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

clutching his leg and yelling. I barely heard him with so many other voices yelling in my head.
    Tali: Help the girl and run.
    Aylin: Stay out of it and hide.
    Danello: Roll and flank them from behind.
    I dived and rolled, knocking the attacker girl’s legs out from under her. She hit the stone, hard, and screamed.
    The leader was already moving as I sprang to my feet. He moved into a fighter’s stance and eyed me carefully. “Brought friends, eh?”
    “Leave her alone.”
    “Or what? You’ll push me over and bruise me?”
    “I’ll kill you.” I smiled same as I’d smiled at Resik. I hoped it was just as unnerving. “Only you won’t die for days.”
    He laughed. “Don’t see no weapon on you.”
    “Maybe I am a weapon.”
    The other boy was on his feet again, helping his girlfriend. She pressed a hand to her back and tears rolled down her face. The pack leader didn’t even glance their way.
    “I think you’re lying,” he said.
    I shrugged. “It’s your life.”
    “Iesta, wait.” The other boy put a hand on his arm.
    Iesta? This was the same pack the nice boy who’d saved me belonged to? So much for hoping they could help me find Tali and the others.
    “What if she’s one of them ?”
    Iesta hesitated, then laughed again, but it didn’t sound as cocky as before. “She’s got no armor. Can’t hurt us.”
    I edged closer to the whimpering girl on the street. She wore sandals, the tops of her feet bareand within reach. I hoped Iesta was worried enough to leave us alone, but he didn’t look like the type to leave a fight. He did, however, look like the type who got angry easily. And angry people made mistakes.
    “Scared of a little girl, Iesta?” If I couldn’t get Iesta to run, I’d have to hurt him. No, not hurt. Kill. No street pack I ever knew could get healing—not even the leader. Please run.
    He stopped pacing and glared. The other boy shook his head.
    “See? See? She wants you to fight. No girl’s got guts enough for that.”
    Iesta harrumphed. “Or she wants me to think that.”
    He charged. I grabbed him by the arm, twisting like Danello had showed me, and threw him to the street. Surprise washed over his face as his breath whooshed out.
    Got you.
    He jumped up and lunged for me again. I missed my grab and he tackled me, knocking us both down and pining me under his knees.
    “Just a tough talker after all,” he said, flipping open a knife. He thrust it toward me. I grabbed his wrist, stopped it, and reached out my other hand toward the girl’s foot. Skin touched skin and my legburned as I drew her pain away, her leg broken just as I’d thought. Plus she had cracked ribs and deep bruises. Iesta hollered when I pushed all that into him.
    “Help me!” Iesta dragged himself away, his eyes wide, his face white as mist. The other boy darted back and forth as if scared to come near me.
    “What if she—”
    “Get me out of here!”
    The boy grabbed him under the arms and hauled him down the street until the leader started screaming and pounding on his arm. He got him to his feet and slipped an arm around his waist. They limped away in the same direction the girl had gone. Probably the storeroom I’d been in earlier.
    He’d probably die there. My stomach flipped, but I took a deep breath to steady it. I’d had no choice. I’d warned him, told him to leave us alone. He would have killed me and the girl if I hadn’t shifted. Did that make it right?
    I shoved my guilt away. “Are you okay?”
    She didn’t answer, her face just as scared as Iesta’s. She backed away, scraping her feet against the stone.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, my hands out. She stared at them and sucked in a breath. I hidthem behind me. “I’m trying to help you.”
    “I…they…” She licked her lips, and her gaze darted to the bag and the things scattered across the street.
    Blue Baseeri uniforms.
    This time I backed away. She was military. She was with the Duke. Saints, I’d helped