Elemental Hunger

Chapter Six

Adam's jaw unclenched, and he crouched again. I dropped my hands, grateful I didn't have to reveal the other two knives. He wouldn't believe any story I invented for having three sentry knives. I didn't even believe what had happened.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked. With the knife, the chicken's head came off easily, and Adam skewered the bird and placed it over the fire. He wiped the blood from the knife and balanced it in his hand.

I swallowed, finding my throat too dry. Adam had experience with knives—just the way he held it testified of that.

"Well?" he asked. "Sit down, you're making me nervous. Why'd you leave Crylon? I've been trying to get there for months."

"Get there?"

"Yeah, the Elemental training facility. Didn't you go to school?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Uh, I finished school, that's why I left."

"You finished?" He spun the knife over and around the back of his hand, catching the hilt at the last moment. He stared into the flames, but then he looked at me, a knowing glint in his eye.

I shrugged and looked away. See, no one "finishes" school in mid-March. And no one leaves their city unless they were being taken to Tarpulin for diplomacy training.

After a few minutes, he said, "I don't believe you, you know. No one leaves their city without a Council. And since you're a Firemaker, you'd be the Councilman, have your choice of Elementals. It's pretty weird, you showing up on the same day as two sentries."

"Just coincidence."

"I don't think so."

"I don't care what you think, Airmaster." I glared at him, ready to draw the other two knives despite the fact that I had no idea how to use them.

He shook his curls out of his face. "I think you're the Firemaker who torched Crylon. So that means...you're also a girl."

He'd said the dirty word: Girl.

I jumped to my feet, a knife clenched in each hand. I backed away as he stood to face me. He gaped at the two knives. I wished my hands weren't shaking. Even so, Adam looked petrified.

He held the knife in his right hand as the fear slid from his face. His knuckles weren't white like mine. The blade shone with firelight—and it looked like it belonged in his palm. He made a tiny adjustment in his grip, turning the point toward my chin. "Am I right?" he asked, the sound barely louder than the crackling fire.

"N-no," I stammered. "I didn't burn Crylon."

He cocked his head to one side. "But you are the Firemaker those sentries are after."

"Maybe." I swallowed against the nervous lurch in my gut. What would he do now? I was starving and exhausted, and I already knew I couldn't use the knives. The image of Patches falling to the ground still haunted me.

Adam spun his knife at the same time he lunged at me. I cried out as he pinned my arms to my sides in one swift movement and we stumbled backward together. He righted me and stood behind me now, one arm wrapped around me and the other still spinning that blazing knife.

"What's your real name?" His breath washed over my neck, causing me to flinch at his nearness.

"Gabriella Kilpatrick. Gabby." I gritted my teeth, ready for the disgust to replace the mild interest in his voice.

Adam nodded slowly, the motion rocking my body slightly. "I'm Adam Gillman." His words didn't carry any disgust, but I couldn't see his face to be sure.

"I didn't burn Crylon." I shifted my feet, hoping he'd release me.

"Drop the knives before you hurt yourself. I believe you."

I did as he said, flinching with the clatter of steel on packed dirt. I didn't move, even after Adam let me go and stabbed his knife in the soil as he sat down. Relief flooded me at the distance he put between us. I didn't want him touching me again. He rotated the chicken, which had charred as we'd gone through our version of formal introductions.

"You got something else on your mind?" he asked, flicking his fingers against the burnt meat.

"You don't care that I'm a...a girl?" I said it like it was a horrible thing to be.

He rotated the chicken again, carefully avoiding my gaze. "What I care about," he said, standing again, "is that you're honest with me."

The fire popped as the fat from the chicken dripped. I noticed that he didn't answer my question. I narrowed my eyes, the smell of food clouding my ability to think. He stood there, unwavering.

"Okay," I said. "Honesty policy."

Adam didn't smile. I bristled at his demeaning glare. "The policy works both ways. You totally care that I'm a girl. Have you ever met a female Firemaker before?"

His eyes traveled from my feet to the top of my head. "You don't look like a girl."

Again, he didn't answer my question. I opened my mouth to tell him where to go, but he said, "Look, I'll just say it. I need you to survive. Together, we might be able to charter a Council. I'm no saint, I'll admit, but the last thing I want is to go back to Tarpulin."

"So that's why you ran," I said. "You recognized that sentry. He's wearing—"

"The Tarpulin seal, yeah. I know him. That's Alex's personal sentry, Felix Gillman. He's my mentor—and my brother."