Chapter Nine: The Seer's Flames

"I'll ask again."

The voice of my father was a drawn-out knife, each word honed to cut. He strode around me where I stood in the center of the hall, predator sizing up prey. The light of the fire danced on his face, making him less man and more the Alpha whose word none dared disobey.

"Did. You. See. Him."

My mouth was dry. My heart pounded in my ears, but I kept my hands still at my sides. "No," I panted.

A falsehood.

His eyes pinched, searching for cracks. "You were out late. Scouts have discovered rogues slaughtered on the ridge. Kane's trail, still here. And you return. with blood on your boots."

I froze. My gaze darted down—too late. His sneer told me he'd seen the fear flash across my face.

"You think you can deceive me?" His voice was like thunder, echoing off concrete walls. "You are my daughter, Elena. My blood. I will not be my weak spot."

He clasped his hands together. Two guards advanced. Between them walked a figure swathed in raven-black robes, silver bells threaded through her braids. Her eyes were milky white, sightless but seeing. My heart jumped.

The pack seer.

No. Not her.

"Truth hides itself behind many faces," the seer said, voice as dry as dried leaves. "But fire burns away falsehood."

She stood holding a shallow bronze bowl. Embers flickered inside, smoke curling in strange, sinuous threads. When she gave a nod, the guards pushed me forward.

"Kneel." My father's voice cracked like a whip.

I knelt, though every muscle screamed to run.

The seer knelt before me, milky eyes unfocused and piercing. "Place your hands on the fire, child."

Heat curled around my flesh, burning before I obeyed. The embers pulsed hotter, as if starved.

"She will speak her truth," the seer said. "If what she tells is lie, flame will scorch her skin to the edge of blisters."

I breathed in shock. My father loomed over me, arms crossed, eyes flashing with triumph. He had ensnared me—body, mind, soul.

"Did you ever lay eyes on Adrian Kane?" His voice was steel.

The link inside me growled, angry and feral, warning me. Adrian was distant but certain, a rope tugging at my ribs. I blessed him if I said yes. I killed him if I said no… the flames would kill me alive.

"I—" My voice trembled.

The seer crept closer, the smoke uncoiling to encircle my face in sinuous loops. "Make your decision, daughter of Rivera. But be warned—fire is not deceived."

Sweat broke on my forehead. My hands trembled over the embers, warmth seeping through to my skin.

And then—like a sigh over the tie—Adrian's voice stroked my mind.

Hold on.

I gasped, the slightest touch of his strength coursing into me. His power. His will. His defiance.

I set back my chin, making my voice hard. "No. I did not see him."

The words sliced crystalline in the hall.

For an instant, nothing stirred. Then the coals burst into flame, white-hot—before dwindling to ash.

The seer's lips opened, an expression of wonder crossing her wrinkled face. "She speaks truth."

A silence fell.

My father's jaw tightened, suspicion still smoldering, but even he could not dispute the seer's opinion.

"You may go," he growled, sending the seer away. The seer curtsied and hobbled out, the bells in her hair singing a soft melody.

When we were alone again, my father crouched low, his voice a sneering whisper aimed for my ears.

"You lied to her," he growled. "But you will not lie to me. If I catch so much as a whisper of Kane's touch on you, Elena… I will burn it from your skin myself."

His hand closed over the ridge of my jaw, hard enough to bruise, before he shoved me away and turned back.

I stumbled to my feet, thudding heart, smoke on my skin. The link vibrated with Adrian's distant resonance, pulsing, defiant.

But there was a truth seared deeper than burns inflicted by fire:

My father would never stop looking for fissures in my lies.

And the following time, even Adrian's strength would not be able to save me.