The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter

Fifteen-year-old Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body.

But unlike her sister Tali and the other Takers who become Healer’s League apprentices, Nya’s skill is flawed: she can’t push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it from person to person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she’d be used as a human weapon against her own people.

Rumors of another war make Nya’s life harder, forcing her to take desperate risks just to find work and food. She pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purpose. At first, Nya refuses, but when Tali and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, she’s faced with some difficult choices.

As her father used to say, principles are a bargain at any price, but how many will Nya have to sell to get Tali back alive?

A Unique Magic System: In a world of Healers who store pain in enchanted metal, Nya can only shift it—a dangerous ability that could make her a weapon. Secrets and Lies: Nya must conceal her flawed powers from an occupying army, a sinister pain merchant, and even her own sister's Healer's League. Sisters in Peril: When her sister Tali vanishes from the supposedly safe Healer's League, Nya is forced to make impossible choices to bring her back. Strong Female Character: A fifteen-year-old orphan fighting for food, family, and her own principles in a city that wants to break her.