Firewall (Magic Born) Read Online Free PDF

in the aftermath.
    There was nothing to be gained by lingering or gloating. “Let’s go,” Tuyet said. Nate and the others began to move.
    A tiny light split the dark, flickering in the faint breeze. Doran held out a lighter, her grin maniacal in the play of fire and shadow. “Better luck next time,
chica.
”
    “Hurry!” Tuyet backpedaled toward the van.
    Doran called out, “Juanita! Mama needs you.”
    Shit
. Tuyet grabbed the stun gun clipped to her belt. A car door slammed and the temperature plummeted. What had been a mild breeze quickly whipped into a high wind that tore at her hair and clothes and tossed grit into her eyes. A funnel cloud as tall and wide as an adult took shape. From behind it, a child stepped into view.
    Juanita joined her mother. “What do you need, Mama?”
    “Let me think, baby. Maybe a thunderstorm.” Her eyes flicked to the stun gun in Tuyet’s hand. “Or maybe a tornado. But a big one, you know. A really big one.” Humor filled her voice.
    The last thing Tuyet felt like doing was laughing. Concentration painted the little girl’s face, molding her soft features into hard angles and flat planes. She couldn’t have been older than ten, but she was already one of the most powerful witches Tuyet had ever crossed paths with, and that was saying a lot.
    She tossed her stun gun to the ground. “Okay, okay. You win this round.”
    “Tuyet...” Nate said.
    She shook her head. “Forget it. We’re outmatched here.”
    Doran stood and took her daughter’s hand. “Yes, you are. Now fix my cars while I decide if I want to be nice or not.”
    Tuyet did as ordered, frustration chafing her.
    Juanita tugged on her mother’s hand. Doran leaned down so the little girl could whisper in her ear. The child wore a solemn expression but Tuyet knew the kid had some of her mother’s offbeat humor. She’d seen it, or rather heard her giggling as she chased Tuyet with lightning bolts.
    Tuyet suppressed a shudder. Weather magic unnerved her.
    Doran straightened. “Juanita has convinced me to be generous. You can take what you can carry.”
    “Oh, come on,” Tuyet said. “One vehicle. Just let us keep one.”
    “Tell you what. I’ll leave it up to you. You can either keep one vehicle, or you can take what food you can carry. I’ll even give you a whole ten seconds to think about it.”
    “God damn it, Doran.”
    “Watch your language around the kid. You’re down to five seconds.”
    Tuyet weighed their options. The walk back to New Corinth would be bad, but coming back with no food might be worse. Infant formula especially was badly needed. The rations had not been increased despite almost all of the Magic Born in FreakTown losing their off-zone jobs. It would be weeks before the underground could get them another shipment of supplies.
    “We’ll take what we can carry,” she said quietly. Nate went to work immediately, going through the van to reach boxes of formula cans.
    One of the younger Normal volunteers approached Tuyet. “There’s no way we can walk all the way back to New Corinth. We’ve got to leave the food.”
    Tuyet strode to the open van doors. “Stay if you want. We’re going.”
    “But—”
    “Nope. No buts. This is it.” She forced a box of formula into his hands. “Welcome to the suck.”
    Nate laughed as he shrugged a full duffel bag onto his back.
    The only other woman in the group, also a witch, walked up with bottles of water perched on the boxes she carried. “Everybody grab a bottle.”
    Tuyet shoved one into an empty pocket of her cargo pants. “Everyone stay close. If we push we can make it to the tunnels before daybreak. Let’s go.” She didn’t wait to see if the volunteer who’d protested came with them. He was inexperienced, but he wasn’t totally stupid. He’d make the walk out of fear of what Doran and the River Ghosts would do to him.
    Nate tossed the van keys at Doran as he passed her. “Nice meeting you.”
    “A duffel bag!” Doran