The Shifter by Janice Hardy Page B

threatened her with exposing me? A scream quivered in my throat, but Morell looked like he might welcome a reason to shut me up with a smack or two.
    “Where are you taking me?” I glanced around, but no one would meet my eyes.
    “My employer is interested in meeting you.”
    “Is he with the Duke or the League?”
    Jeatar frowned and shot me an odd look but didn’t answer.
    “Does he have my sister?”
    Jeatar sighed, and for a second I thought I saw pity there. “We have nothing to do with your sister. We simply have a job opportunity you might be interested in.”
    If they didn’t have Tali, then I didn’t need to keep gulping down my fear and playing along. Besides, this looked less like a job offer and more like a kidnapping. I stopped walking, tugging him to a halt. “So what’s the job?”
    “Sorry, but I’m under strict instructions to bring you in first.”
    “What if I don’t want to go?”
    “Then we’ll throw a sack over your head and drag you,” Morell snarled into my ear. He was sweating heavily now, and the silk around his collar was dark and damp.
    I kicked him, jerking my arm out of Jeatar’s grasp. Morell swung a fist at my head. I stumbled back, slipping on the wet street and landing on my butt. A few folks turned; one even laughed.
    “Help!” I called. The ones who’d looked over glanced away fast. I scrambled to my feet, legs sliding every which way like a newborn lamb’s.
    Jeatar picked me up, pinning my arms to my sides. He shook me once, hard, and my head snapped back. “Settle down,” he whispered harshly. “I’m sorry, but it’s my job to bring you in, and it will reflect poorly on me if I don’t. You’re not in any danger, but it’s important that we not discuss the details in public.”
    For all his reassurances, there was only one job I knew of that started with a kidnapping, but I’d be useless healing soldiers in Verlatta. It would, however, get me closer to Tali if they did have her.
    Jeatar continued. “I’d apologize for my colleague, but he’s not my responsibility.”
    Apologies? Trackers were never polite, never protective, and they didn’t whisper reassurances, scary as those reassurances were. Maybe this wasn’t about Tali, or the League, or anything I’d considered since I’d first seen him.
    “You’re not a tracker, are you?” I said low so Morell wouldn’t hear.
    Something flickered in his blue eyes, but I couldn’t quite catch it. “No, Merlaina , I’m not.”
    I hesitated over the odd way he said my “name,” as if he knew it wasn’t mine. “Where are you taking me?”
    “Would you like to eat today?”
    I blinked. It was an obvious distraction, but a good one.
    “Maybe find out something about your sister?”
    “Yes.”
    He smiled, and it almost looked trustworthy. “Then come with me and hear what my employer has to say. That’s all I’m asking.”
    “Except you’re not asking at all.”
    Two merchants deep in conversation nearly bumped into us. They looked up, mouths open, the beginnings of “pardon me” already coming out, then snapped them shut and hurried past, peeking back over their shoulders at Jeatar.
    They recognized him! Who did he work for? The Governor-General maybe?
    “Coming, Merlaina?”
    Could I trust him? Did I even have a choice? If I said no, he’d drag me there. But if I could find out something about where Tali might be, it was worth the risk.
    I swallowed and nodded. We walked, his hand on me like a clamp, his manner as cool as a lake stone. I hadn’t been this scared since the war, though my guts said I was in more danger now.
    Maybe they were mercenaries. Lots had come at the end of the war, some for fighting and others offering paid protection to folks trying to escape. Some had stayed, protecting the Baseeri from those who’d fought even after the rest surrendered. But no one tried to fight anymore. It was too hard to rally folks when they were more worried about food than freedom.
    “Are you