Page 15 of Interion

I saw a muscle jump in his jaw from how hard he clenched it. This time he stared at me like a predator zeroing in on prey. I turned back to dinner, feigning ignorance of his murderous expression. I placed the omelet on a plate and pushed it across the counter toward him, then went back to making another one for myself. My hunger had passed. I just wanted to get out of there and end the conversation.

“I can see how well you take care of yourself alone. I don’t need to remind you that you live in the safest place on the continent. By the way, if I were an assassin, you’d have been dead ten minutes ago. How can you call that a knife throw if it didn’t even stick into anything? It hit the wall handle-first and fell.”

I looked at the knife lying on the floor and had to admit he was right—even if I’d hit him, it wouldn’t have scratched him. But even though he was right, I stayed quiet, focused on finishing quickly. The less I said, the less trouble I’d get into.

“Are you going to ignore me?” he asked, scowling. When he got no response, he added, “Very mature of you, Kyller.”

“Ignore you like you ignored me for five years?” I shot back, losing my patience and turning to glare at him. Kiara raised her ears from where she lay. “You say these things as if you actually cared whether I’m alive or dead. It’s been five years since I’ve heard from you, Zion. Now you come back without warning, just appear like a ghost in the kitchen and start losing it because I still haven’t caught up with the other students. I swear I don’t understand you.”

“You don’t need to understand. The only thing you need to do is stop whining and do something about your own safety.”

I clenched my hands into fists.

“It must be hard having a Drutes partner when the only goal of your life is to kill every one of us.” I looked deep into his eyes. “If I were you, I’d be worried about my safety too. It’s understandable.”

“You don’t know anything about me, Kyller!” The words came out with so much hatred that part of my anger was smothered by survival instinct.

“I don’t know anything because you won’t let me.”

“If you haven’t noticed, that’s the point. And that’s how it should stay.”

He waited for me to say something, but I couldn’t form a single sentence. What the general had just said was the answer to my questions. Zion didn’t care, had never cared, and wouldn’t start now. I thought I was prepared for the truth, but the way my stomach contracted into a painful knot told me I was far from it. Finally, tired of just staring at me, he turned his back and disappeared into the shadows. Upstairs, I heard a door close.

I stared at the spot where Zion had been for a few seconds. The plate with the omelet sat abandoned on the table, and I was so shocked I couldn’t even think about food. Kiara rubbed against my thighs, nearly knocking me off balance, and I sighed in exasperation.

That was our first conversation, and everything went wrong. What was I supposed to expect for the next day?

I grabbed my omelet along with his and stomped up the stairs. I was trying to understand the dynamics of our relationship and assess what I’d learned in ten minutes of trading barbs.

Discovery number one: Zion was irritatingly arrogant.

Discovery number two: I didn’t like him.

Chapter 5

Strong hands shoved my head into the bucket. Water fought to leave my lungs, but instead, more of the black liquid rushed in, as if it had a will of its own.

“What are you?” A crow cawed right in front of me.

“Nothing,” I screamed, drowning. “I’m nothing.”

Δ

I snapped my eyes open in panic and saw a shadow moving through the room. Terror sent me rolling off the bed, sprawling on the floor beside the surgery book. Choking, I clawed at my neck, scratching it as I gasped for air. The coughing fit returned. It was as if my lungs remembered the water and blood that had once filled them.

Kiara circled me, terrified, whimpering softly. I placed a hand on her back to calm her and give myself room to breathe.

“It’s over,” I murmured, my voice strained. I used the self-affirmation technique my psychologist had taught me. “I’m not in the forests. I’m still here.”

The tremors faded, but I kept repeating the words until the world stopped spinning. I struggled to sit up and leaned against the side of the bed. Kiara licked my tears, placed a large falcon paw on my thigh, and watched me with bright blue eyes.

“It’s okay, girl, everything’s going to be okay. It’s over now.”

I stroked her white mane, full of braids, and pressed kisses to the top of her head. I didn’t know if I was talking to her or to myself. Dreams about the past still wrecked me, especially the ones that reminded me of what the other women had suffered. Those were the worst.

“Good thing I have you to wake me up.” I tapped my finger on the chimera’s forehead, and she gave me a questioning look. “I’m so lucky, you know that? You’re the best companion in the world.” Kiara snorted and rolled her eyes at me. “Sorry for scaring you, but I can’t control my dreams.”

She just kept rubbing her cold nose against my hand. Kiara had been created from a combination of lion, falcon, and some kind of blue reptile. The mix had produced an albino creature with blue scales covering her legs and tail. Her head and body were lion, her paws and wings came from the falcon, and her tail was from some unidentified reptile.