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“And you don’t think my clan aren’t? To our chief? To our Spirit Master? We have survived this long, thrived this long, because of their guidance. By agreeing to do a trance with you, Solin puts all of us at risk. And for what? A skinny, forgetful girl of no people? A girl who’s attracted a male who’s sick and dares believe he can be tended by our healers? You’ve brought fear into our midst and fevers into our homes. And I’m not having it, do you hear me? My father might be willing to risk us all but I’m not.”
I cried as he tugged violently at the open fur around my legs, yanking it from beneath me and throwing it into the tall grass. “Last chance. Tell me why you’re worth more than us and I’ll stop.”
“I’m not! I never said I was—”
“You say it every day you accept our kindness without giving us anything in return.” He reared up on his knees and added burning, slicing pressure to the blade at my throat. “Final chance, Girl. Tell me who you truly are. Otherwise, I’ll ensure you know exactly who I am. That I protect those I love. No matter the cost.” Keeping the knife biting into me, his other hand fumbled with the furs around his own hips. He didn’t untie them, he merely pushed the wraps aside, revealing himself, revealing the hard male part of him that was vicious and as deadly as the spear he always carried.
“I told you! I don’t—”
“So be it.”
I opened my mouth to scream but he folded heavily on top of me, crushing my air. He groaned as our bodies pressed hotly against each other. Instinct had my thighs clamping tight. I locked my ankles. “Aktor. Please—”
The pain at my throat was nothing compared to the pain of what was coming. Of the degradation and the taking, the stripping of my free will.
“Please...” I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch his steadfast grimace, his gaze full of belief that he did this for valid reasons...that it was his duty to test me.
His knee dug at mine, bruising me as he tried to pry my thighs apart. His breath came heavy as his hard, hot flesh pressed against my bare belly. “You refuse to tell me with words, so you’ll tell me with pain instead.” His voice sounded like rocks and thunder. His feet kicked at mine, trying to unlock my ankles.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
I begged my mind to unlock.
For memories to unfurl so I could throw them into his face and stop this.
But I was empty.
Empty of nothing but terror and loss.
Aktor suddenly stabbed his knife into the dirt by my ear. “Open your legs.”
My heart cracked with a thousand horrors.
His hand unwound from the hilt of his blade and clamped over my throat. “I said...open.”
He leaned his entire weight against my windpipe.
I choked.
I coughed.
I reached for his wrists, scratching, thrashing.
It made no difference.
My vision popped with starbright orbs.
Dark shadows gathered around me.
Shadows so thick and blotting.
I squirmed and tried to scream, but his thumbs blocked air and sound.
The world seemed far, far away, drifting further and further.
The shadows around my vision thickened, matching the shadows inside me, turning me blind.
A growl echoed in the sky.
A thunderous rumble that reminded me of the wolves that’d stalked me while I’d walked alone. A storm of biting wind nipped at my bare skin as Aktor rose up on his free hand, pinning me harder against the ground all while he angled his hips to—
A blast of savage, sudden violence arrowed through the grass.
It moved like raven wings and cut like a blade, dancing and swirling with darkness.
It struck Aktor directly in the chest.
He grunted with pain as the violent wind knocked him backward.
Ice coated my skin as air suddenly whooshed into my lungs.
I sipped it. Sucked it. Was greedy and manic for it.
Air that tasted like smoke and earth. Death and decay.
A vicious blur shot toward Aktor as I curled onto my side, gasping huge, deep breaths. My legs curled up to my chin, my wounds smearing blood on my chest and knees.
Aktor screamed.
His terror shot me upward just as the dense, dark shadows parted. The darkness fissured with a bolt of sulphur and smoke, revealing a fisted, ferocious stranger.
His dark-grey eyes glowed sterling silver as he searched my face, saw my wounds and my horror. A flicker of rage worked over his jaw before he bared his teeth and spun to face Aktor.
The air came alive again with growls and rumbling thunder.
And then, the stranger moved.
He moved like the whipping typhons I’d seen funnel and dance between mountains. He struck Aktor like hail, fists raining hard, all while Aktor did his best to protect himself from the torrent of fury.
“You dare touch her! You dare try to take what isn’t yours to take?!” The stranger’s voice was different. Darker. Deeper. It quaked through me, sounding as if it’d curdled with rot and curses, rasping with hate and bloodshed.
