Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,180

he wasn’t really dead. I know you lied to me for twelve years, made me believe that that little girl Madeline killed him, when really you sold him off to pay for your own mistakes. You have robbed and cheated so many people, but nothing is more unforgivable then what you stole from me. You stole my life. And his life. And Azelle’s life too. You stole my childhood. And my innocence. And my ability to believe in anything. And now, here, thanks to these people, I have managed to get a sliver of that back. And I will not let you take it away again. I will tell them exactly what you’re planning, and then you can deal with that army.”

For a split second, Monsieur Renard actually looked uncertain. But he quickly wiped the expression from his face and stood up. Again, he walked toward her. But this time, Chatine did not back away. She stood her ground. Even when her father pinned her with that dark, sinister stare that had haunted her for almost her entire life. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Chatine raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”

“You like it here,” Monsieur Renard stated as though this were a key piece of intel that Chatine had foolishly given away.

“So?”

“You like it here too much,” he amended. “You’ve fallen in love with these ignorant dropouts.”

Madame Renard chortled. Anger coursed through Chatine, but she fought to keep her hands and her breath steady.

“Didn’t I ever tell you not to fall in love with your mark?” her father asked. “It’s dangerous and … messy.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Chatine said confidently.

“You’re not in love with them?”

“They’re not my mark.”

Madame Renard scoffed. “You expect us to believe that?”

“Believe whatever you want,” Chatine spat at her, “but the truth remains, if you don’t leave, I expose you.”

“As I was saying,” Monsieur Renard went on, undeterred, “you like it here. Too much. And if you expose us, we expose you. And then, it’s adieu darling Défecteurs. Do you really think they’d let you stay after they find out you’re a croc?”

Chatine snorted. “They know I’m a croc. They rescued me from Bastille. They’ve seen my tattoo.”

“Sure, but do they know about your nefarious plot to steal zyttrium right out from under their noses?”

“What? I wasn’t going to—”

“Who do you think they’ll believe?” her mother chimed in, picking up right where her father left off in the coordinated dance they’d been performing all their lives. “You, a known convict with a criminal past? Or their favorite new friends? Fabian and Gen,”—she nodded at the scraps of fabric on the table—“who discovered these sacs hidden under your bed and became the heroes who exposed a con artist in their midst.” She let out a scandalized gasp.

Monsieur Renard took another menacing step toward Chatine, his eyes narrowing wickedly. “Are you so sure they’ll trust you over us? Are you willing to bet your life on it?”

Chatine’s heart squeezed in her chest. She knew her parents were right. They were like celebrities in this place. Etienne had said so himself. Why would the Défecteurs believe her—someone they barely knew—over them?

Defeat started to clamp around her neck. Heavy and rusted like the chains on Bastille. When would she ever get out from under this shadow? When would she finally shed the burden of their name? Renard. As hard as she’d tried, she’d never been able to escape it.

Not when her family had run from Montfer and come to live in the Frets.

Not when Chatine had changed her identity and became a boy named Théo.

Not even on Bastille.

Everywhere she went, her past, her family, her blood followed her. And would continue to follow her. It had been branded on her as permanently as her prisoner tattoo.

When was she going to learn that she couldn’t escape herself?

Now, she thought, standing up taller and sucking in a deep, courageous breath. Right now.

“Fine,” she said, and her father seemed to sag ever so slightly in relief. That is, until she continued. “Expose me. Tell them who I am. Tell them whatever you want. I don’t care. I’m prepared to leave. Just as long as you leave too. Because whatever you say, I will make sure that we all go down together.”

Her father evidently wasn’t expecting her to call their bluff, because for the first time in her life, Chatine saw fear flash in her father’s eyes. True, genuine fear. He looked to Madame Renard, whose face was blank with shock. Clearly, they weren’t willing to bet on