Page 41 of A Thief to Die For

‘Girls,’ Dezzy chides.

Neither one of us acknowledges her.

‘How about you tell me what you want from me?’ I say. ‘Do you want me to stand up to him more? Fine. I will. And then we’ll see how bad our punishments can get. Will that make you feel better?’

‘Yes,’ she snaps back. ‘I do want you to stand up to him. Stand up to him and tell him no. For once. Tell him he can’t force you to … manipulate people. No whoring yourself out for his purposes.’

Oh. My mouth drops open. This is about Ryland.

‘But I know you won’t. Because you like being used by Father. Anything that keeps you his favourite. As if the way he looks at you weren’t enough.’

Fingers of anger fist around my heart as I push closer. ‘Are you seriously jealous that Atlas measures my worth by how shiny I am as a trophy? That he promoted me to stoke his pride, all while treating me like an object?’

She makes a sound of disgust. ‘No. Don’t be gross.’

‘It is gross, isn’t it? Yet we all just let it happen, because we know the alternative – that pushing back is worse. You’re not the only one who has to endure something that feels intolerable. But we do what we have to.’

For a moment, it appears I’ve broken through her thick skull – until she pokes a sharp fingernail into my collarbone. ‘You think you’re so helpless. You don’t know the power you have.’

‘What power?’ I repeat in disbelief. ‘For someone so smart, you sure have a poor memory. Or did you forget what happens when one of us tries to leave?’

Her thin lips form a line at my reminder of Felix. Of his exile. Of her being beaten by Coatl as I was forced to watch. ‘You did that,’ she hisses, angrily. ‘All of that was because you and your boyfriend turned us in.’

‘It wasn’t me and you know it! I ended things with Soren the second he betrayed you. And from that point on I’ve …’ My words grind to a halt as I stop myself from revealing how I’ve worked to weaken and sabotage Atlas ever since. I swallow. ‘I was trying to save you from dying in the badlands.’

‘And it got Felix killed.’

‘We don’t know what happened to him after he was exiled,’ I whisper. ‘But … yes, it was terrible.’ I look away, biting back the temptation to remind her that we’re on the same team. That I’ve slept with her in the dirt at night, that I stood with her day after day in the hot sun without water, every time she was punished for breaking Atlas’s rules. And even though we’re no longer children, I’m still protecting her. Because the day I’m finally caught for my raids, she can honestly say she didn’t know. ‘It’s why I’ll do whatever it takes, even drag you back from the badlands, so I don’t have to bury you beside our mother.’

She huffs in disbelief. Then she pulls off her leather gloves and throws them on the table, rattling the jars. ‘I would have been better off in the badlands.’

‘Agatha,’ I shout after her as she storms out of her bedroom.

My stew slops over the bowl as I set my supper tray down on the dining hall table. ‘Have you heard from Agatha?’ I ask Dezzy.

‘No,’ she says, aggressively wiping her mouth, back as straight as a sword. ‘But just leave her. She’ll return when she’s ready.’

She’ll come back when I’m not here. So childish.

‘Do you mind if I join you?’ asks a deep voice.

My breath catches in my throat as I lift my gaze.

Ryland.

Dezzy clutches her chest and smiles in a way I didn’t know she was capable of. ‘Hey, who are you? Oh my, you are a good-looking man.’

I feel frozen, even though I’m sinking lower in my seat. No, he can’t eat with us. If he thought being interrogated by Atlas was unpleasant, he’s about to be opened like a tin can – with the end of a hammer.

‘Yes, of course you can sit. Here.’ Dezzy makes room, pulling out the chair next to her.

Ryland flashes his straight, white teeth and takes the seat, setting down his tray. ‘Thank you. I’m Ryland, and I’ll be staying here for at least a couple of days.’

‘And where do you come from, handsome man, Ryland?’

‘Dezzy,’ I hiss, leaning forward. ‘For the love of all things Gergan, you can’t call him that … or ask him where he came from.’

‘Why can’t I ask that?’ She looks baffled.