Venture Untamed (The Venture Books) Read Online Free

noticed her again. Had to. He breathed in dirt and he coughed it out and he kept getting up, and they kept pounding on him.
    Then one of them said, “Hey! She’s gone!”
    “Never mind her. Let’s finish him.”
    Thank God , she’d gotten away, disappeared into the roadside brush. He imagined her slipping through the weeds and into the trees, soundless and quick like the rabbits she liked to help him track. When the time was right, she’d get up and run, taking the shortcut home.
    But he was still here, still breathing dirt, still going to die with the pounding of their fists and the roaring of their laughter like the throbbing triumph of darkness itself in his ears. Even the ground shook with their blows—no, that wasn’t it. It was the pounding of hooves. Someone was coming.
    The boys backed away, and he rose again with renewed fury, spat out a mouthful of grit and blood, and hurled himself at them, screaming and swinging.

CHAPTER THREE

    Venture had never thought he’d be standing here, on the front steps of Beamer’s Center, that his master would bring him here. But things were different now. His hand went to his arm, and he felt a phantom flash of pain, though it was healed well enough. It had been nearly six months since it had been broken, along with several of his ribs. But Jade had gotten away in time, before they could do what they wanted with her, and now those boys were rotting in the lockup.
    “Listen to me, Vent.” Master rested a steady hand on his shoulder.
    Venture tried to listen, tried not to attempt to peer through the fogged-up windows instead. The windows were high up on the walls, right up under the eaves, presumably so that no one would go crashing through them. This complex of plastered stone buildings and wooden add-ons was the best center for training boys in the fighting arts in all of Richland. Vale Beamer, the center’s director and head coach, even had a female instructor at the center to teach girls self-defense and swordplay, and Jade had started taking lessons here shortly after the attack.
    “This isn’t just about what happened to you and Jade. It isn’t just about you learning how to fight.”
    Venture shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his head. “It’s about me messing up all the time, isn’t it, sir?”
    Master pulled him in closer, against his fine linen shirt, just for a second. And just for a second, Venture allowed himself to imagine that it was coarse, homespun wool. Master had hugged him, really hugged him, after he and the other men had chased down those boys who’d attacked him and Jade. Hugged him like he was a son and not a servant.
    “It’s about what’s going on with you, yes.” Master pulled away a bit. “It’s either this, or . . .”
    Master’s hand left his shoulder. Venture looked back at him and watched him rub at his temples. He seemed to do that a lot lately.
    “This needs to work out.”
    Work out? How could bringing him here possibly work out? He wanted to learn to fight properly more than anything now, but this was crazy.
    “I know you’ve heard things about Vale Beamer.”
    Venture had heard that he’d been Champion of All Richland back in 632 and again in Thirty-Five. What would a great fighter like him want with an out-of-line bonded boy, other than to remind him that his place was elsewhere? Had Master told him about the things he’d done? Did Beamer enjoy beating the trouble out of troublemakers?
    “The other boys might not make this easy for you, but Beamer is a fair man, and you’re strong. And there are no Cresteds in there.” He pointed to the heavy wooden doors, painted bright red. “There never will be, because they think they’re above it. Do you know what that means?”
    Of course Cresteds would never stoop to come here. They were the descendants of renowned warriors, called Crested for the family emblems their ancestors had marked themselves and their men with in the Wartimes. They now held the highest