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“I don’t know who I am. That’s the problem. Your parents have been kind enough to let me stay until I know. That’s why Solin wants to do the trance—”
“Yes, the trance. The one that has my parents whispering until dawn with panic. We are descendants of fire. We’ve grown prosperous thanks to its guidance and protection. But how will we interpret the flame’s messages if our Fire Reader dies because of you?”
His knife bit into my neck, burning with a thin line. “I’m going to ensure that doesn’t happen. If anyone has to die...it’s you.” Pressing his nose to mine, he hissed, “Now, kneel.”
My legs locked in defiance. “I’d never kneel for someone like—”
“I said kneel.” His blade sliced deeper, sending a trickle of something wet and hot down the hollow of my throat. His hand clamped onto my shoulder, shoving me down to the ground. My knees crunched, and a ribbon of pain slashed around my neck, but both pains were drowned out as a feral grunt sounded in the distance, followed by a sickening thud.
Aktor looked up.
Fear channelled through me, making me strong. With a flash of fury, I twisted in Aktor’s hold. Wrenching upward, I jerked away from his pressuring hand.
He groaned as his wrist bent the wrong way.
Spinning on my knees, I dug my fingers into the dirt to push upright and run.
I leaped into the air.
I didn’t get far.
Aktor grabbed my ankle, yanking my leg back, making me faceplant into the prickly stems of grass shoots.
Breathing hard, he stepped on my lower back.
I cried out.
“Not so fast. You can leave once this is over. You’re free the moment you acknowledge that this isn’t your home, we are not your people, and you stay alive by our mercy.” Digging his heel into my spine, he wrenched another cry from me. “You owe us, Girl. You owe us for every day you’ve lived with our clan.”
Bending down, he flipped me roughly onto my back.
I kicked him, flinching as my foot connected.
Aktor’s eyes darkened to inky black as he rubbed his chest, prodding where my foot had landed. His ash-spirit tattoo twined in the shape of a snake, hissing over his shoulders and down his arms. He cocked his head, studying me from beneath furious brows. “You really shouldn’t have done that.” Shifting the knife in his right hand, he launched himself at me.
The ground shuddered as his blade kissed my throat, adding to the previous cut.
I moaned as one knee slammed into my soft belly while the other dug into the dirt, pinning me down. I couldn’t catch a proper breath as he twisted his knee deeper into my stomach, leaning forward until the knife sank into my skin.
“Tell me who you are and this stops. Tell me the truth about where you came from. Tell me why you think you’re better than the rest of us and dare put our Spirit Master at risk. Tell me why you dare march into our home and threaten my people with your ridiculous tales of forgetfulness and woe. We all have our problems, Girl, and I’m not about to let my people pay for yours.”
Rearing upright, he kept the knife against my throat as his knee slid off and imprisoned my waist. With a savage smile, his free hand shot to my hip, tearing at the sinew knot holding the river-wet bison around me. “Speak and I stop. Give me a good enough reason not to hurt you and I won’t.”
“I don’t know!” I jerked, trying to get free of the cage of his legs and the burning slash of his knife. “I’m not hiding anything. I’m not a threat. Stop!” I grabbed his wrist.
“Those answers aren’t good enough.” He ripped at the sinew, pulling the fur apart.
My heart resembled the thundering hooves of an entire herd of bison. “Don’t. Don’t do this! You don’t have to do this. I’ll leave! I’ll leave if you hate me so much.”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t trust you.”
“Then give me a chance to—”
“I am giving you a chance.” His voice thickened. Folding over me, he dragged the knife threateningly over my throat. “Why you? Why is Solin so interested in you? What enchantment have you weaved around him, huh? Tell me that and this all ends.”
He hovered over me, his head blotting out the moonlight, creating a halo of silver behind him. “You can fight and die, Girl, or you can accept that unless you tell me what I want to know, I’ll strip you back until I find out for myself. I’m the next chief. It’s my responsibility to keep my people safe from outsiders and their lies.”
“I’m not lying! I truly don’t remember. You know this!” I shook my head, wincing at the pain from his knife. “Please, Aktor. You know I’m incredibly grateful. Not a day goes by that I’m not—”
