“You are human. Yet not human.” She studied me as if pulling me apart at the seams to see the stuffing inside. “You used Skriven magic yet no being can use it but the Skriven.” She reached out a hand and I cringed into the wall. I didn’t want her to touch me, but touch me she did and her finger burned like a brand on my collarbone. “I shall speak with Tytan. Until then, you can give me a piece in return.”
Pain lanced through my body. My back arched with the fury of it and I thrashed in agony. I’d like to say it was over as fast as it happened but even after she took her finger away, the spot on my collarbone burned white hot.
“I think I like you,” she said, and then the acrid smell returned, the shadows enveloped her and she vanished.
*****
Allison Cosgrove 