Blue Fire. Janice Hardy

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       For Kristin and Donna, Because they said yes.

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Chapter Twenty-Two

      Chapter Twenty-Three

      Chapter Twenty-Four

      Chapter Twenty-Five

      Chapter Twenty-Six

      Chapter Twenty-Seven

      Chapter Twenty-Eight

      Acknowledgements

      Other titles in this series

       Back Ad

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

      Chapter One

      Responsibility was overrated. Sure, it sounded good – take control of your own life, make your own choices – but that also meant you had to pay for your own mistakes. And if your life and choices hadn’t gone the way you’d planned, well, then your mistakes might reach deeper than your pockets could afford.

      I hoped mine were deep enough for the mess I’d caused.

      I watered the lake violets in the front sunroom. Just busy work, but I had to do something other than sit in the town house worrying while my friends were out risking their lives. I should have been out there with them, but I’d been recognised on our last rescue mission, and it wasn’t safe outside for me any more. Not that Geveg had been all that safe in the five years since the Baseeri invaded; but being hunted by the Duke, his soldiers, Geveg’s Governor-General, and who knew how many trackers added a whole new level of danger.

      “Is Aylin back yet?” asked Tali, lurking in the doorway. Some girls hovered behind her, a few Takers we’d rescued last week but hadn’t managed to smuggle off the isles yet.

      “No,” I said, “she’s still out looking.” So was Danello, but Tali always worried more about Aylin, which was silly. Aylin could take care of herself – Danello was the one with the street smarts of a hen.

      “Is it bad that it’s taking so long?”

      I hesitated. “I don’t know. It depends if the recruiters are snatching people off the street again.”

      The Takers behind Tali paled and backed away. None had been grabbed by the Healers’ League’s new “recruiters”, but we all knew people who had been: pulled from their homes, dragged to the League, forced to heal – even if it killed us.

      It was nine shades of wrong. The League used to invite only Takers with strong healing talents to become apprentices, those who had real futures as Healers. But now? You didn’t have a choice. The Duke demanded that any Taker with even a trace of healing ability had to serve at the League. The lucky ones were trained. The unlucky – they wound up in a small, windowless room somewhere, being experimented on.

      The Duke of Baseer had his war to win, whatever the cost to us.

      “I’m sure they’re fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

      I glanced at the Takers behind Tali, slipping away one by one to go cower in their rooms. It shouldn’t be this way. The Healers’ League was supposed to train Takers to heal and help. Becoming a Healer used to be something every Taker dreamed of, like Tali had. Like I had.

      Now it was just a nightmare.

      Tali hadn’t moved, and she had that little-sister-stubbornness look about her again. “Should we go look for her?”

      If only I could. They had been gone an awfully long time. “You know we can’t leave the town house.”

      “You can’t, but I can.”

      “You can’t either. It was hard enough rescuing you from the League once. I’m not letting them get you again.”

      She pouted, her brow wrinkling the way it always did when she was trying to decide if it was worth an argument or not.

      “You can help Soek with lunch,” I offered. “You know how much he needs it.”

      “He’s making that fish stew again,” she said. “Took me three days to get the smell out of my hair last time.”

      “Maybe you can—”

      “Nya, I can help with the Takers, you know I can.” She stared at me, defiance in her brown eyes, and tucked a curl behind an ear. She’d dyed her blonde hair red, like Aylin’s used to be, and it had put some fire into her as well.

      “It’s just too dangerous right now,” I said more gently this time. “Can you please check on the others and make sure they’re OK? You know how scared they are. I’m fine here, really.”

      Tali didn’t say anything, but the defiance was gone, replaced by concern. “Are you sure?”

      “Yes.”