Free Mate Healer by Amber Kell Page A

champions," he said indicating the other kids.
    "Impressive," Lian replied dutifully.
    "We can hook you up with a rippin' board. Our sponsors send us new ones all the time," Blaine offered.
    Lian smiled. "I might take you up on that."
    "I can give you a place to stay," Blaine offered, kicking the sidewalk with one worn sneaker. "I mean, it's the least we can do."
    The other members of the team piped up in agreement.
    Considering his lack of options, Lian nodded. "Thanks. I'll take it if you're sure your parents won't mind."
    Blaine shook his head. "I live with my uncle and he loves to meet new people."
    "Okay." If it didn't work out, Lian wouldn't be any worse off than he'd been five minutes ago.

Chapter Five

    Lian followed Blaine from the area with broken sidewalks and shattered glass to a part of town where Lian wondered if he were dressed well enough to avoid getting arrested for vagrancy. No doubt about it, Blaine lived in the nicer area of whatever kingdom they were in.
    "Where exactly am I?"
    Blaine peeked at Lian curiously from under his floppy bangs. "What do you mean? Are you lost?"
    Lian shrugged. "I sort of ran away from where I was before and lost track of things."
    Blaine nodded. "I know what that's like. You're in King Raiston's kingdom. He's a pretty good guy but he's got a lot of area to look over and sometimes things get missed."
    "At least he tries." A lot of rulers were indifferent to their people but no one could watch over everything, and there still remained that pesky problem of free will.
    Blaine turned to walk up the steps of a large apartment building. Lian hesitated. "Come on. We've got lots of space and after I tell Uncle what you did, I'm sure he won't have a problem keeping you safe for a bit."
    Lian followed Blaine inside. Two men stood on either side of the inner corridor with the look of bodyguards about them. If he wasn't mistaken they had the hardware, too. Lian's steps began to drag until Blaine grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the elevators. Blaine pulled a chain out from beneath his shirt. A keycard dangled from a metal loop. With an experienced swipe, Blaine cleared the security card and pushed the penthouse suite. Lian wondered what he'd gotten into this time.
    As the transporter rose, Blaine chattered about the team and his boarding history. Lian listened with half an ear as his stomach plummeted to his toes. He really needed to talk to some dragonkin and get started on his research the whole reason he'd come to the planet to begin with. Assuming everything with Bourne ended well. If Bourne convinced the authorities to throw Lian off the planet, the dragonkin may never find the source of their fertility issues.
    The bell rang alerting them they'd reached the top floor.
    Blaine bounced out and Lian followed more slowly. Four more guards stood just inside. Lian automatically swept them with his magic. Several bone fractures, some bruising and… Lian froze. Walking over to the farthest guard on the left he poked at him with his magic.
    "Doc what are you doing?" Blaine asked.
    Lian continued to scan the man who had dragonkin blood. He couldn't tell how much but as he dug deeper Lian could see it in the DNA.
    "There's something wrong with him," Lian said, musingly.
    "There's nothing the fuck wrong with me, step back!" The guard snarled.
    "Hey, be nice Flin, this guy can like, heal with his hands. He's magic," Blaine said.
    Lian ignored the conversation running around him. Something was wrong. "What have you ingested in the past twenty-four hours?"
    "Why?" Lian could hear the suspicion in Flin's voice but he didn't check out the man's expression. With his focus deep inside the guard he saw nothing but floating particles in Flin's body.
    "Because something you ingested contained poison." Lian could see the little dots swirling around in the guard's bloodstream.
    "What? Blaine what kind of wacko did you bring home?" Flin asked.
    "What's going on here?" A new voice entered the