Read The Healing Wars: Book III: Darkfall for Free Online

homes. And until he was gone, nothing would ever be right again.
    “Nya,” Aylin whispered sometime in the hours before dawn. “You awake?”
    “Yes.” The wind had woken me a while back, gusting against the farmhouse like waves on rocks. No forests or mountains to stop it, I guess. Just open farmland.
    I missed waves. And water. The caw of lake gulls riding the wind.
    Aylin shook me. “Are you listening?”
    “I’m sorry. What?”
    She blew out a sigh. “I asked how long you were going to look for Tali.”
    “Until I find her.”
    “What if you don’t?”
    I didn’t want to think about that. Or talk about it. Silence stretched in the darkness.
    “I’m not trying to be heartless or anything,” she continued, “but if the rumors are true, if Geveg belongs to Gevegians again, well, going home would be a good thing wouldn’t it?”
    I swallowed, but my mouth was dry. “Yes.”
    “And I know Danello wants to, though he’d never tell you that. He worries about his father. So do Halima and the twins. They really miss him.”
    “Maybe you should go without me.” It hurt to say, but how could I keep them all here, knowing they wanted to go home?
    She snorted and thumped me on the arm. “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, maybe you should start thinking of ways to find Tali that don’t involve putting yourself in danger all the time.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know. Hire a tracker? I hear Vyand is good.”
    I swatted her with my pillow. “Aylin! How could you even suggest—”
    Something thunked against the outside wall, harder than just wind. Aylin popped up.
    “What was that?” she whispered.
    I slipped out of bed, careful not to rustle the covers or squeak the frame. Jeatar had good furniture, so it rarely made a sound. I was equally quiet on the carpet as I made my way to the balcony doors.
    Another thunk, then scraping like metal on wood.
    I tugged back the curtains just enough to peek out. Moonlight lit the balcony, reflecting off … a grappling hook?
    A hand slapped the railing, then a leg. I turned to Aylin.
    “Someone’s there,” I said. “Get out of—”
    Glass shattered behind me, then hot pain pierced my back.

FOUR
    I yelped and dived forward, away from whatever had clawed me. I hit the floor, but something else landed beside me. Small, and it moved, skittering back toward the doors. It snagged on the doorframe but broke through and caught on the balcony rail.
    A second grappling hook.
    “Aylin, get out of here!” I scrambled back to my feet as the first intruder kicked open the doors. More glass cracked, and a piece grazed my arm. It didn’t sting nearly as much as my back.
    “Leave her alone!” Something flew past me. Was that a chair? Wood cracked against flesh and a man grunted. Aylin leaped from the bed, the blankets in her hands. She tackled the man and tangled him in the cloth, knocking him down.
    The second man charged in and kicked her. Aylin cried out and flew back with an oomph . She slammed into the mirror, and glass shattered. I lunged at him, hands out, looking for flesh. I grabbed sleeves instead.
    Skin, skin, I needed skin.
    We struggled, my back stinging. He twisted and his arm slid back, down, then—skin.
    Got you.
    I pushed , the pain surging up through my shoulder and out my hands. He sucked in a pained breath and staggered back, tripping over his partner and sending them both back to the floor.
    Light brightened the room, and I squinted, turning away. “Aylin?”
    The lamp on the desk next to her was turned up full, all the shutters open. “I’m okay,” she said, but she didn’t sound okay. She also had one arm pressed against her side.
    The door to our room burst open. Aylin screamed and I pivoted, readying myself to dive at whoever was attacking us now.
    Danello stood in the door wearing nothing more than sleeping britches and his rapier. He moved in fast, putting himself between us and the two men who were now back on their feet and holding