Page 12 of The Obedient Lie
It was forsurvival.
The last place in the academy built to keep us sharp, violent, anduntouchable.
And then cameher.
In a skirt that barely covered her thighs, humming whileshe unpacked, sticking her little toiletries on the bathroom counter like she wasn’ttrespassing.
I tossed my gym bag onto the couch and muttered, “Told you she’d unpack like it’s a makeover show.”
She turned to me, cheeks flushed, trying to keep her voice soft. “It’s just a throw blanket.”
“Good.Throw it out.”
She flinched like she wasn’t used to being spoken to that way.
Good.Let her learn now.
This wasn’t the Adams compound. This wasours.
And she didn’tbelong.
“Seriously. All I did was kiss you.”
The words stopped me in my tracks.
I turned. Slowly.
Her eyes locked onto mine, voice trembling butsteady.
“I kissed you. I didn’t murder anyone.”
I stared at her. At the soft set of her lips, the proud line of her chin, the way her arms were crossed like armor over her stupid soft sweater.
And the worst part?
Shemeantit.
She thought this was aboutone kiss.
“You kissedbothof us,” I said, walking toward her now. “In front of your boyfriend. You don’t think that’spoisonin our world?”
“I wasn’t thinking aboutyourworld,” she snapped. “I was thinking aboutmine.”
That made me pause.
She wasn’t lying.
There it was again — this terrifying, infuriating truth: she wasn’t trying to manipulate.
She wasn’t calculating.
She wasn’t pretending.
She was justbeing.
That made herdangerous.
I caught Luca watching her from the side of the couch, his jaw tight.
