Page 41 of Twisted Legacy

“On her back and knees.” Archie quips.

Finn nods. “Righto. That’s a good place for her to be.” They share a laugh while I’m debating who to stab first. The guy who’s still holding onto my wrist or my neighbor. Finn smiles up at Archie. “I believe there’s an unanswered question on the table.”

“What question?”

“She asked if you’re attached to your hand.”

Archie looks down to where he’s holding me. Then darts his eyes over to my free hand. When he sees it’s empty he smirks. “I don’t have anything to worry about. I hear this is the hand she holds her knife with,andshe doesn’t have that knife anymore.”

My heart lurches when he mentions Clint. Being without my knife feels a lot like losing a loved one. Or so I imagine, since Sasha and now LJ and Austin are the only people I’d be upset about losing.

Finn’s smile slips, his wrist flicks, and he pulls Archie across the table, his arm stretched taut, a blade pressed against his medial nerve. “Let this be a reminder that youalwayshave something to worry about. This is your throwing hand. Right, Tucci?”

That’s right. He’s a baseball player. Now this little visit makes sense. The guy Zeus must be his buddy. He should be happy his friend is injured. This guy was second string, now he’s starting.

“I asked you a question, Tucci. Is this your throwing hand?”

“Yeah. Yes. It’s my throwing hand.”

“Are you attached to it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suggest you be more careful about what you’re using it for. You know… stick to food, baseballs, and jerking off.” Finn lets go, and Archie straightens with a grimace, rubbing his wrist.

“Finn, no disrespect, but this is none of your business. The Trium discarded her, shunned her, and turned her into the Zeta Nu Dropout Pledge, which means the rest of us can do what we want. That’s how it’s been. How it’s always been. The team needs justice for Zeus, and since you aren’t doing anything about it...”

Finn cocks this head to the side and asks, “Is that a challenge you’re throwing down, Archie?”

I’ve heard that word thrown around before. In the quietest of tones. That simple phrase conjures more respect and fear about being overheard than the whole secret society thing. I couldn’t get one morsel of information about it, though. Not even from LJ. But Finn’s throwing out that word, and I swear Archie looks like he’s about to pee himself.

“No Finn, no. It’s not a challenge.”

“Then why are you still standing here?”

Archie shuffles off, giving me one last hateful glare. I blow him a kiss for his troubles. I don’t care what Finn just said or inferred. Archie’s not done with me. I’ll add him to the list of people I have to watch out for. “I didn’t need you to step in, Finley.”

“Clearly, you had it all under control, Pet.”

“I did. I can handle peons that think a little hand holding is intimidating.” I stand, shoving my stuff in my bag.

“Pet, are you mad I helped?”

“Helped? You made shit worse. I’ve had enough spotlight to last three lifetimes because of you three and your shenanigans. And now, there’s this rumor that someone started about me being one of you legacy twats. I know you probably can’t understand this since you thrive on drama and attention, but I’m just trying to move on from what happened to me and be irrelevant again. I can’t do that if you come over here, putting that big glaring focus back on me.”

“Nobody’s gonna bother you anymore, and it’s not a rumor. Youareone of us. We’ll beat that knowledge into whoever needs it, and if you need to be punished, The Trium will be the ones to do it.”

I stare at him for a second before blurting out, “Are you being obtuse or do you really not get it?”

Rubbing his temples, he says, “Fine. Explain why you think me defending you is a problem.”

“Archie’s a tool, but he’s right. TheTriumpainted this target on my back. But even before that, I was dealing with all kinds of bullshit when you were pretending to be nice to me.”

“What kind of bullshit?”

“The kind that’s served with a good old heaping of slick ass comments from girls because they thought I was joy riding your dick, and a side order of obnoxious comments from guys because they thought,I thought, my pussy was too good for them.”

“I’ve had your pussy and I can attest that itistoo good for them.”

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