Emberhawk - Jamie Foley Page 0,17
belt.
“Go home,” he said without releasing her arm. “It’s only because of your brother that I’m playing nice right now.”
“You call attacking him and leaving him for dead ‘playing nice’?” Kira jerked in his grip to no avail. “My mother could also die because of you. Surrender and come back with me or I’ll kill you.”
Ryon snorted a laugh and smirked. “You’re funny.”
Kira’s blood simmered. She struck at his eyes with her free hand.
Ryon grabbed her wrist and grimaced. He stepped closer, holding both of her wrists tight as he looked down at her with eyes like twin suns.
Kira’s fury chilled in an instant. She couldn’t win against him any more than she could wrestle a trace cat and live to tell the tale.
Ryon’s voice softened. “Not going to happen, balemba.”
Her sudden terror wouldn’t allow her mind to translate the Phoeran word. She pulled back with all her strength, and he released her to stumble backward.
“I really am sorry about the barn.” Ryon winced and adjusted his sling—her handkerchief—as he strode back toward the fire. “And I hope Tekkyn is all right. Go home and make sure, yeah?”
Kira backed up until she was a good distance from him, reluctant to leave even as every instinct screamed for her to run. Some part of her must not be truly afraid of him. He possessed more strength and skill than he appeared, yet he wielded it like a flippant remark.
“How do you know Tekkyn’s name?” Kira murmured.
Ryon pulled at his tunic’s neckline to peer at his wound. “Guess.”
Kira rubbed her wrist and frowned. “What are you implying?”
“I’m implying that we’re not enemies.” Ryon stooped to pick something up near the fire. “Go talk to him, and he’ll straighten things out.”
Kira glared. Such an obvious lie. How could talking fix anything that had happened? “Are you calling him a traitor?”
“No, I think he’s a decent guy just trying to protect his family.” Ryon opened his palm over the fire, and it snuffed out in an instant. In the sudden darkness, his eyes glowed like embers storing the remains of the flame. “Run along. This forest is a death sentence for anyone without tribal blood.”
He disappeared.
Kira stared at the empty space as the visage of blazing heat seared into her memory. Unless the barn’s flames could be put out in time, this arsonist’s work could claim much more than their hay. The drought-starved fields and forests were ripe for wildfire. If it wasn’t contained immediately, they could also lose their house, their neighbor’s land, the town—the entire forest was like a collection of kindling.
She couldn’t let him get away with it.
“Your hellish magic was already a death sentence for us!” Kira spotted his pack at the base of a pine and lunged for it. She clutched it to her chest and grabbed the hilt of her first blade, where it had stuck in the trunk’s bark.
A strong arm grabbed her from behind while another pressed cold metal against her neck. “Drop it.”
Kira clenched her jaw and released his pack.
“And the blade.”
She cursed at him as she released it. Unwelcome tears blurred her vision. She was an idiot. A weak little girl. She’d failed her brother, her family, the Empire, and possibly all of their neighbors if his fire spread. And Ryon’s faux-friendly demeanor was infuriatingly insulting.
“Go home,” Ryon whispered in her ear. His voice was deeper, smoother. “Or I’ll gut you like one of your tasty little chickens.”
The blade left her throat as he shoved her from behind. She caught herself on all fours, barely avoiding the tree.
Quiet descended on the forest. All Kira could hear was her own panting.
She looked to the side. His pack was gone. So was her throwing knife.
She glanced behind her. White ashes from the fire lay still and stark against the night. Not even a midnight breeze tousled the forest. The pines looked down on her as if appalled at her stupidity.
Kira scrambled to her feet and ran. She couldn’t see nearly well enough to dash through the forest, which was difficult enough to do in broad daylight. But her lantern was gone.
What were you thinking? Tears traced cool streams down her cheeks as she ran, holding her forearms up to protect her face from clawing branches. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you! Or worse—
The earth gave out beneath her. The forest spun as she tumbled through the blackness, careening downward until a tree broke her fall and stole her breath.
Kira panted on the dark ground for a