Page 59 of Taking Jenny
“It doesn’t matter,” she said stubbornly. “Just forget it.”
“You say something like that and expect me to forget it?” I asked incredulously. “Say what’s on your mind, Jenny. Even if it’s cruel.”
She yawned, and I wasn’t sure if it was real or a deflection. “I’m tired, Mal.”
“Please tell me,” I said, hating how desperate I was to know her thoughts about me.
“Leave me alone.” She rolled to her other side, giving me her back in a clear dismissal.
I clenched my jaw, and my annoyance got the best of me. “This attitudeis what’s going to get you served on a banquet platter,” I said, before I could stop myself. “You’re a quitter.”
She turned around so fast, it was a blur of motion, but I didn’t miss the flash of hurt in her eyes. “I am tired of being lectured by you! That doesn’t make me a quitter.”
I abruptly stood up. “You say you want Tiger, then you almost say something about me, but you won’t finish the sentence. And when I push you on it, you act tired and dismiss me. You’re this convoluted mix of bravery and cowardice. Too brave to know better than to kick a palace guard, and yet too cowardly to say how you feel.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and I shook my head at her, not done yet. I wanted her to care enough to fight me. “You don’t get to be a coward on the mountain when you’re running Illiapol, Jenny. You don’t get to feign exhaustion there, either. It only makes you easier to hunt. Injured, not injured, tired, awake…it doesn’t matter when your life is on the line. I hope you remember that when it counts.”
Ignoring the fury sparking in her eyes, I turned and headed for the door.
“How fucking dare you, Mal!”
I spun on her, heart pounding. “What?”
She sat up on the table, legs dangling over the side, still pale despite the angry splotches of color in her cheeks. “You keep dodging what you want to say, too! And when I call you on it, you turn everything around and act like this is some grand lesson for the mountain, which is bullshit! I know what I’m up against—”
I marched back to her, fast, closing the space between us until I could smell her skin, sweet and earthy. “You have no fucking idea what you’re up against, Jenny!” I yelled at her, both furious and fearful for her future. “And it all boils down to this. Are you a fighter or are you food?”
Her breath caught, before she clenched her jaw. “Get. Out.”
“Quitting again?” I sneered. “I wonder what your menu will be like. They vary it a little every year—”
She jabbed a finger toward the door. “Get. Out.Now!”
“Of course,” I said, heading in that direction. “Wouldn’t want you too upset before the trial. Negative emotions are said to foul the flavor of the meat.”
“Fuck you!”
I slammed the door behind me and stormed up the stairs. At the top, Longshot, Rhonda, Discord, Surge, and Tiger were all gathered, pretending like they hadn’t been listening.
With massive effort, I kept my voice calm and neutral, when everything inside of me was a fucking jumbled mess of emotions. “What are you all doing up this late?”
“Needed to check on Jenny,” Surge said, the only one with a valid reason for being there.
Discord crossed her arms. “I was curious to see how she was faring.”
Tiger didn’t even try to lie. “You know why I’m here.”
Longshot stroked Rhonda as if to keep her calm, and raised a brow at me. “So, Jenny is well enough to argue?”
My fury pivoted and found a new target. I grabbed Longshot’s shirt and slammed him up against the nearest wall. “What the fuck where you thinking out there, huh?”
He angled his arm, shielding his beloved strigella from harm, but Longshot’s eyes sharpened on me. “I was doing my job, Mal. Unhand me!”
Rhonda hissed at me in warning.
I ignored her, all my emotional turmoil unraveling on Longshot as I got closer to his face and shook him harder against the wall. “You should have been more careful. You pushed her too hard! She’s just a human!”
Longshot’s gaze narrowed. “I mean it, Mal,” he said in a deceptively calm voice. “Let me go, or I willmakeyou let go.”
