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Medus swayed in his shackles, groggy, as they stripped him naked. She looked away, searching the
room for anything she could use as a weapon, though she knew it was pointless.
I hope you didn t hit him so hard he can t remember anything, Addano said. It doesn t take much to
knock out the brains of a beast. He turned and gave Rhia a little bow. Present company excepted, of
course. He shot her a mirthless grin before scooping a bowlful of ice water and tossing it in Medus s
face.
The Badger woke with a defiant roar, which had no effect on the three Ilions. They conferred at the side
table as to the most efficient means of extracting information. Their matter-of-fact tone curdled her blood.
She put her face in her hands.
Rhia heard the clank of iron and the hiss of steam. As Addano turned to Medus, she crammed her hands
over her ears just as she heard him say,
Let s talk about Velekos.
Her breath caught in her throat. Why did the Ilion military in Asermos care about what happened in
Velekos?
Have you ever been to a neighborhood known as the Acrosia? the captain asked Medus.
All the time, Medus sneered. Whenever I need your mother to suck my big Badger auughgh!
Rhia yelped at the sudden sizzle of burning flesh. She covered her face again so she wouldn t see Medus
writhing and flailing in his shackles. Her mind fought to stay clear through the haze of fear and fury.
Mali had said to act as though escape were inevitable. Rhia had to cling to that hope, and if she ever did
get out, she would take what she knew of the Ilions suspicions straight to her brother. Lycas hadn t
seemed to know the authorities were watching Damen s neighborhood. The interrogators questions
were a glimpse into the mind of the Ilion counterinsurgency, a glimpse that could save his life, and the life
of the fledgling resistance. She couldn t walk away from such an opportunity, no matter how it rent her
soul.
Keeping her gaze on the floor, she took her hands from her ears and listened.
14
Kalindos
S ura saw Dravek waiting in the boulder field, under a slate-gray afternoon sky, sitting cross-legged with
his head slightly bowed. The closer of the two torches was lit, but not the other. She forbade her feet to
run to him, despite the energy that had crackled through her all morning.
Her world had changed in the two days since the Bestowing. The damp forest filled her newly sensitive
nose with the scents of decaying plants and living animals. Every bite of food held a thousand tastes, and
her reflexes had turned frighteningly fast. Most of all, her skin felt as if a layer had been peeled back. She
could feel each shift of her clothes, her blankets, even the air itself. When people approached her from
behind, she felt the vibrations in the soles of her feet.
She had become a Snake.
Before her boot scraped the first boulder, Dravek looked up, no doubt catching her scent on the wind.
The breeze blew the torch s flame in his direction, so that the heat waves in the air made his image blur
and shudder.
She made her way across the field and joined him on the flat, dark red boulder. Hello. Her voice, so
loud in her head, was lost in the wide-open space and gathering breeze. Even the word felt shallow, too
weak to express the feelings careening inside her. This would be their first and last day together as
Snakes.
He looked up at her without quite meeting her eyes. Have you recovered yet?
She nodded. I did nothing yesterday but sleep and eat. Sometimes I can t believe I survived.
The Spirits take care of us during our Bestowing. No one s ever died, though we all think we will.
She sat beside him. What do you mean?
He gave her a sharp look. The living void? The thing that feels like it s sucking out your soul? It comes
to everyone the first two nights.
Oh, that. She picked up a pebble the size of her fingernail and tossed it away. It disappeared into an
abyss among the boulders. How deep do these rocks go?
Sura.
She peered over the edge. And what if you dropped something valuable? You d never get it out.
Sura. He waited to speak until she looked at him. You laughed at the void, didn t you?
She shrugged, feigning casualness. It seemed to help.
He studied her face until she felt it flush. You re not like anyone I ve ever met, he said.
You haven t met many Asermons.
How did you get to be so brave?
She looked away. If he could hear the speed of her pulse right now, he d know her courage was failing.
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