Read The Shifter for Free Online

didn’t say. I wanted to find out, but I was afraid they’d get suspicious if I asked questions.”
    I swallowed the last of my bread. No butter or cinnamon, but still delicious. Shame there were no answers tucked inside like the special cookies we used to get on All Saints’ Day. “Tali, you need to be careful. There’s—”
    “I know. They can’t find out about you. I was stupid to think the League wouldn’t care that you weren’t normal. They’d lock you up, or send you to Baseer so the Duke can turn you into an assassin.”
    “Wait.” I held up my hands, palms out. “What are you talking about?”
    “This morning’s history class. Elder Beit was acting odd, telling weird stories, checking over his shoulder the whole time like he thought someone might come in. He said the Duke used to use Takers as assassins—that’s why it was important to report them right away if you found one. He said the Duke discovered a way to make them hurt people. I thought of you right away.” Her eyes grew bright. “Do you think there are others like you and that’s why he wants different Takers so bad? Maybe you’re not alone!”
    Thunder rumbled soft and low, and a fresh gust rustled the leaves. More like me? Saints, I hoped not, but if that were true, then the fancy man might be tracking all of us. “Tali, you didn’t ask anything in class that might make them suspect me, did you? Or say anything that hinted you knew someone like that?”
    “Nya! You know I’d never do that.”
    I chewed what was left of a thumbnail. Maybe the fancy man was a Baseeri spy. There’d always been spies in the city, and they’d no doubt have some freedom about what they spied on. Just my luck he’d been there when those wards pointed me out.
    How much danger was I in?
    “Tali, a tracker is following me.”
    She gasped and looked around frantically. “Here? Now?”
    “No, earlier today.” I grabbed her shoulders and the panic dimmed in her eyes. “He left when Enzie came.”
    “He saw Enzie?”
    “She wasn’t wearing her uniform and he was too far away to hear what she said. I don’t think he knows I came here.” Not for certain anyway, but I doubted I’d see him if he didn’t want me to. “Be very careful who you trust.”
    “I will, I promise.” Tears spilled from her eyes and left streaks on her cheeks. “Do you think he took Vada? And the others?”
    “I don’t know.”
    She hugged me, her head tucked between my shoulder and chin. “Like trackers took Mama.”
    No, she’d gone willingly, like Papa, to fight, but by the end of the war, the trackers hadn’t just grabbed unimportant Takers anymore. They took Elders from the League, personal healers from the aristocrats—no Taker had been safe.
    Honeysuckle and rain scented the air, and in the empty space under the fig tree, I imagined a blue blanket held down against the wind by bowls of spiced potatoes and roasted perch, and Mama spooning out her special bean salad while Papa buttered the bread.
    Another war. Another need for Takers. What about Takers who could do more than heal? If they came for me this time, would I wind up on the front lines healing or get stuck in the dark doing something far worse?

    The storm drove the boats back in early. Wind-blown drops stung my cheeks and soaked my clothes. That didn’t keep me from the docks and a chance to get my room back any more than the fancy man who wanted to turn me into an assassin did. Sadly, the rain didn’t keep anyone else away either. Dozens of folks stood in line by every unloading berth, some with baskets in their arms. A few even had children clinging to their legs or cowering in their arms. No one complained when parents were chosen first, but more than one scowled. At least here, a tracker couldn’t snatch me without someone seeing. Whether they’d care or not was anyone’s guess.
    The jobs filled up fast. By sunset, only one boat was out, but at least forty people jostled one another to catch the