“You put a pillow over my guard’s face and suffocated him.”
“I did not.” Nadya shifted her eyes over, until the image of the taller, stronger, dark-haired female entered her vision. “So do whatever you will with me—”
It happened so fast. The female grabbed what little hair Nadya had and yanked it, nearly snapping her skull off the top of her spine. As she cried out, the harsh face came close to her own.
“You should beveryafraid of me.”
Nadya pulled weakly against the pegs, chains rattling softly. “I am afraid of you, but there is nothing I can do. I am not strong enough to fight anyone or anything. Therefore I must accept what happens.”
She met the other female’s eyes—and was surprised to find a certain removal in them, as if the camp’s new leader had taken a step away, even as the distance between the pair of them was unchanged.
“Who did this to you,” came a quiet inquiry.
“He’s dead.”
“Whoahvengedyou.”
Nadya blinked slowly. “I did. I took care of things… in my own way.”
The other female shook her head, and then her expression hardened. “You should have lied to me.”
“Why?”
“Because you just admitted you’ve murdered before.” The female’s eyes narrowed. “Not what I’d lead with if I were bargaining for my life.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway.”
And besides… the only thing Nadya had felt like living for was dead and gone. What did she care what happened to her now? Something about losing Kane had stripped her of whatever connection she had with the world.
Even though he had never been hers.
The sound of the knife being drawn out of its sheath was a ring of metal like a note sung, resonant, high-pitched, lingering in the still air.
The head of the guard’s face did not change as she brought it up. “At least you know what I must do. What is taken from me, I must redress.”
“What is your name?” Nadya asked.
That got a brow arch. “I don’t need a formal introduction to use this weapon. And if you’re trying to make some kind of connection, it’s not going to save you—”
“I don’t need to be saved and I have no regrets.” Abruptly, she dropped the act. “That guard who died in my clinic, he dragged a prisoner who was suffering from burns all over his body off that bed like he was a piece of meat. He showed no concern for the suffering. He enjoyed it, actually.”
The female looked bored. “Nurses shouldn’t beahvengers.”
“And guards shouldn’t be murderers. Neither should you. If you want to keep order, that’s one thing, but when was the last time anyone stepped out of line.”
The blade came up right to Nadya’s eye. “It is going to be such a relief to get you to stop talking.”
Nadya closed her eyes again. “And it will be a relief to have nothing left to say.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Following the whole who-are-you/who-am-I confrontation, Kane stepped away from Apex and the wolven. As he paced around the room, he was aware that the light was coming soon, and that him losing his shit was just going to slow down everything. But he was having trouble controlling a sudden, roiling panic.
What had happened in that hut? With…
The old female, he remembered with a sudden clarity. Yes, he had been with someone, someone who had been a guide of sorts. She had offered him… what. An opportunity. Yes, she had—
“Kane?”