Seventeen-year old Fire is the last human-shaped monster in the Dells. Her beauty stuns those who see her, and most people either want to marry her or kill her. She can also control the minds of anyone near her.
The kingdom is in danger; war is on the way. Fire is called to the capital city to help the king.
She learns about the various spies for the king's enemies, but one is the most mysterious.
...Fire sat alone, puzzling over the boy. His right eye was gray and his left eye was red, which was strange enough itself. His hair was blond like wheat, his skin light, and he had the appearance of being ten or eleven...He was sitting facing her, a rodent monster in his lap, a mouse with glimmering gold fur. He was tying a string around its neck. fire knew somehow that the creature was not his pet.
He pulled the string, too tight. The mouse's legs began to jerk. Stop it, Fire thought furiously, aiming her message at the strange presence that was his mind.
He loosened the string immediately. The mouse lay in his lap, heaving with tiny breaths. The boy smiled at Fire, and stood up, and came to stand before her. "It doesn't hurt him," he said. "It's only a choking game, for fun."
She stared at him coolly, so he could not see her bewilderment. "A choking game? All the fun of it is on your side, and it's a sick kind of fun."
He smiled again. His lopsided, red-eyed smile was somehow distressing. "Is it sick? To want to be in control?"
"Of a helpless, frightened creature? Let it go."
"The others believed me when I said it didn't hurt him," he said, "but you know not to. Plus, you're awfully pretty. So I'll give you what you want."
Rating: 2 out of 10 stars
* mild language, sexual inference
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