Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark, #1)

by Veronica Roth

made me sick, at worst, and dulled all sensation, at best. It was like returning to the way I had been before my gift developed; no, even that had never been as quiet and as still as I felt now, with my hand on his. “What is this?” I said to him. His skin was rough and dry, like a pebble not quite smoothed by the tide. Yet there was some warmth in it. I stared at our joined hands. “I interrupt the current.” His voice was surprisingly deep, but it cracked like it was supposed to at his age. “No matter what it does.” “My sister’s gift is substantial, Kereseth,” Ryzek said. “But lately it has lost most of its usefulness because of how it incapacitates her. It seems to me that this is how you can best fulfill your fate.” He bent closer to Akos’s ear. “Of course, you should never forget who really runs this house.” Akos didn’t move, though a look of revulsion passed over his face. I sat back on my heels, careful to keep my palm on Akos’s, though I couldn’t look him in the eye. It was as if he had walked in on me while I was changing; he had seen more than I ever let people see. When I stood, he stood with me. Though I was tall myself, I only came up to his nose. “What are we supposed to do, hold hands everywhere we go?” I said. “What will people think?” “They will think he is a servant,” Ryzek said. “Because that is what he is.” Ryzek stepped toward me, lifting his hand. I recoiled, yanking my hand from Akos’s grasp, and flushing with black tendrils all over again. “Do I detect...