Blue Fire. Janice Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ leaned in closer and whispered into my ear. “But we both know that’s not why he really wants you.”

      Ropes bound my wrists together, same as Tali. Vyand had thrown us into a prisoner transport waiting in the rear courtyard of the Healers’ League. High stone walls and wrought-iron gates I recognised well fenced us in even more.

      The courtyard gate clanged open and Vyand entered, followed by four armed men. Tali slid closer and grabbed my hand.

      “Listen up,” Vyand called, walking over to us. “You have been extremely annoying. If you give me any more hassles, you’ll spend your nights in a box below decks, where it’s hot. Behave yourselves and you’ll get to sleep in a cage on deck, where it’s cool.”

      She flicked a hand in the air. “Mount up.”

      The cage dipped to one side as men climbed on to the driver’s bench. Seconds later the transport lurched forward and rolled on to Grand Canal Street. I frowned. Vyand was going to parade us through the streets, as if proving to Geveg that I was caught.

      Crowds of Baseeri gathered and watched the transport pass. I’d never been booed before. Yelled at, spat on, beaten, yes – but not booed.

      “Abomination!”

      “Murderer!”

      “I bet I’ve healed some of those people,” Tali muttered, dodging a rotten orange.

      “Tali, about that. What did you do when Vyand flashed us?”

      “Nothing.”

      “You had to do something. The flash didn’t hurt you.”

      “It burned a little, but that was it. Think I’m immune like you?”

      “You weren’t before.”

      She shrugged. “I was trying to get you to leave. I wasn’t thinking about anything but dragging you out of there.”

      Wait… Dragging. She’d been touching me. I closed my eyes, pictured us standing there. I’d felt something just before Vyand flashed us. A tingle, like she was pulling something from me. What if it had been my flashing immunity? Did she borrow it?

      “Put your hands over mine,” I said. “See if you can shift into me.”

      “What? I can’t do that.”

      “Just try.”

      She put her hands over mine and…

      “Nothing.”

      “I didn’t feel a tingle this time either.” Maybe she hadn’t done anything. I could have blocked her from the pain, or the angle of the flash had missed her. Maybe I’d drawn it away just as it hit her.

      “You have a plan to get us out of here, don’t you?” She looked at me, hope in her eyes. Her confidence was touching, but I wasn’t so sure I could live up to such faith. I had no idea how to get out of a locked prisoner transport. I couldn’t even escape in a city I knew as well as my own name.

      “They can’t keep us in this cage forever. When Vyand opens the door, I’ll shift and we’ll run.”

      She frowned. “That’s not one of your better plans.”

      “It’s all I have right now.”

      “OK. Tell me when you think of something else.”

      “We’re going to get out of this,” I promised. She smiled, but I don’t think she believed me.

      The taunts and thrown items stopped when we reached the rundown neighbourhood. People watched us go by, their expressions hard and cold, but for Vyand’s men, not for us. I could see the hopelessness, the defeat. That’s what the Duke had done to us: turned us into people who let our children be dragged through the city on display and hauled off to the very man who’d beaten us.

      “Free the Takers!”

      Danello? Shouts rang out all around us. Men with clubs and nets ran from the crowd. They swarmed over the main guard, catching him in a net before he could do more than turn. A half-dozen more ran for the horses. Aylin, Jovan, Bahari, Enzie. Even Winvik!

      A high-pitched whinny split the air. The horses reared, front legs pawing as some fishermen tried to throw blankets over them. The driver was on the ground, unconscious. I caught a glimpse of Barnikoff swinging a stick at one of the soldiers.

      “See? We don’t need a plan. We’re being rescued!”

      The horses shrieked again, and one kicked out its rear legs. The cage shuddered as hooves cracked against the front. The horse kept thrashing, trying to throw off the man clinging to its harness. The cage rocked like a boat on rough water.

      “Push harder!” Danello called above the noise.

      I screamed as the cage toppled and dragged the horses to the ground. Tali tumbled over me, her knee smacking painfully hard against my head. The door screeched open and a man hauled her out. Another seized my arm and yanked me to my feet. He hurried me away from the cage.

      “No, my friends are that way.” I tugged to return, but the man wouldn’t stop. Vyand’s men might have been surprised by the attack, but they hadn’t stayed that way long. More had appeared, surrounding the others with swords and pynvium rods. Danello backed away, shielding Tali and Aylin.

      “Wait, please!”

      The man kept leading me down the street.

      Away from Danello and Tali.

      Away from everyone.

      Saints and sinners! This wasn’t a rescue. It was a kidnapping.

      “Let go of me!” I couldn’t break free of the man’s grip. I pounded on his hand, but it was like smacking rock. I leaned over and bit his shoulder.

      He gasped and let me go.

      “I don’t think so,” said another man, coming up behind me before I could take a step. He grabbed my arms and half carried me down the street. There wasn’t a soul around.

      They hauled me into a rundown boardinghouse half a block farther along the street. The first man opened a door on the ground floor and shoved me inside.

      “We got her,” he said, shutting the door behind us.

      “Good.”

      I snapped around. A boy about twenty stood there, grinning like a cat.

      “What’s going on?” I asked, though my guts knew only one reason why anyone would save me from a tracker and take me away from my friends.

      “We’re earning a quick five thousand oppas.” He smiled and elbowed the man standing next to him. “See, Uncle? I told you this would work.”

      Chapter Five

      They wanted the bounty. Wanted it СКАЧАТЬ