Free Heartless (Blue Fire Saga) by Scott Prussing Page A

Leesa and Cali walked out of the dorm together. Yesterday’s storm had blown out to sea, leaving a blue sky dotted with giant cotton ball clouds and temperatures that had climbed into the low fifties. The warmer air was carried by a stiff breeze out of the southwest. Leesa was wearing her grey sweatshirt with SAN DIEGO written in dark blue script on the chest, while Cali had donned a black and white striped knit sweater that had big purple streaks zigzagging down across the front. Both girls were wearing jeans.
    Dominic would be coming by in a little while and Leesa wanted to intercept him before he entered the dorm. She didn’t know that the BSI agents had been outside her dorm last night, nor did she know how close she and Cali had come to running into them on the way back from the library. Even so, she did not want to take the chance the agents might come around when Dominic was there. She had no idea how sensitive the Rome woman’s magic detecting power might be and did not want to risk her sensing Dominic’s magic. Cali had said Rome needed to touch a person to know whether he or she had magic, but Leesa didn’t know if that was true in all cases, especially with a wizard as powerful as Dominic.
    Still paranoid that the Bureau could somehow be eavesdropping on her calls, she had decided the simplest thing was just to come outside early and meet Dominic before he reached the dorm. She had brought Cali along so Cali could tell Dominic exactly what had happened when the agents had questioned her.
    They waited on the sidewalk in front of the dorm—to anyone watching, just two girls enjoying some fresh air and chatting happily. They did not see anyone who didn’t seem to belong here, but you never knew. Government agents could be very tricky—at least they were on television and in the movies. Every few moments, Leesa or Cali would take what they hoped seemed like an innocent glance up or down the sidewalk, looking for Dominic.
    Leesa spotted him first, when he was still almost a block away from the dorm.
    “He’s here,” she said softly to Cali.
    They turned and headed casually down the sidewalk to meet him.
    Dominic smiled as they drew nearer. When they were still a few steps apart, Leesa spoke.
    “Keep walking,” she told him without breaking stride. “Cross the street and go around the block. We’ll meet you there.”
    A brief flash of surprise lit Dominic’s eyes, but that was his only reaction to her instructions. He walked past Leesa and Cali without saying a word.
    Leesa resisted the urge to turn around and look back as she and Cali continued on to the end of the block and crossed the street. She was confident Dominic had understood her instructions and would meet them around the next corner, out of sight of the dorm.
    “What’s going on?” Dominic asked when they came together on the sidewalk near the middle of the block.
    “Some government people have been poking around our dorm asking questions about the zombie attack,” Leesa said. “One of them can detect magic, so I thought it would be safer if you didn’t show up there.”
    “Good thinking.” Dominic stroked his pointy beard with his fingers. “Tell me more.”
    “I haven’t seen them, but they talked to Cali. They even checked to see if she had magic.”
    Dominic looked at Cali and then back to Leesa, a questioning look on his face. Leesa had not yet had the chance to tell him that she had let Cali in on her secret.
    “I told her everything about my magic,” Leesa explained. “I trust her. I hope you don’t mind.”
    Dominic smiled. “If you trust her, I trust her. In fact, I think it’s good for you to have someone to talk to about all this, since Rave and I are not around as much as we would like to be.”
    “Yeah, it is good. She comes with me when I practice, which is a lot more fun than doing it alone, especially with my magic so weak.”
    Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “You are still practicing? Even after these people