Her heart hammered. The warning was clear, forget Gloria for now—pay attention to the man.
She let go of the rope. Gloria bolted with a triumphant grunt. Fine, let the spoiled swine forage for now...
A man stepped from the trees, his face split by an amused grin. A danger in his eyes gleamed—a predatory glint that instantly made her stomach drop.
His dark green uniform bore Montigo’s seal, embroidered in gold below his right shoulder. A lower-ranked guard. She’d seen men like him patrolling the summit markets. In fact, she thought she’d seen this very man before.
He took a step closer. “I used to see you around Chroma and the shops. You’re from North Town, right?”
Dragonfly’s eyes flicked around the woods, searching for an escape. Dread spread like cold water through her chest.
The guard stepped closer. “So this is where you’ve been hiding. What are you hiding from?”
Dragonfly forced a tight smile but stayed silent. Guards were menacing in general—it was their job—but this one... She didn’t know why—only that her body knew before her mind did. A flicker in his eyes, a shadow unspoken and wrong, made her skin crawl like it remembered a danger she hadn’t yet named.
A memory came back to her now. In the spring, she’d thought she was being followed on the North Town paths. When she’d accidentally bumped into Lekyi on the road, the man had veered away as if losing interest. She’d dismissed it as coincidence, but when she told Lekyi, he had warned her—carry a knife whenever you walk alone.
The guard’s smile widened, sharp and toothy. He looked like a wolf sizing up a lamb. “My name is Morrison, or Morr. You’re Dragonfly of North Town, right?”
She said nothing. Her mind pulled in two directions—run for the farmhouse or stay because Gloria’s safety was her responsibility. That pig was too valuable to leave alone in a wolf-stalked forest.
“What are you doing alone in the woods?” Morr asked, stepping even closer. “It’s not safe for little girls to wander out here by themselves.”
Little girl. Her jaw clenched. Fury sparked beneath her fear. The guards always belittled the mountain girls, called them children while dragging them into the woods. She unwrapped her arm from the tree, working to keep her breathing steady after the struggle with Gloria.
She studied the guard carefully. Did he have cause to arrest her? She wasn’t doing anything wrong. Her employer had a permit for this land and the animals on it. Still, there were so many laws about livestock that no one could remember them all. If Gloria damaged property, Dragonfly could be held responsible.
She forced a pleasant smile and spoke at last. “My employer’s pig escaped from her pen. I’m just trying to bring her home. Her owner will be very upset if she’s lost or injured by predators.”
Dragonfly quickly moved toward Gloria, still trampling another bush just a few yards away. But Morr shifted in front of her, deliberately blocking her path and bumping her hard with his shoulder.
She stumbled backward, startled by the sudden contact. Before she could recover, Morr’s massive hand clamped around her left arm.
Morr yanked her upright. His rough grip crushed her arm, his nails digging painfully through the fabric of her blouse. His eyes burned with a menacing fire. “If you’re a nice girl and cooperate with me, I can help you get that pig home. Do we have a deal?”
“Let go of me!” Her growl cracked into a terrified whimper. Tears pricked her eyes from the pain of his iron grip. She thrashed wildly, desperate to break free.
In one brutal motion, Morr spun her around. He clamped an arm around her middle and crushed her back to his chest. His other hand shoved her hair away from her face. His hot breath scorched her ear. “You’d better keep quiet,” he hissed. “If you scream, I’ll kill you. I can kill you so easily, and no one will ever know what happened here.”
The laundresses who scrubbed guard uniforms knew what it meant to stay quiet. The bakers who delivered burnt bread knew what happened to their daughters. The women who resisted disappeared into the forest or drowned their rapist’s babies in the streams.
A chill raced down her spine, even as her blood roared with terror. Her mind scrambled, but the stories surged through her memory. She must not freeze. She must fight.
His body pressed hard against her back. She felt the sickening bulge at the base of her spine, and acid surged into her throat. As he yanked her skirt roughly upward, she screamed. “Help! Fire! Fire! Help!”
Morr’s hand slammed over her mouth and nose, cutting off her breath. He didn’t just want to silence her—he meant to suffocate her.
Panic clawed at her chest. She struggled to breathe. She fought to think clearly, but her mind spun, frantic and empty. No words came to her. No pleas. No desperate bargains. But she didn’t need words. She needed to survive.
Every ounce of strength surged into her elbow as she drove it backward into his ribs. His body was solid as stone, and the impact made her arm tingle with pain. But it worked. Morr grunted and loosened his grip just enough for her to gasp a ragged breath.
She staggered forward, but Morr slammed her to the ground. The air whooshed from her lungs.
His furious growl scraped the back of her neck as he pinned her, his weight suffocating. Her stomach was crushed to the forest floor.
“Get off me!” She kicked, scratched, bucked with wild, desperate force.
He caught a fistful of her hair and wrenched her to her feet, only to slam her front against a tree trunk. Pain lanced through her shoulders as he twisted her arms behind her back.
