Plot summary from query:
Reddos possess infinite knowledge and can answer any question in the world—at least they could until seventeen-year-old Sophie Rowan’s simple question stumps them.
When Sophie helps new-boy-at-school Hugh Kedoa, the last thing she
expects is for him to claim he’s a Reddo (mythical creatures don’t exist, after
all). He offers her five answers for helping him, but when Sophie finally takes
his offer and asks her dearest question, Hugh can’t answer.
So much for infinite knowledge.
Soon Sophie finds herself tangled in the world of Reddos, which
includes glowing silver eyes, healing body parts, and one ability that leaves
her with a head full of stitches. After befriending Hugh’s family, she learns
that a power-hungry
businessman with a vendetta is hunting them. He discovered how to kill Reddos
and take their most dangerous ability for himself.
When an attempt to find her answer goes horribly wrong, Sophie realizes
her involvement in the Kedoas’ lives not only jeopardizes their safety, but
also puts her on the enemy’s radar. Caught between a family she can’t help but
care about and their merciless hunter, Sophie makes choices that expose
secrets, start fires (literally), and put her in the path of the man who can
destroy both her and the Reddos’ world.
And she used to think her Reddo-fooling ability was her biggest
concern.
First 250:
The shadow in the forest flinched. At least Sophie
thought it did.
She edged to her left to get a better look at it,
ignoring the squelch that arose when she wrenched her boot from the mud. For a
full two minutes she had scrutinized this shadow, the human-like shape that had
appeared off this trail at Ellery Wildlife Preserve. If it ended up being a
tree, she would feel like an idiot for lingering in the woods when her boss was
probably going to skin her alive for taking so long already. But if this shadow
was a person, something about its
stance made Sophie think its eyes were on her. Watching her.
She tilted her head to blink away the downpour. Her gaze
froze on a trail of boot prints.
They originated at the edge of the path and disappeared
into the green-tinged fog that had consumed the forest.
Sophie’s eyes traced the zig-zag tread stamped into the
mud. Her breath seized in her chest. Footprints couldn’t start at the edge of the trail, unless someone had
dropped out of the sky into the preserve. And Ellery had closed to everyone
except the preservation crew half an hour ago.
Sophie peered up at the shadow—or, more likely, trespasser—again.
“Who’s there?” she called
out, grateful that the wind muffled the quaver in her voice. “Uh, the preserve
is closed!”
That sounded especially
pitiful, even for her.
She took one slow,
tentative step off the trail. In a blur of movement, the trespasser spun and
sprinted into the gloom.
