Page 122 of The Girl Who Should Be Dead

“Leave,” she spits out at Gurlien, and Nalissa has just enough control of her to make the words sound real, make the sentiment echo.

To her equal parts horror and amusement, Gurlien just raises an eyebrow at her. “Uh huh,” he says, visibly skeptical,then, to Nalissa, “do you think I can’t tell when someone’s controlling her?”

“How?” Nalissa breathes, and Ambra tries to recoil back, tries to move, but Nalissa holds her in place despite her distraction. “You shouldn’t be able to, none of us can feel when another controls.”

Ambra tries to twitch over to Gurlien, the hair on the back of her neck rising, because even if Nalissa doesn’t have plans at the moment, this curiosity is absolutely how she would disarm him, absolutely how she would distract him.

Gurlien’s gaze flickers to hers then, deliberately, takes a step towards the edge of the circle.

“You’re massively overestimating my ability if you think I can sense something like that,” Gurlien says, and Ambra wishes, ever so briefly, that she could read his mind. Could see what he’s planning. “It’s more subtle than that.”

Nalissa’s eyes skate over to Ambra, almost uneasy. “How well can he control you?”

Again, the compulsion.

“He can’t,” Ambra says, and it’s technically true, but she blinks at herself anyways. “He can just disrupt, pull on the leash.”

“Interesting ramifications,” Nalissa murmurs, her fingers twitching, like she’s reaching for a pen but her desk is too clean. “Pity we can’t study that more.”

Nalissa loosens her grip on the leash just enough that Ambra strikes out, her magic snapping useless to the ground at the edge of the shield. But all Nalissa does is smile softly at her, like she’s merely a misbehaving child.

“Well, Gurlien, thank you for keeping her somewhat controlled, in a manner of speaking,” Nalissa says, and Gurlien’s face twists something awful for a split secondbefore he gets it under control. “I’ll write a report that you helped, get you reinstated in some research or another.”

“No thanks,” Gurlien replies, backing up another step, and as much as Ambra wishes she knew what that was about, wishes she knew how to interpret it, she misses the contact more.

“No, returning a valuable asset is enough, despite what happened in Toronto.” Then, Nalissa smiles, and it reaches her eyes, warm and friendly. “Just untie it and I’ll write a letter of recommendation.”

“I can’t,” Gurlien says easily, though his jaw is tight and the line of his shoulders underneath the black shirt is tense. “I can’t even see it.”

“Is he telling the truth?” Nalissa murmurs, snaking out her compulsion again.

“Yes,” Ambra spits out, struggling against it as if it’s as physical of a gag.

With a nod, Nalissa paces Ambra over to Gurlien, an easy, casual motion, and Gurlien’s eyes widen.

“Here,” Nalissa says through Ambra’s voice, even imitating the murmur, “give me your hand.”

Gurlien recoils back even further, even as Ambra reaches for him, each little muscle controlled by Nalissa.

“You’ve done enough, you’ll be free of this mess, go back to your friends,” Ambra’s voice continues, pouring out in such a good mimicry of her emotions, as Nalissa picks through her vocal cords and her small unconscious motions like an artist picking her paint. “We’ll pay for your plane ticket.”

It dawns on Gurlien's face, slowly, and his eyes snap up to Nalissa. “You need me to do this, don’t you? Give this up willingly?”

Nalissa shrugs, easy and nonchalant. “It’s a lot easier if you do, the death of the others has given…instabilities.”

Ambra doesn’t know how, but it gives her a little thrill, a little bit of fresh air, standing in front of him and glancing up at him. She can’t look away, not with Nalissa controlling her like that, but…

They’re unlikely to just kill him to take away the leash. Unlikely to just end him and snap her up.

Relief almost makes her knees weak.

“No,” Gurlien says, then, and the relief is mirrored on his face. “I’m not gonna do that.”

He had been scared, too.

“There are other things I can do to make you,” Nalissa continues, as if he didn’t say a thing. “Other things to convince.” Her control winds its way back through Ambra’s spine, straightening it with a pang of pain.

And Nalissa’s awareness floods through Ambra, floods through her, picking apart every ache and pain, the flinch that runs through her with every thump of the music, the glare in her eyes, every small soreness in her back, where her feet are pinched in her boots, to the warmth of her shoulders at Gurlien’s lingering touch, and…

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