I Am Mustafin

From the back cover

I swallow hard and my voice quavers as I ask, "How can you trust me?"

"I don't," he's blunt, straightening on his feet as he draws his hands into his pockets.

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need you to understand," he breathes out. "And because if you choose to speak against me, even if it raises suspicion, you have no proof."

He takes a step closer to me, lowering himself to my eye-level. His voice is just above a whisper, firm nonetheless, "Anything that comes out of your mouth is insignificant and, frankly, no one would believe your word over my own."

My heart pounds harder in my chest, a string of chills shooting down my spine as his lips graze my ear. His breath fanning my lobe, he whispers, "Without me, you are utterly powerless."

A shaky breath passes my lips, my body paralyzed as I lowly ask, "Then what exactly is it that you want from me?"

He sighs, straightening on his feet once more before his gaze finds my own. He holds his silence for a long moment, looking at me with eyes that I can't read or understand, reminding me that I am blind to what he doesn't say.

He is stoic-an enigma.

"W–"

"Silence," he cuts me off. "I want silence."

***

My name is Alaki Bea Miller-or known in the ground above: Alaki Bea X.

That is what they call us, the inferior ones: X. In this world, I live under laws that declare it illegal to bear more than one blood in your veins. A legal system built on segregation by race, where mixing blood is the highest crime.

In this world, I am not considered human. I am not considered a person. I am a thing, an abomination that threatens their precious system.

His name is Efrem Mustafin, leader of one of the five Rings, Master of his race, and the man who saved my life. Legally, he owns me. You see, to save me, he had to claim me as property. And in exchange for my protection, we play a game. One where I pretend to submit to him before the eyes that watch us, and he keeps me safe.

Master Efrem Mustafin, he is.

Subject Alaki Bea X, I am. Or at least, I was.

I belong to him.

My name is Alaki Bea Mustafin, and in this world, I Am Mustafin.