“Mysibibrought me, as mostsibidid with their slaves.”
“Do notcall yourself that,” he growled softly.
My brow furrowed, my lips parting in surprise, but I moved forward with my story.
“Those celebrations are usually the only chance I have to see my family,” I confessed.
Davik tensed, his grip on my hand tightening ever so slightly.
“And my sister,” I started, my throat growing tight. I cleared it. “My sister’ssibi…he treats her terribly. I saw hersibistrike her because she accidentally spilled food when she was serving him. Then he hit her again and again and I went over to him…and I made him stop.”
I shuddered, remembering the hatred in his mind. The malice. He was cruel because helikedto be cruel.
“It drew the notice of Lozza. He saw it as entertainment. He didn’t realize it was because of my gift that I could change the wills of others. He thought it was a talent. He thought I was simplypersuasive.” I smiled but it was bitter. “A silver-tongued human he thought nothing more of than a lowly pet.”
Davik’s nostrils flared. He dropped my hand, leaning back against the pole which jutted up towards the canopy of thevoliki.
“He kept an eye on me though. After that. I felt it. I knew that he was planning something and when he summoned me to his throne room one afternoon, I knew that something was about to change.”
I could stillfeelthe fear I’d felt that day. Yet, I’d also feltrelief. Selfish, profound relief that I’d be free of the Dead Mountain, if only for a short period of time. And then tentative hope had sprouted when he’d told me his terms.
“Lozza knew he couldn’t send a Ghertun toDothik. The Ghertun would be killed on sight. He knew that humans are seen as the weakest race out of us all. He knew afemalehuman would be very little threat to deliver a message. He thought I was persuasive…but he also thought me expendable, should theDothikkarwish to kill me instead of listen to me.”
Davik made a sound in the back of his throat. Was he thinking of that day? When I’d been led into the great hall of theDothikkar? When the Dakkari king had looked at me, much like Lozza had—amusing, a brief entertainment, but expendable?
Then I’d ruined it all by opening my mouth.
Right then, remembering that day, I was tempted to smile. The look on theDothikkar’sface had been…bewildered. As if he couldn’t understand how such a lowly human like me could bring such turmoil to his city.
“So, no,” I told him softly. “Lozza doesn’t know about my gift. What I can truly do. Because if he did…I don’t think he would have let me out of his sight at all.”
I shuddered. Forthat, I was grateful. To be a slave of Lozza’s was unthinkable.
Now that I’d begun to speak of it, I couldn’t stop. It felt…nicetalking about it. Instead of keeping it bottled up inside me, always afraid someone would discover it for themselves and then use it against me.
“My gift hurts me when I use it,” I said. “My head feels like it’s splitting in two, I get nauseous, I feel weak and dizzy. Lights get so bright they are blinding. Usually I sleep for a very long time afterwards.”
He nodded, as if he’d realized this already.
“But only when youchangeemotions,” he finished for me. Davik processed this all quickly. I could see how fast his mind worked, though he’d already had his suspicions before.
“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “When I only want tofeel, it doesn’t hurt me like that. It’ll only give me a brief headache before it goes away. But even now, it seems to be…changing.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Earlier,” I said, biting my lip as I felt a flush spread up my neck. “When I entered your mind…it didn’t hurt me. At all. It felt different. My gift might be changing again, getting stronger.”
When I’d been younger, I’d only been able to sense people’s emotions. My mother simply thought me an empath, more sensitive to others’ feelings. She’d dismissed it. After a while, however, my gift shifted, changed as I aged. Not only could I sense someone’s emotions, I couldalterthem. When I’d told my mother that, she’d looked at me inhorror. As if seeing me for the first time. As if I were some beast in her daughter’s skin.
I shut my eyes, taking in a deep breath, before I met Davik’s eyes again.
“You…” I licked my lips. “You’re the first that’s ever felt me.”
His red irises flared briefly.
“Felt my gift, I mean,” I said softly, feeling my cheeks heat. “Not even my family could tell when I was using it. What...what does it feel like to you?”
“Like my skin is electrified,” he rasped, making my breath hitch. “Like I’m being touched. Then there’s warmth and I swear I can feel you, all over. In the air I’m breathing. Underneath my skin. In my blood. On my tongue.”
