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“That’s a really vivid picture…”

“Thron your blade” He sheathed both of his swords

“No”

“I will hurt you—and that’s a promise”

“Let o”

“No”

“If you really hurt et back at my father, you’re just as barbaric as he is”

He came closer to me “That’s the point”

I lunged withto swipe his neck from his shoulders

He ducked and popped back up before I could stop the rippedthe blade to fly frorass

I tried to twist out of it, but his hold was too strong

My body hit the ground, and his fingers ended up locked around h so just a little bit of air could s with every breath “Your words are stones against a tree Every hit makes a sound, but the tree doesn’t fall I’ve planned this for a very long time, and your desperate attempts to make me pity you are hopeless All roads end at the saers released me, and he stood up

I gasped for breath, sitting up as I reached for my throat

He scanned the forest, his eyes hollow and bored “You’re lucky I grabbed him before he fell Otherwise, I would have thrown you in after him”

Mastodon marched me back into the cave where the men waited, and he handed back the sword that I’d stolen from the belt of the man

The man sheathed his blade as he kept his eyes on me

“Nothing personal”

He moved quicker than I could anticipate, and his palm hit me in the face so hard I actually turned with the hit The skin immediately swelled with heat and pain, and htly shut

I let the agony pass before I rightedjust how red my cheek was since I couldn’t see it Ryker had hit me before, but that e were kids I’d never been smacked around like that otherwise—and that hen I realized how sheltered my life had been I wasn’t prepared for that kind of pain, but I handled it in silence because I thought that preserved the nity

The ive the reaction he wanted, he went in again

This time, I kicked him in the balls

He cried like a girl and bent over at the waist, sucking in a deep breath as he processed the pain