It won’t work. Give up.
Go on, just...stop.
I shook my head, driving myself harder.
He’ll catch you.
It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
I could run for years, and he would still find me. How did I know? I didn’t trust him.
I didn’t believe he’d let me get away so easily. Everything about him was a carefully scripted lie. Why should his word be any different?
I had no doubt if hedidn’tfind me, something else would—a snare, a trap—something just waiting to ambush its prey.
Every footfall I tensed, waiting for death—wondering if that last step would trigger a net or an arrow to my heart.
Stop running.
Just...stop, Nila.
My breathless inner voice was tired and hungry and completely worn out. My muscles cramped. My mind seized with too many questions.
At least it was summer, and I didn’t have to combat the cold on top of everything else. My skin glistened with sweat from exercising so hard.
But I hated the defeat in my soul—the rapidly spilling courage and hope.
This wasn’t about the chase. We all knew who would win. It was about defiance. The word that I never knew or put into practice until last night, but now I lived and breathed it. I would be the most defiant thorn, stabbing holes in Jethro’s carefully made plans.
I would never be able to win. The only way I had a chance at surviving long enough to reap vengeance on the men who ruined my ancestors was to fight his ice with fire.
I had to burn.
I had to blaze.
I had to cinder his beliefs and control to the ground. And smear his soul with the ashes of his sins.
A loud howl came on the breeze.
My knees locked, slamming me to a standstill.
No. Please, no.
My heart squeezed. I should’ve guessed. He wouldn’t run after me like a typical chase. Why would he waste his energy hunting in the wrong direction?
He was smarter than that. Colder than that. He’d use the tools he had to make sure this little inconvenience was over and dealt with. Of course, he would use the very animals who’d become my friends last night.
Teaching me not one but two lessons in quick succession. One, the animals currently tracking me, currently hunting me, were not my friends, no matter how warm and cosy they’d been last night. And two, everything here, no matter human or animal, would not hesitate to kill me.
The thought depressed then infected me with strength I’d only just become acquainted with. There was no hope at making Jethro feel. The only hope I had was to fight ruthlessness with ruthlessness.
I had to contest him on every step and ignite that spark buried deep within.
Another howl and a bark.
Energy shot through my body, hot and bullet-fierce.
I took off again, sprinting down a small hill, holding onto branches as a rush of vertigo threatened to spill me into nettles and brambles.
