Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,154

exactly what the sisters had intended.

“So,” Gabriel said, leaning back on his palms. “Let me see if I got all of this straight. You were raised by the Vangarde, one of which is this Denise person, except you didn’t know you were being raised by the Vangarde. And when you found out, you bolted, because you were, understandably, a little pissed off. So you went looking for your mother at a blood bordel in Montfer, and now you’re here, embroiled in this mess with us.”

Alouette nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat at the mention of the sisters. She still wasn’t used to hearing other people talk about them. It was strange. They’d been her own secret for so many years. And now they were no one’s secret. “That’s about the gist of it,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

“Is that why your biometrics are not in the Communique?” Gabriel asked, sounding like he’d just pieced this together. “Because the Vangarde were somehow able to erase them?”

Alouette thought back to the arrest warrant with her image on it. The one that had said, “Unknown Female.” She shrugged. “I guess so. I guess they erased them at the same time they removed my Skin. When I first came to live with them after the Renards.”

Gabriel let out a low whistle. “Wow. So you left some of the most despicable people on the planet to go live with the most famous rebel group on the planet. No one can accuse you of having a boring life.”

“Is that what they accuse you of?”

“Me?” He snorted. “Are you kidding? No one would dare accuse me of being boring.”

“Ah right,” Alouette said, leaning back on her hands. “You’re the criminal mastermind.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“I don’t think you’d let me.”

Gabriel grinned, and Alouette could suddenly feel his eyes on her again, studying her face in the near darkness. She turned. “What?”

“Nothing. I just …” Gabriel shook his head. “I’m glad you got out of that place. The Renards were horrible people. I can’t imagine how you might have turned out if you’d stayed.” He kicked at a loose rock with his toe. “Probably like me.”

“You’re not so bad.”

“Well, that’s true. But if there’s any justice in the universe, those Renards are rotting on Bastille right now.”

Alouette thought about the last time she’d seen the Renards. It was in the Forest Verdure when they’d kidnapped Hugo, the only real father she’d ever known, and were holding him ransom for Inspecteur Limier.

“What about their daughters?” Alouette asked, remembering the girl who had chased her into the forest on the moto. “Chatine? And Azelle?”

“What about them?”

“Do you know what happened to them?”

“No. Last I saw of any of the Renards was when they boarded the bateau to Vallonay. I assume those two girls turned out as wretched and miserable as their parents.”

Alouette tilted her head back and stared up at the stars. “I hope not.”

“You like to see the good in people, don’t you?”

“Is that bad?”

“No. It’s not bad, it’s …” But when Gabriel couldn’t seem to find the right word, he just said, “You clearly didn’t grow up how I did. After you hang out with enough scum, you start to see it everywhere.”

Alouette thought longingly about the dim hallways of the Refuge and the floors she used to clean every day.

“Maybe,” she pondered, “there’s always something good and clean underneath? Maybe some people just have more layers to scrub away?”

Gabriel threw his head back and laughed. “You can honestly still say that? After living with the Renards? Those people treated you like garbage. Turned you into their own personal slave. And still had the nerve to complain that your mother didn’t pay them enough to take you in.”

Alouette’s gaze snapped toward him. “Were you there at the Jondrette when they took me in? Did you see my mother?”

“No,” said Gabriel apologetically. “You were already living with them when my father started working there. But I just remember Monsieur and Madame Renard constantly griping about what a burden you were. And how the fifteen hundred largs your mother paid them to take you in wasn’t enough.”

Fifteen hundred largs?

Wasn’t that the exact amount the madame had said she’d given Lisole before she left town? As an advance on her next blood extractions?

“Do you remember them saying anything else about her?” Alouette asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “Sorry. I wish I could be more help.”

Once more, Alouette felt the hope drain from her. She was starting