Free The Healing Wars: Book II: Blue Fire by Janice Hardy

snatched a handful of meat strips and scurried into the crowd. I did it again at the bread vendor’s, plucking three small rolls off the end of his cart.
    No Gevegian vendor would be so careless.
    I chewed as I walked, delighted to find the bread stuffed with a cheese-and-fruit filling. Three blocks down I reached the fountain that gave the plaza its name. A stone bench circled the fountain, but the plaza was quiet. A few people were sitting on thestreet side, so I took a seat opposite, my legs and feet grateful for the rest.
    I scooped my hand through the water and gulped it down. Bleh. At least it was wet. I drank my fill and ate the rest of my bread. The meat strips I saved for breakfast. My knees still shook, but I wouldn’t fall over if I had to run.
    Shadows cut across the street as the last of the sun faded. People hurried off, packages clutched to their chests. I scanned for soldiers and saw nothing but a lamplighter starting his rounds. He was the only one not rushing, and by the time night fell, soft orange glows lit the street like a string of pearls. Finally I was alone.
    I didn’t like it. I’d gotten used to having Tali and Aylin with me, and a town house full of others. Used to walks with Danello along the canals. I lifted my chin and stared at the empty streets and tall buildings that lined them. Tali was out there somewhere, and so were Aylin and Danello. Someone had to know where the Duke hid his Takers—and where the trackers took their prisoners.
    Wait, the boy might know. If I could find my way back to the storeroom door, I could wait for him. If he didn’t know, his street pack might. I’d known packs like that in Geveg. Tali and I had joined one briefly when I was ten, right after Baseeri soldiershad thrown us out of our home.
    I left the fountain, my footsteps loud on the stone street. It was so quiet. No waves, no lake birds, no music from the show house. It was just…creepy. Every step echoed as if someone were walking next to me.
    I bent and slipped off my sandals. I heard more echoey footsteps coming up behind me.
    My heart raced. There was nowhere to go. Nothing but buildings and walls and fake shutters that should have been windows. The closest bushes were too low and thin to hide behind. I dashed to the fountain and scooted under the stone bench on the far side.
    Someone was running my way, breathing fast. Maybe more than one. The echoes made it impossible to tell how many. Hard steps hit the ground close to me, then a splash and whooping laughter.
    “You shouldn’t have run, girl!”

EIGHT
    A ll my instincts said move, run, shift, anything , but the warning wasn’t for me. I heard a smack as flesh hit flesh and a girl cried out, then a breathless thud. Laughter followed.
    “You know it’s worse when you run,” a boy said. Probably a street pack, and he sounded like the leader. “You could have just handed over your bag, but now we’ll have to hurt you.”
    A grunt, a thump, and a whimper.
    Stay still. Don’t move.
    I put my hands over my ears, but I’d suffered too many beatings not to recognize the sounds now. The girl cried, sharp sobs from fear and pain. I inched along the ground under the bench until I could see.Three of them, two boys, one girl. All looked about sixteen. Another girl the same age was lying on the street, a bag next to her.
    The pack leader bent toward the bag.
    “Don’t, please. I need those,” the girl said, reaching for it.
    “We need them more.” He kicked her and she curled into a ball.
    “They won’t do you any good!”
    “Everything sells to somebody.” He stomped on her leg. She screamed as something snapped. “Maybe even you.”
    I rolled out from under the bench and got to my feet. They had their backs to me, kicking the sobbing girl. Killing her.
    She’s Baseeri. She wouldn’t help you.
    Probably not, but wrong was the same in any city.
    I got to the first one before he even knew I was there. Kicked him behind the knee. He went down,