Page 129 of The Puppet Master
“Do you deny it?”
“Do I deny what?”
She leans forward with her forearms on her knees, eyes wide and serious. The ridiculousness of a foolish girl deadset on competing in a rigged game. “Father favors you. He gives you power, freedom. He lets you bend the rules,makethe rules. He gives you everything, and you’re here … for what, Luna? What rules have I broken that Father wouldn’t excuse for you?”
When I hesitate, she goes on. “Am I not his blood as well?”
His blood…
As if his blood is to be used as a shield.
“You areuseless.” The sneer comes out so vicious something deep inside me recoils. “There is a price for the useless, and a price for the useful. We each made our choice.”
“Choices? What choices?” She gestures around, as if I’ll find bars on the windows, handcuffs on the chair. “You force your will—on me, on the people. On everyone. For weeks, we’ve danced around your little game, acting as you command, smiling as you command, existing as you command. You call yourself a guardian, but you’re nothing but a puppet master.”
“And you are nothing but a puppet. Father’s. Thorne’s. Sawyer’s. You bend at the first sign of affection because you areweak. And spoiled. And foolish. I could cut my foot off with an ax, and you would whine that Father gave me a cane.”
“At least Ibend, Luna.” She shoves from her chair, fists clenched at her side, eyes glassy with tears—angry not sad. “You know why I took to Sawyer?”
“Because you wanted to sabotage my mission.”
She huffs, runs her hands down her face. “Because I feltbadlyfor him. He’s a liar and a thief, but he’s kind, and he doesn’t deserve whatever you’re going to do to him. You aredisgustinglyheartless, and I pity the men who catch your attention.”
“You pity them.” I stand, my lips tilting into a bitter smile. “That’s why you invited Thorne between your legs. Because you pity him.”
“Yes. I do. But let’s not pretend it’s Thorne you care about. He’s told me how you are in bed—cold and lifeless. Thorne says you stare at the ceiling like you’re not even there. He feels like he’s screwing a corpse.”
“Stop.”
“But those videos of you with Sawyer…” Her head tips to the side. “Am I mistaken, or did I sense a bit of passion?”
“Stop!” My shin knocks the table and drags my eyes down as I pant. I don’t raise them. I stare at the bracelet lying lax on the table. The taunt woven just for me.
I wish I had never seen it.
“I’m sorry,” Zephyr says, though her voice is stiff. She crosses her arms over her chest while my fists unclench, hands trembling. “That was too far.”
I open my mouth, but the words tucked on the edge of my tongue don’t release. My eyes draw to the hiking bag, to my purpose here. Somehow, I’m able to ignore it.
“Is it true?”
No answer.
“Does Thorne… Did he say those things?”
Silence.
I close my eyes, take a steadying breath. “Did Sawyer mention his … experience with me? Is there information that could help me moving forward?”
“Help you what?”
Help me what…
I have no answer.
Zephyr sighs as she sits back. I don’t follow suit. Don’t even look at her.
“He was vague about pretty much everything, all the time. Including you… I learned more from Raven’s report and the videos than I ever did speaking with him.”
