“Cut off what we need,” Daria ordered. “But chop it up small and cook it here before bringing it back. She can’t know, or we’ll lose her.”
Blood drained from Zarrah’s face as realization sank into her soul. They hadn’t rescued her from Kian; they’d trapped her. Cared for her like … like livestock. Kian had been right.
She needed to run. Needed to get away while she could.
There is no escape.
Panic flooded her veins, and Zarrah shifted backward, needing to run. Needing to hide.
Crack! A branch broke beneath her foot.
She froze.
Except with every step she took, Zarrah saw clues that she’d previously turned a blind eye toward.
It was too late.
Faces snapped in her direction, Daria’s eyes cutting the darkness to lock with Zarrah’s, then widening in alarm. “Zarrah—”
She was already hurling herself up the slope.
Branches slapped her face, roots catching at her toes and nearly sending her toppling, but Zarrah didn’t slow. Couldn’t slow, because now that their secret was out, what were the chances they’d leave her alive?
Given she’d just watched them stuff two butchered men into barrels to salt cure, her guess was no chance at all.
“Zarrah! Zarrah, wait!” Footsteps pounded behind her, Daria and her warriors pursuing hard. “Let me explain!”
his nails with a knife, the blade catching the faint light. Dropping low, she eased past him and pressed What possible explanation could there be? What words existed that justified what these monsters consumed?
Zarrah put on a burst of speed. The air burned her lungs, a cramp biting her side, but she ignored the pain. Kian was waiting at the border; all she needed to do was make it across. It would be into the arms of a new devil, one whose horrors were yet unknown, but it couldn’t be worse than this.
Nothing was worse than this.
Her toe caught.
Zarrah sprawled, her small knife spinning out of her hand and into the darkness. Panicked, she pawed the forest floor, searching for it.
But the footsteps were coming closer.
Were nearly upon her.
A snarl of frustration and fear tore from her lips, but even with the blade, she wouldn’t be able to fight them all. Her only chance was to escape.
Hands clawing the dirt, she dragged herself upward. Racing toward the summit of the island.
“Zarrah!” Daria’s voice was shrill. “Don’t do it! Don’t cross over! We won’t be able to get you Did they use them as coffins? That made no sense, given there were no animals on this island to digback!”
She didn’t waste breath on a response.
Ahead, she spotted the faint light of torches. Kian, now in the company of his warriors, was waiting. And she was almost at the border.
“Zarrah!”
She could feel hands reaching for her. Their breath on the back of her neck.
Screaming, Zarrah flung herself toward the stone barrier. Pain lanced across her kneecaps as they struck, but then she was rolling. Clawing at the dirt to get herself as far from these monsters as she could.
Legs and feet filled her vision, Kian and his men surrounding her.
“Back off, Daria,” Kian roared. “If you violate our border, it will be war.”
Gasping for breath, Zarrah pushed herself upright and found the two tribes at a standoff to either side of the border, weapons glittering in the torchlight. Daria alone held no weapon, her eyes locking on Zarrah’s. “You weren’t meant to see that. You were never meant to know.”
“No shit.” Zarrah spat out the dirt she’d gotten in her mouth. “Those who know they’re prey tend to fight back.”
“No.” Daria gave a rapid shake of her head. “That’s never the fate of one of our own, no matter how bad it gets. No matter how hollow our bellies, we’d never do that to one of our own.”
“She ain’t your own, rebel,” Kian retorted. “She’s a royal—one of the very people you were trying to overthrow with your little coup down south. It’s no wonder you were fattening her up for the grill.
Enemies taste twice as sweet, don’t they?”
Daria took a step closer to the wall, everyone tensing. She froze, then said, “She was never in any danger from us. You’ve filled her head with lies when you know that you are the reason that we do
what we do.”
Do what they do. Visions of the slaughtered men being stuffed into barrels flashed through Zarrah’s eyes, and her fury burned hot. “Stay away from me!” She scrambled to her feet. “You eat people.
You’re a fucking cannibal—a monster!”
Daria flinched. “Not by choice. It was that or starve.”
“Better to starve!”
“Says the woman who has never gone without!” Daria’s hands fisted. “You know we don’t belong here. You know that the Empress put us in this place to silence those who contest her tyranny. You know that she relishes the knowledge that we suffer, that we must reduce ourselves to beasts in order to survive.”
the pain. Kian was waiting at the border; all she needed to do was make it across. It would be into the
“They send supplies!” Zarrah took a step forward, only for Kian to catch her arm, giving his head a warning shake.
“Not enough.” Daria exhaled a long breath. “Just enough to ensure that we have the strength to turn on each other rather than to turn on the Empress. Kian and his tribe purge the children. The elderly.
The weak. It is because we refused to do that to our family that we were forced to walk another road, Zarrah. To protect those we cared about, we painted our souls black, but never doubt that it is the Empress who handed us the brush.”
“There isn’t an innocent soul on this island,” Kian answered before Zarrah could. “Everyone is a murderer, but there are some of us who have limits to what we will do.”
Daria choked out a laugh. “Explain to me how killing your own children is better than surviving on the flesh of the fallen, Kian. Better yet, explain it to Zarrah.”
A shiver ran through her, but Zarrah clenched her teeth. She’d seen how Daria could spin words until those who heard them forgot their own thoughts, and she refused to be so manipulated now. “If you really believed your actions were just, you’d have told me the truth. Instead I’ve lived among you for weeks, trusted your word, only to discover that you’ve lied to me this entire time. If I must bed down with villains, let it be with those who do not deny their crimes!”
Not giving Daria a chance to respond, she twisted on her heel and strode down the slope.
“Zarrah!” The woman’s voice chased her. “We were trying to save you! If you go with them, you are lost! Please!”
“Better lost than whatever you are,” Zarrah answered, refusing to look back.
“No shit.” Zarrah spat out the dirt she’d gotten in her mouth. “Those who know they’re prey tend to
“She ain’t your own, rebel,” Kian retorted. “She’s a royal—one of the very people you were trying
what we do.”
Do what they do. Visions of the slaughtered men being stuffed into barrels flashed through Zarrah’s eyes, and her fury burned hot. “Stay away from me!” She scrambled to her feet. “You eat people.
You’re a fucking cannibal—a monster!”
Daria flinched. “Not by choice. It was that or starve.”
“Better to starve!”
“Says the woman who has never gone without!” Daria’s hands fisted. “You know we don’t belong here. You know that the Empress put us in this place to silence those who contest her tyranny. You know that she relishes the knowledge that we suffer, that we must reduce ourselves to beasts in order to survive.”
“They send supplies!” Zarrah took a step forward, only for Kian to catch her arm, giving his head a warning shake.
“Not enough.” Daria exhaled a long breath. “Just enough to ensure that we have the strength to turn on each other rather than to turn on the Empress. Kian and his tribe purge the children. The elderly.