Traitor's Son: The Raven Duet Book #2 by Hilari Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

isn’t
possible.
”
    He felt more indignant about that than the cuff. Almost.
    “
L-E-Y.
Ley. The leys are currents of magical energy that run through multiple dimensions, which in this case includes both yours and mine. And you—”
    “
Magical
energy? Carpo.”
    She pulled the shirt over her head, concealing a pair of breasts so lovely they were beginning to distract Jase from even this conversation. But mostly, he was still creeped out by the memory of that gross disintegration. Whatever she really was.
    “If there’s no magic,” she asked, “how do you explain what I just did?”
    “A hallucination,” said Jase firmly. “Brought on by the drugs in that stupid pouch. Which I should have flushed! Or turned over to the customs cops. I could be in a hospital right now, getting that stuff cleaned out of my system.”
    His other theory had to do with aliens, who, after they killed him, would revert to bird form and feast on his eyes. All things considered, he preferred drugs.
    The girl’s eyes narrowed. “Honestly, I think you’re going to be worse than she was.”
    “Who . . . that girl at the border? She knew who, what you are?”
    And she’d still been alive when Jase saw her, which might be a good sign.
    “Yes.” The magnificent brown eyes were alight now, with indignation and enthusiasm. “She accepted Atahalne’s quest, even though she had to run away from home and . . . hmm. Maybe I’d better tell you that part later. The leys have been—”
    “I don’t care about the leys,” Jase said. “I’m too busy wondering if your spaceship can outrun a Tesla.”
    He’d bet the Tesla could give it a race . . . till the batteries died. Then he’d be at their mercy.
    “Jehoshaphat!” She stamped one small bare foot. “You want to leave, right?”
    Was that some kind of alien curse? It sounded like something an old-time miner might say. But the answer to her question was clear.
    “Yes, I want to leave. Right now.”
    “Then pay attention! Your people have damaged your environment so badly that it’s mucked up the leys. In all the dimensions, not just this one. The tree plague was the last straw, and my people are sufficiently pissed about it that they want to let the plague ravage your planet and kill you all. The only way—”
    “Wait, the tree plague? But they say it won’t spread out of the Tropics. It could never get this far north. And what do you mean, ‘your people’?”
    Raven took a deep breath and began to mutter. Counting to ten in alien? Or just swearing? After a moment she turned cool eyes back to him.
    “You’re wrong,” she said. “That bioplague, which your terrorists unleashed, will wipe out most of the forests on this planet unless the trees become strong enough to fight it off. And the destruction of the forests will radically change the atmosphere, killing most of the animal life. Human animals. So you’d better start listening.”
    “I thought the trees were supposed to resist it,” said Jase. “Scientists are surprised it’s spread as far as it has.”
    He wouldn’t have known that much, if his biology teacher hadn’t been fascinated by the microbial war playing out in the planet’s ecosystem. She’d talked about it at boring length.
    “Exactly.” Raven sounded pleased. “The reason it’s spreading, instead of the trees fighting it off, is because the leys—”
    “Magic leys,” said Jase sarcastically.
    “The leys are too badly weakened to support them.” She was glaring at him now. “You don’t believe a word I’m saying, do you?”
    “No,” Jase admitted. “Aliens . . . yeah, maybe. Magic, no. So you might as well let—”
    “But you’re the one who has to heal the ley! Atahalne, who made that pouch, he died getting it to the south end of this ley. And Kelsa—”
    “Died,” Jase said. “As in dead?”
    “That was over two hundred years ago. But yes, he gave his life for this task. And Kelsa got arrested. She almost got killed