Page 29 of Liar
Thorne’s the last to stand, and with a rigid, automatic movement, holds out a hand across the table for Savannah to grab as she rises. He won’t look my way.
“I’ll walk you to class,” he says to her, his gruff voice a dark rumble against my rib cage.
Savannah doesn’t take his hand. I’m sorry to say I’m relieved I don’t have to see it. “I’d like to hang back for a bit. Talk to Ember.”
Thorne flicks a disinterested glance my way. “Suit yourself. I’ll see you at the end of the day.”
His cold departure doesn’t affect me the way it should. Maybe because it’s happened so many times I’ve grown used to it, since he more than makes up for his shitty attitude with an expert tongue.
Damnit, stop this. I scrunch my eyes shut, hating how much my body responds to him.
“I meant what I said.” Savannah’s voice cuts into my thoughts. I open my eyes. “You’re one of us now. Don’t worry about Aurora.”
“I never have.” I chew on those dishonest words, unable to confess to Savannah how close Aurora came to assaulting me. Savannah probably endured worse. “But thank you for standing up for me.” Those next words feel just as untrue. I click my tongue, wondering why. Savannah’s been nothing but nice since I met her. Besides, shouldn’t there be a bond between us, now that we’ve mutually destroyed a guy?
I search her eyes in an attempt to find a thread to connect us. I see nothing.
“I’ll always be on your side,” Savannah says. “Just like you’ll be on mine.”
“Yeah. Sure.” I swallow while keeping a wary eye on her. I’ve seen Savannah snap. I’m not about to cause it in the middle of the cafeteria.
“Do you wonder how Zeke is doing?” I ask her. Gently. “Because I do. I don’t know why I did that. I’ve never been so violent before. He’s an asshole, for sure, but I regret it. I regret hitting him while he was down.”
“It’s the fervor. When the Societies surround you, chanting with centuries-old wisdom, it’s like they’re funneling their strength into you and suddenly, you have the power of twenty-four elites. It’s no wonder we needed to unleash.” Savannah’s expression doesn’t shift despite her passionate words. “I only wish I had that power when I was alone.”
“Agreed,” I say in a hushed tone. “But don’t you think it’s … poisonous? Like, if we take too much, it’ll kill us?”
She shakes her head. “It only makes us stronger. If it weren’t for the Societies’ teachings, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand what I went through.”
I shut my mouth, my argument silenced by the meaning of her words. When put in that kind of context, I can see why Savannah would want to possess that savagery and fearlessness, the ability to fell a man when so often, she was made the victim.
“It’s why I was the first to choose our sacrifice,” she adds lightly.
My stare shoots back to hers.
“The king and queen both overrode my suggestion, though.” Savannah shrugs.
I speak through the ball of dread building in my throat. “What are you talking about?”
“The king and queen wanted to respect what I went through and gave me the option of choosing who we would torture. But they didn’t think it was wise to pick someone with so little knowledge of the Societies. She’d see too much if we didn’t kill her. With Zeke, they had a much better chance of manipulating him into silence, because of course we wouldn’t kill him.” Savannah laughs under her breath, like she’d just stated the obvious.
I can actually feel my face draining of blood. “You knew? The whole time when we were stuck in the crypt together, you know what we’d have to do?”
“Well, yes.” Savannah stares at me like I was failing her personal math quiz that she worked really hard on. “I’ve been a member since I was twelve. I’m well aware of how far the Societies go. Do you honestly think I’d be this sane after my abduction if I hadn’t?”
I pull my lips in, because I sure as hell can’t answer that. “Who did you choose, then? Who did Damion and Dupris override?”
Savannah flinches at my use of their names, but the cafeteria has emptied out. It’s just she and I sitting side-by-side at a long table, yet I feel like there’s a chasm between us.
“I thought it’d be obvious,” she says, cocking her head at me. A owl assessing the mouse below.
“It isn’t.” There are too many people to choose from, frankly, but I don’t tell her that.
“Aiko.” Savannah rises at the same time my mouth falls open and the rest of the blood leaves my face. “I nominated her as the sacrifice. She needs the strength we possess, don’t you agree?” Savannah picks up her tray before turning to leave. “I was offering her a kindness, considering she now has two of the most powerful Winthorpe Virtues as her best friends.”
Chapter 10
Ember