Fear of Fire and Shadow (The Fade #1) - Samantha Young Page 0,37
Selena without preamble.
She shook her head. “He blocked me somehow.”
“Blocked ye?” Vrik appeared stunned. My head swiveled between them. I was completely at a loss.
“Hmm,” she answered. “Keep a careful eye on him.”
“What is going on?” I demanded.
Selena arched an eyebrow at me and then smirked at Vrik. “We’ve got a live one here.”
Vrik chuckled, a dark, sinister kind of chuckle that sent shivers slithering down my spine. “Seems so.”
The old woman smiled at me. “Give me your hands.”
I tucked my hands behind my back. “Why?”
She winked. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just give me your hands … or I’ll make Vrik hold you while we do this.”
I snapped my hands out so fast, she cackled. “Don’t think she likes you too much, Vrik, so I wouldn’t be getting any ideas.”
Vrik grunted behind me.
Selena snatched my hands in her extremely cold ones, and I felt every wrinkle and crevice of that sandpapery touch electrify through me.
She was a mage.
Seeing the question in my eye, Selena nodded. “I’m one of the Glava, little Azyl.”
Dear haven, they had one of the Glava and a Dravilec among them. I wondered if they had been collected as Syracen had done with me, Valena, and Kir. “Your specialty?” I asked.
“I’m a reader.”
“You read people’s minds?”
“No. Just their futures.”
I gulped and shook my head, trying to withdraw my hands. “I don’t want to know my future.”
She cocked her head, her eyes studying me curiously. “What happened to you, girl, to make you so afraid of the future?”
“Well, for a start, I was kidnapped by the Iavii.”
Vrik smothered a chuckle behind me as Selena glared.
“We won’t hurt you, girl. No. You fear something else.”
“You said you can’t read minds.”
She laughed softly, condescendingly, like I was a small child before a teacher. “I don’t need to read minds to know that a young, intelligent, pretty woman with her whole life ahead of her should be excited at the prospect of the future. You clearly aren’t. So why are you frightened?”
“I’m not frightened. I’d rather live each day as they come than know what lies ahead. Knowledge can cause a person to alter their own path.”
Her whole face lit up with pleasure. “What a wise thing to say.”
“So … may I go now?”
“No.” She tugged harder on my hands and I lurched forward. A sick feeling swirled in my stomach as Selena closed her eyes. She was still for so long, my heart raced harder and louder. I was sure they must hear it in this tiny, sparse tent. Finally, Selena grinned. Her eyes popped open. “Nothing to fear,” she assured me. “You’ll marry one of the Glava and be very happy about it.”
I scoffed and pulled my hands free. “Doubtful, madam, as I have no intention of marrying anyone. Ever,” I emphasized. I began to feel better. Perhaps she wasn’t really one of the Glava after all.
Selena shrugged. “I’m never wrong.”
Wolfe was right. This was nonsense. I rolled my eyes and pulled from her. “May I go now?”
Seeming amused, Selena nodded and Vrik strode forward, frowning. He grabbed my arm and I winced. He would leave bruises with his rough handling.
“That’s it?” he hissed at Selena. “Nothing about an agreement? About land?”
She shook her head, holding up her hands. “You know I only receive visions of what’s most important to their fate.”
“And you determined marriage was mine?” I snorted and turned to Vrik. “You might want to purchase a new Glava because this one is definitely broken.”
Vrik forced me forward and out of the tent. Wolfe was nowhere to be seen. Panic flickered inside me. “Where’s Wolfe?” I asked and received no answer. Vrik tried to lead me toward the house but I wouldn’t let him, digging my feet into the dirt. “Where’s Wolfe?”
“He’s fine,” Vrik snarled and used both hands to pick me up and put me down in front of him. He pressed his hands into my back and pushed me forward. I struggled all the way.
“Damn it, tell me where he is!”
“He’s fine,” he reiterated. “Now get yer ass in this house before I do good on my earlier promise to shut ye up in a way that I’ll definitely enjoy but ye won’t.”
Rage pervaded my good sense and I elbowed him, hard, as he pushed me forward. “Just tell me where he is?”
“Having a better time than me, probably.”
There was a sickening lurch in my stomach. Was Wolfe off with the Iavii girl while I was being mauled? Irritated beyond rationality, I lifted