. Yeah, I guess I've got a Gift. You know what echolocation is?"

“Bad radar?"

"Sonar is closer, but yeah. A lot of bat species have it, and I can use a souped-up version of it in human form. It's better than sight in some ways and worse in others. I can see three-hundred and sixty degrees with it, and it's pretty damn clear up to a hundred yards or so for me. But I can't see if someone's a shifter with it, and I can't even look through glass. I can tell you that something IS glass, but that's about it."

“Why not tell people?"