“I have to admit that he’s…a bit special.” Flor manages an awkward smile. “But look at it from his point of view. He’s just as lost as you are. The gladiators are brought up with very specific memories and all he knows is how to be a fighter. If he’s retreating into showing off and picking fights, it makes sense. It’s not fun to be around, but in his weird way it makes sense. He’s never been taught how to be friends with people, just how to fight them. We had a few gladiators with us when we first arrived here and they were absolutely clueless. No idea how to survive in a wilderness situation. All they knew was battles and glory.” She tilts her head, regarding me. “So be patient with him while he tries to develop a personality.”

Me. Be patient with him. Understand that he’s a jerk and…what? Be his mate anyhow?

I laugh, because it’s so ridiculous. No one’s telling him to stop being a jerk. I’m just supposed to overlook that he’s a perfect ass and just…what? Fall into his arms anyhow? My laughter continues, growing higher-pitched and slightly hysterical.

I’m trapped. Everywhere I look, every way I turn, I am absolutely fucking trapped.

I’m stuck on this planet.

I’m stuck with Skarr.

I don’t even know my own name.

“I’m supposed to wait for him to develop a personality,” I manage between gasping, frantic laughs. “And I don’t even know my own name? Is he going to wait for me to get a personality too?” I laugh harder. “Wait, I don’t think it matters. He doesn’t care if I have a personality as long as I jump his bones.”

My laughter is turning dangerously close to tears.

“I’m sorry, Vivian,” Flor’s tone is gentle. “I know it’s a lot. I wish I could help you with the memories thing. Maybe more will come to you as time passes, maybe not. But as far as personalities go, I like you.”

“What’s there to like? I’m a blank slate.”

She shakes her head. “You say that, but I see someone that’s strong in the face of all kinds of shit thrown at her. You aren’t flinging yourself off the nearest cliff. You aren’t weeping about the cruelty of life. You aren’t scared of your shadow. I’ve been watching all of you over the last few days and you’re one of the strongest here. Not physically—mentally. You’ve got your shit together even if you think you don’t. And you’ve tried to help out around camp. Have you seen anyone else helping with the fire?”

“It’s because that’s one of the few things I know.” She makes it sound like that’s a big deal.

“That’s right. And instead of dissembling or picking fights or crying or clinging to the nearest person and begging them to do it for you, you just got to work.” She reaches out and gives my closest limb—my lower leg—a squeeze of affection. “I’m not ragging on the others, mind you. I know just as much as anyone else that you’ve all been thrown into the deep end of the pool. They’ll figure it out. But it helps to have people like you here. I know I don’t have to babysit you.”

But I’m not being strong. I’m just…afraid to ask for help. Afraid to be a bother. And now I’m afraid to correct her assumptions.

She pats my leg again. “Just don’t be too hard on yourself, okay? Once you remember your name, we’ll all call you that. For now, is Vivian okay? Is a female pronoun okay? Or would you prefer something else?”

It’s nice that she asks. I appreciate that. “Maybe Vivi instead. That feels a bit more…me.” I pause and then add, “And female, yes. Definitely female.”

“Vivi, then. Got it.”

I watch Flor as she gets to her feet. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

“I wish I could be more help. Talking is easy.” She shrugs, offering me a wry look. “I came in here to warn you about resonance, though. It’s totally your call on how much time you want to take with the whole Skarr situation, but I have to point out that the longer you resist, the more resonance is going to push the two of you together. It wants you to have a child together, and it’s going to make you want to jump him despite yourself. If you don’t feel like yourself for the next while—and instead you feel like a much hornier, sexed-up version of yourself—well, you know why.”

Part of me wants to point out that I don’t know what “myself” feels like anyhow, but it just feels like pouting at this point. “So I can’t do anything to avoid resonance? Nothing at all?”

“Not if you want children, ever.”

“And what if I don’t?” I’m still trying to figure my own head out. I don’t have the bandwidth for thinking about children right now.

Flor hesitates, and hope surges up inside me. “So there’s a gal back at camp named Veronica. She has a special khui that lets her heal people. I know it sounds hokey, but it’s true. If you want, she can turn your khui off…but it fucks you up bad.”

“More than being stuck with Skarr for the rest of my life?”

She makes a face. “I’m just saying that there is an answer, but it’s not a good one. Turning the khui off makes you numb to everything. It’s not a solution I’d recommend.”

I nod, but I can’t stop thinking about it, even after Flor gives me a sympathetic pat and leaves.

A healer can turn off my khui. Mute it, so to speak. It’s not a good answer, but it’s an answer. And it’s a hope. I curl my toes in my boots and lie on my back again, staring up at the ceiling.

Do I want children? I genuinely don’t know. It feels like a lower priority right now. Top priority? Figure myself out before I lose my mind.

What little I have, anyhow.

I try to call up the memories of camping with my dad again, but instead, new things float through my head. Things like Skarr spreading his arms as I look at him and giving me that smug expression, like he knows I’m going to find whatever he’s got pleasing.

It’s going to make you want to jump him despite yourself.

As if we’re somehow connected mentally, Skarr laughs outside. I can tell from the distance of the sound that he’s still by the fire, but I can pick out his voice, his tone. He’s louder than the others—because of course he is—but there’s something pleasing about the quality of it. There’s a richness when he speaks, even when he’s saying bullshit. My hand slides to the waist of my pants and then between my thighs. I’m wet and slippery, and I imagine him prowling into the tent, giving me that cocky expression and—

Oh my god, what am I doing?

I jerk my hand out of my pants, horrified, and squeeze my thighs tightly together.

I don’t even like him. I want him to jump off a cliff. I want him to wander out of camp and never come back. Why would I touch myself to the sound of his voice?

And why am I still itching to do it???

Chapter Nine

SKARR

My female is avoiding me.

It’s obvious to everyone, even the dim ones such as Kyth or the human Jason. After we feasted upon each other’s looks, she grew skittish and left me. Perhaps she found the sight of me overwhelming. I can understand that. No doubt someone as powerful as me is a lot for a human female to handle. That night she retreated to the tent and did not emerge.

The next morning, we broke down camp and hiked toward the beach village, and she made sure to stay very far away from me. I attempted to talk to her twice, but each time she ignored me, staring straight ahead despite the singing in her breast.

“Give her time,” I’rec tells me over and over again. “Let her adjust to the situation. It is all very new for her as well as you.”

In truth, I do not mind that she plays games with me. I enjoy the thrill of the chase. I enjoy the challenge of enticing my female to my side, to figuring out the way to impress her enough that she will fling herself into my arms. I just need the right sort of enticement. Until then, I shall study my prey.