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I couldn’t quite put er on it, but I was riveted by the two of them, by the way they interacted It was off soht, just inside the doorway, until she was invited to join the other girl And when she did, she kept her voice low and her hands at her sides I couldn’t quite name her demeanor, but she ell-mannered Quiet

Not at all the way she’d been with me, and almost the exact opposite of the way she’d been with Simon

When she was finished, Buzz Cut waited stiffly for a response, which was also whispered It -in-the-dark thing, because I was dying to knohat they were saying

It was okay, though, because I’d figured so the it sooner

I waited until Buzz Cut had shut the door, leaving us alone again "Oh uy we came here to see" No wonder she knew so much about Simon and Thom She was the reason ere here She was the person they thought would help us

The girl put her hands together once, twice, three tito think you nored the jab, because it wasn’t like she’d given me a lot to ith, ith the whole you-should-eat act, and the You’re safe, trust e of this operation? "What kind of nairl, I mean?" I jabbed back

Her expression closed off "My dad wanted a son I was so of a disappointment"

It was a sad answer, if it was an honest one, and it made me wonder how old she was, or where she’d been born The idea of being a letdown sin to me, completely antiquated I could hardly fatho but wanted, lovedcherished Suddenly the comment about her naood reason "Sorry," I said, wishing I could take it back "I didn’t ive it a second thought I don’t Water under the bridge, so to speak Old news" But the waver in her voice made me think it wasn’t such old news

She recovered like a cha when she’d first walked in, like she was trying for a do-over "So here’s the thing," she said "I feel like we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot What can I do to fix that?" I wondered if she kne transparent she was

But I wanted answers, and et a few before she revealed her true intentions

What was it Thoame with Griffin

I plucked up a slice of apple and leaned back on the bench I had to tread carefully Griffin wasn’t stupid "So if you guys were friends--you and Si treated like this? Why aain, facing e her reaction She was definitely suspicious, and regarded me warily If we’d been predators, it would have been hard to tell just as circling who But I knew she was the one who held all the real power here She ht want me to answer some of her questions, but ultimately, ere in her custody

"First," she started, "I never said ere friends I said I knew the held prisoners You’re not But look at this frouys just show up here, with absolutely no warning at all, saying you’re being chased by the Daylighters For all I know, you’ve just led those sons-a-bitches right to our doorstep You can’t fault rape from my plate and slid it into her mouth "We can never be too careful Surely you’ve learned that h But I have so and turned to inspect her cuticles, I took that as my cue to continue "Why aren’t you friends?" Her eyes slid up from her nails, so I elaborated "You said you knew Thom and Simon, but you said you weren’t friends Why is that?"

"Actually," she corrected sly, "I didn’t say that either You need to pay better attention I never said whether ere friends or not" She put extra eot off on playingaround until you weren’t sure what your original point even was

I decided to play ive her the slightest hint that she was getting toonly I could hear, settling on "Wo or anything but because it was the first beat that popped into e sense of satisfaction, like I’d just won the lottery or so: "We were once--the three of us We were close I thought I could trust them back then, that I could count on them" She made a sour face "Turns out you can never count on anyone but yourself They were as undependable as everyone else I’ve ever trusted"

I tried to attach that word to either of them, Simon or Thom--undependable--but I couldn’t s she’d said Si as hell, and Thom was soft-spoken and reserved