into my pockets.
Not nearly deep enough.
“They saw you?” she asked, worried now. “Who did? The League?”
“I’m not sure—”
The front door of the town house rattled. I jumped up and hurried into the foyer, my heart pounding. Please, please, please let them be OK. Tali followed, for once staying away from the door without me telling her to.
Aylin stepped inside and my chest loosened. A boy about twelve trailed behind her. He was pretty grimy, so he’d probably been hiding for a while. Skinny, too, and his face lit up at the smell of fish stew. My heart clenched again, but then Danello walked in, watching the street a little too cautiously as he shut the door.
“What happened?” I said, not as relieved as I should be now that they were back. “I was getting worried.”
“We were just extra careful on the way back,” Aylin said. She glanced at Tali, then looked at me in a way that clearly said she didn’t want to tell me what was wrong in front of Tali. So many things could be wrong, I didn’t even want to guess what it was this time. “But we found him.” She nudged the boy forward.
“Winvik,” Tali gasped, running over. He looked equally glad to see her. “I thought you’d left Geveg.”
“I tried, but I couldn’t get a boat to the marsh farms.”
“You know each other?” Aylin said.
Tali nodded. “Winvik was in my apprentice classes at the Healers’ League.”
“And the spire room?” I asked softly.
“Yes.” A flicker of fear crossed her face. So Winvik had also been forced by the League to heal until he carried so much pain he couldn’t move. No wonder he’d risked starvation to stay free.
“Welcome, then,” I said, smiling. Neither Aylin nor Danello smiled with me. Saints, it must really be bad then.
Footsteps thumped down the stairs and Takers peeked over the railings at us. We had four other Takers in the town house right now, people we’d saved who wouldn’t be experimented on by the Duke to see if they developed special “abilities” he could use for his own purpose. I hadn’t yet figured out what that purpose was, but that was part of our plan.
Step One: Rescue as many Takers as we could and keep them away from the Duke.
Step Two: Find out what the Duke wanted with them.
Step Three: Stop it.
Of course, steps two and three were turning out to be a lot harder than anticipated, but we were doing OK so far with step one. And truth be told, that was the one that mattered the most.
Danello cleared his throat.
“Tali,” I said, “why don’t you take Winvik to the kitchen for some of that stew and then show him to a room?”
She frowned for a heartbeat, like she knew I was trying to get rid of her. “Come on, it’s this way.”
Aylin watched them leave, then stepped closer. Danello did the same.
“What happened?” I asked.
“This.” Danello handed me a folded paper.
I unfolded it and my breath caught.
A poster, with my face on it and a five-thousand-oppa reward underneath.
Five thousand oppas?
Saints! For that much money I’d turn myself in.
THE SHIFTER MERLAINA OSKOV,
WANTED FOR MURDER
I bristled. It wasn’t murder. It had been an accident. . . Zertanik, rubbing his hands eagerly; the Luminary watching with untrusting eyes. Both offering me the lives of Tali and the others if I flashed the League’s pynvium Slab, released the pain it held so they could steal it and sell it to those in need.
I took a deep breath. No, that was a lie. It wasn’t an accident. I’d made the choice. Geveg had needed that Slab, the only pynvium left in the whole city. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to heal anyone. Healers couldn’t deposit their pain in the metal, where it couldn’t hurt them. Zertanik had never cared about that – he’d been eager to take advantage of those who couldn’t afford real healing. The Luminary should have cared, though. He ran Geveg’s Healers’ League, so it was his responsibility to protect our Healers, not use them.
They were terrible men. I shouldn’t feel guilty about killing them.
I pictured red mist on the walls of the Luminary’s office, all that was left of him and Zertanik after the flash, disintegrated by the pain I’d released from the Slab. My guilt remained. I’d known it would kill us, and I’d done it anyway, to save Tali and the other apprentices.
I’d just honestly thought it would kill me, too.
“At least tey don’t know your real name,” Aylin said, but her voice trembled.
Danello nodded and cupped my cheek in his hand. “And you look different now, too.”
Like Tali, I’d cut my blonde curls short, but I’d dyed them brown. Aylin had dyed her hair Baseeri black, something I didn’t have the stomach to do. Danello had kept his blonde hair, since fewer people had seen him. They weren’t the best disguises, but not many at the League had gotten a good look at our faces. At least not the ones still alive.
“Maybe no one will recognise you,” Aylin said.
“Maybe.” I cursed myself for saying it. I was supposed to be done with maybes. But maybe you were never done with maybes.
“The posters are all over the city,” Aylin said, tossing her hat on the front table of carved wood with onyx inlays. Worth a fortune, perhaps enough to pay the bribes we’d need for passage to the mainland if we ran. Running would be harder now with the reward out there.
“Soldiers are putting them up,” added Danello. “A lot of people aren’t happy about it. We saw one of the shopkeeps tear it down right in front of the soldiers. He called you a hero.”
Hero and murderer, all in the same day.
“They nailed the poster up again and he ripped it down again.” Danello shook his head. “You should have seen him.”
“That’s when they beat him up,” Aylin said. “We got out of there fast after that.”
People I didn’t even know were getting hurt defending me. Some hero. No matter what I did, someone suffered.
“You OK?” Danello asked, taking my hand and rubbing his thumb across my knuckles.
“I didn’t expect this.”
“You knew the Duke was looking for you.”
“No, not that. The shopkeep. People sticking up for me.”
Aylin huffed. “You saved the lives of thirty Healers, stopped the Luminary from stealing Geveg’s pynvium, and basically spat in the Duke’s eye. Of course they’re going to stick up for you.”
“I’d be happier if they didn’t.” I had more responsibility than pockets already. I’d got everyone into this, so I had to protect them. Grannyma used to say, a life saved was a debt owed.
“Well, you’re a hero now, so get used to it.”
Or a murderer, depending on who you asked.
A heavy knock shook the front door.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Danello said in a low voice.
“Soldiers trying to arrest us?” I joked, though it didn’t sound at all funny. Danello motioned me to stay back. I ducked behind a doorway with Aylin while