Page 61 of Twisted Legacy

It’s my turn to smile, and she asks, “What are you smiling at?”

“I’m gonna have so much fun with you.”

Her brows shoot up. “We’re not gonna have any kind of fun together.”

“Yes, Thea. We are. But first we need to set some ground rules.”

She laughs. The first laugh I’ve heard from her since her attack. “Ground rules? Seriously? I won’t be listening to your ground rules, sky rules or any other kind of rules. So if you’re done playing your royal asshole-ness, I’ll be going.”

“Rule number one, honesty is very important in our group. If we can’t trust you, then we can’t trust your family, and The League will intercede.”

“You can trust me, pretty boy. Trust me to do the exact opposite of anything that makes you happy.”

It’s a slip of the tongue, but it’s a significant slip, and I’m careful not to react. This makes Finn’s theory more plausible that she’s the person who’s been messing with all of us. If I work off of that assumption, then I have to dig deeper into how. Although I guess the how isn’t as important as the why.

Finn asks, “Is there something you’ve done recently that you need to be punished for?”

There’s a calmness that comes over her face. No trace of emotion. She’s preparing to be interrogated. I ask the next question. “Have you done something since you’ve been back on campus that you thinkwe’llthink you deserve to be punished for?”

“You three are such cry babies so, I’d say yes. I sneezed and didn’t excuse myself yesterday. What’s the punishment for that?”

Finn asks, “Anything more serious than that?”

“I tried to punch your daddy in the face last week. But in my defense, it’s a pretty punchable face, and he was begging for it.”

“Pax failed to mention that.”

It’s my turn to be surprised. The words tumble out, “You call Pax, daddy?”

“I call himFinn’sdaddy. Though I guess he’d be yours too, since he’s the boss of you, too.”

This conversation just keeps getting more interesting. I know she’s directing it away from the topic, which means she’s guilty of something she doesn’t want us to know about, but this is the most we’ve ever said to each other and I’m fascinated. “Is that what you think? That we’re mindless minions for Pax, just doing whatever he says?”

“Aren’t you?”

“We’re all on equal footing.”

“Well, that’s not what I hear.”

I arch a brow. “No? Then enlighten me. What have you heard?”

“That the legacy system has stages. Some are higher than the others.”

“That’s true. But we’re The Trium, meaning there isn’t anybody higher than us, not even within the group.”

“Sure.” She drawls. “If you say so.”

“Why is that so hard for you to believe, Thea?”

“Because everything has a hierarchy. Even when the presumption is that you’re on equal footing, at some point and time, someone will always have more or less than the others.”

I encourage her to continue. “Go on.”

“Let’s look at Finn and his apple. All things being equal, you don’t have an apple. So he has more than you, thereby putting him ahead of you.”

Finn pulls out his knife and says, “Very good argument, Pet, but there’s one thing you haven’t considered.”

“What’s that?”

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