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Sobs crawled up my throat.
I shook my head faster, faster. “It’s not true. I wouldn’t. I could never—”
“It doesn’t matter if you believe the fire, Runa. It is the truth. I’ve told you before but now you have seen it. You will kill me, my clan, my home, and my future. You will kill Syn, Natim, Zetas, and all the wolves Darro holds so dear. All of that will come to pass. Unless you mate Aktor. Unless you accept that your place is here, with us, with the future chief. Darro is surrounded by shadows, and the flames cannot see his Destini, but we see yours, and it is ever so bleak.”
Icy sweat coated me as I raised my head.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my shaking hand. “I cannot imagine a time when I would ever do such a thing.”
“Me either,” Solin murmured. “You are goodness itself, Runa. Life in mortal form.” He brushed away the sweat on my brow with such tenderness another sob wracked me. “But you will. And the only way I can protect you—the only way I can protect my people—is by giving you a future that you might not want but one that will protect every spirit upon this earth.”
He cupped my chin and held me steady, his black, wise eyes diving into mine. “It might already be too late. All of this might be in vain. But please, Runa, I kneel before you now, not as a Spirit Master or as your adoptive kin, but as a male who is desperately trying to protect life itself. Say your goodbyes to Darro. Learn to forgive Aktor and find happiness within your linked hearts. Fully accept that you are Nhil. You are safe as Nhil. We are safe as long as you remain Nhil.”
He took my hands and kissed my knuckles, breathing into my skin. “If I could free you from this, I would. If I could learn of a way to give you the love you want and the future you deserve, I would wholeheartedly give it. But...it is not within my power.”
My heart raced and collided with my ribs.
Pain drenched me as hot and as punishing as venom.
How was I supposed to say goodbye to Darro after last night?
How could I choose Aktor over him?
Climbing warily to his feet, Solin brushed off his bison fur and reached down to grab my elbows. I was dead weight as he hauled me to my feet.
Fighting my trembles, I stepped out of Solin’s hold with a shake of my head. I didn’t know where Darro was, but I needed to see him. I needed to do the exact thing I’d been told I could never do again, all because none of this made sense.
I wiped away my tears. “Solin, I—”
“RUNA!” a feminine screech whipped my head around, my eyes searching the smoke drifting lazily into the sky from the camp. “RUNA!”
I froze as Hyath leapt and bolted through the grass, waving her arms frantically, leaping as high as she could to be seen. “Ru—” She tried to scream my name again but choked on a sob, disappearing into the grass as she bent over.
I ran.
I rucked up my calfskin dress that Hyath had made me, pulling it high over my knees. I flew through the grass and collided with my friend as she ran toward me.
Our arms flung around each other, stopping our speed, our breath coming equally as fast. “What is it?” I panted. “What happened?”
Tears marked her cheeks, her green eyes as wild as her light hair. “Niya said you were back. Thank the fire, you’re back!” Spinning toward the camp, she tugged my hand. “Come, we have to go! It might already be too late.”
She pulled me into a run.
“What might be too late? Tell me, Hyath.”
A cry spilled from her lips as she ran harder, dragging me with her. “It’s Natim. He was bitten by a tunii snake. He’s dying—”
Natim.
Ripping my hand from Hyath’s, I forced all my strength into my legs. I ran as fast as I could, tearing toward the camp where my little fawn was dying.
Hyath fell behind in my rush.
Natim.
No.
He can’t—
He lived because of me.
He was alive because his mother had shared her memories of him.
Natim!
Everything Solin had said.
The vision the fire had granted.
The horrors they’d promised I would become all churned and curdled.
It was wrong.
So, so wrong.
I was life, not death.
I would never kill.
I ran harder.
And something answered my out-of-control panic.
Something uncoiled from the depths within me—the depths that I was afraid of because it was so cavernous, so infinite, so vast and hot and ancient.
It whispered through my bones.
It bled from my skin and leashed the very air around me.
I felt it.
Felt my spirit spill from the bounds of my mortal flesh.
The air element flinched at my unskilled summons.
