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It was Clancy

I took a step toward hiive hi with Clancy was easier My feet o Where I was supposed to go

But Liam didn’t let me, and Chubs wasn’t about to, either I felt the latter’s hands grab my backpack The moment Liaht, and I couldn’t reo to him, to let him walk me back to ca to her, stop it!"

"He’s not--" Mike began, looking between Liam and Olivia I saw her just beyond Liarim mask Behind them, the other kids from Liam’s watch detail were abuzz, unsure of where to look

"I’e of ice "You’re the one that’s jealous of the relationship she and I have"

The boys around hiely expressionless

"You’re the one that’s trying to break the rules here," he continued "Because it is a rule, isn’t it, Liv? If you want to leave, you have to ask ht?"

She hesitated, but nodded

Liaether, and he see to so the rest of us couldn’t hear I felt, rather than saw, the tension leave the lines of his shoulders He took a step back, and then another away fro to his forehead "Sorry…I just…I didn’t mean…"

"You’re happy here, aren’t you?" Clancy asked, pleasantly "There’s no reason why you can’t go back to feeling that way There are rules here You know theain, will you?"

"No," Lia at nized at once And so, apparently, did Chubs His own eyes narrowed, zeroing in on Clancy with pure, razor-sharp fury

"Letrules," he said, his voice dripping with venom as he pushed past Liam "You sit up in your room and you pretend like you hat’s best for everyone, but you don’t do any of the work yourself I can’t tell if you’re just a spoiled little shit, or if you’re too worried about getting your pretty princess hands dirty, but it sucks You are fking awful, and you sure as hell don’t have aze fell on Chubs, but he went on, undaunted "You talk about us all being equals, like we’re one big happy rainbow of peace and all that bullshit, but you never once believed that yourself, did you? You won’t let anyone contact their parents, and you don’t care about the kids who are still trapped in camps your father set up You wouldn’t even listen when the Watch kids brought it up So what I want to know is, why can’t we leave?" He took another step forward, cutting off Clancy before he could start speaking "What’s the point of this place, other than for you to get off on how great you are and toy with people and their feelings? I knohat you did to Ruby"

The others stood by in silence, but the longer Chubs spoke, the clearer their eyes became; Mike, in particular, shook off Clancy’s influence with a look like he was about to be sick The other kids’ eyes flicked around, nervous and unsure