The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

fillets from it and a bunch of leeks and potatoes that she’d bought at the trade market. Altogether, she thought she had enough to make a decent fish soup for her and the girl.
    Piper hadn’t cooked for two in a long time.
    A little while later, she had fishy-smelling fingers and a blister on her thumb from peeling potatoes, but her ingredients were chopped and simmering in the pot on the stove. The aroma of cooking vegetables and fish broth brought a raw ache to Piper’s stomach. She tried to ignore the sensation and washed her hands and face in the water bucket. Her brown hair fell in wet spirals against her temples, and she caught a strong whiff of brimstone and sweat. Wrinkling her nose, Piper stripped off her coat and shirt. She kept a bar of soap and a few other toiletries in a small cabinet at the foot of her bed. She used the soap to wash her hair and her upper body, scraping the dirt and dust remnants off her tan skin. After she’dfinished, she changed into a spare shirt and stripped off her pants to wash her legs. When she was satisfied that she no longer smelled like the meteor storm, she hung her coat on a hook on the door and went to check on the soup.
    Piper didn’t realize the girl’s eyes were open until she was standing right next to the stove. The girl had woken without a sound, and she lay silently where Piper had left her, clutching Piper’s knife in her hands.

Piper went straight for the knife on her belt, but of course, it wasn’t there. It must have fallen out of its sheath while she was washing, she realized. And now the girl held it in both her hands as she watched Piper’s every move with huge brown eyes.
    When she was little, Piper used to bring home stray cats and beg her father to let her keep them. He always said no, not only because they couldn’t afford to feed them, but also because of their temperaments. The townspeople called them devil cats because they were half crazy with hunger and fear of the humans. They’d leave scratches and bites up and down Piper’s arms every time she tried to pick them up. The look in their eyes was the same look the girl was giving Piper.
    I should have learned my lesson back then
, Piper thought.
No more bringing home strays
.
    Piper held up her empty hands. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said softly. “You were in an accident. Your caravan—” She hesitated. Now probably wasn’t the best time to tell the girl that the rest of her companions were gone. For all Piper knew, her parents might have been among the dead. Her stomach twisted at that thought. “I brought you here to get better,” Piper said at last. “Are you hungry?” She pointed to the bubbling broth on the stove. Tempt it with food—the best way to tame any wild creature.
    Against her will, the girl turned her attention to the food. Piper saw the naked desire in her eyes, and the hands holding the knife trembled. “I’ll get you a bowl and spoon,” Piper said, turning slowly to a shelf on the wall. She made sure she could still see the girl out of the corner of her eye. “But you’ll have to put the knife down to eat.”
    The girl watched as Piper took a wooden bowl and spoon off the shelf. Her eyes followed Piper to the stove, where she carefully ladled out soup from the pot. Herbs floated on top of the broth and steam rose from the bowl in fragrant clouds. Piper ignored the growls of her own stomach and held the food out to the girl.
    After a moment’s hesitation, the girl dropped the knife and snatched the bowl from Piper’s hands. She plunged the spoon into the broth and shoveled it into her mouth.
    “Careful!” Piper said. “Blow on it first, it’s—”
    The girl’s eyes widened an instant before she spat out the scalding mouthful. A shower of broth and leeks hit Piper in the face.
    “—hot,” the girl said in a small, croaky voice.
    Silence fell. A log shifted in the stove, and the pot of broth continued to simmer. With a detached calm, Piper