Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

been so
long ago that he'd been having fun like that, with his mother
trying to chase him back home. He shook his head again. What was
wrong with him tonight? Maybe he wasn't cut out for these high
stress environments. He would have to experiment with that
hypothesis later.
    The liquid from the waterworks above and the
squirt-guns below, as well as from the countless other ingenious
sources that would inevitably surface tonight was harmless. The
Sreedharan family had devised the formula for an inert, luminous
liquid that evaporated a few hours after being exposed to air well
over a hundred years ago. Founder's Day was without a doubt their
favorite holiday, from a strictly financial point of view.
    Ezra made sure to get some of the color on
himself as well. Being completely clean tonight would be a surefire
way to stand out in the crowd. He had worked his way out of the
university district and was well into the entertainment area nearby
– the kind of place that catered to students out on their own for
the first time – when he decided to take a shortcut through a back
alley behind one of the local dancing clubs.
    He stopped for a moment to catch his breath
when a backdoor to the club slid open. A dark, sinuous shape leaped
out, tackling him to the ground.
    Oh god they caught
me , he thought to himself as he and his
attacker went down in a mess of flailing limbs. He hit the ground
and got his arms under him, pushing away hard and putting some
distance between him and his assailant. Feet scrambling to find
purchase, he briefly wondered if he should try to duck into a
building to lose his tail when he noticed that the girl on the
ground was still lying flat on her back, laughing
breathlessly.
    “ Sorry,” she said between panting, mirthful breaths. “Didn't
see you there. You out here for some fresh air too?”
    A closer inspection revealed a small girl,
no more than five feet tall, maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet,
with a spiky, pixy haircut highlighted in bright blue. The little
dress she was wearing displayed an intriguing amount of leg. She
too was covered in spots and sprays of color that stood out
vibrantly in the relative dark of the alleyway, albeit much more
liberally than Ezra. She was glistening from what must have been a
vigorous bout on the dance floor inside, if the pounding beat
coming through the closing door was any indication. Her eyes were
closed as she smiled up at the night sky and raised her arms
straight toward the heavens.
    “ Help me up?” she asked innocently as her breathing began to
come under control.
    Ezra suddenly felt rather foolish, crouched
as he was, ready to flee at a moment's notice. Before she could
open her eyes and add to his embarrassment, he straightened himself
and mumbled, “Oh, yeah, sorry, my fault entirely.” He grasped her
upraised hands and pulled. She fell into him pleasantly.
    “ Whoa,” the girl exclaimed, her voice still bubbling with
laughter, “haven't quite found my feet yet.” She smiled up at
him.
    “ Uh, n-no problem, I gotcha,” he stammered out. Deep blue,
almost purple eyes looked up at him from an elfin face. A huge
swipe of dark pink ran adorably across her cheek, emphasizing
dimples to die for. Ezra's heart suddenly started beating very fast
as his face heated. She didn't seem to notice, but her smile
broadened as she spotted his radiation badge and camera.
    She pushed herself up to a wobbly stand. He
caught a whiff of some sort of a sweet alcohol on her breath as she
said, “You doing publicity for the club or something? I've always
wanted to be on one of those ads.”
    He quickly tore the badge off his shirt
before she could take a closer look at it. Stupid hormones. He
didn't have time to get distracted by a pretty face right now. Or a
pretty body. It didn't even matter how nice she smelled or felt
when she had been pressed up against... gah, stupid hormones! “Oh,
yeah, publicity. They, uh, wanted to show what a great Founder's
Day party they