Page 31 of Even Robots Die
“Like what?” I ask in a bored tone.
“An ass,” she says between her teeth and I can see the red slowly spreading up her cheeks.
“I’m only pragmatic. I don’t know your mother, but I know your father. And the Stéphane Beaumont that I know wouldn’t have thought twice and would have taken what he needed on that account.” I say with a shrug.
I can see the exact moment I said something that doesn’t sit well with Florentine. Her mouth closes and the muscle of her right cheek clenches with the way her jaw squeezes. Her hands open and close again before she hits the wood of my desk.
“I’m not my father, you dipshit! And as far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a mother. We weren’t her priority, so she could be dead for all I know. It’s not my problem.”
Her eyes lit up with the strength of those words and I can see how bright the spark of her rage is.
I want her rage.
From now on, her rage belongs to me.
She’s mine, and I’ll keep blowing on the spark until she sets the world on fire.
19
Florentine
Iwant to strangle Brice.
If I didn’t know I have absolutely no chance to even land a single slap, I would already be on him.
I have a feeling that if I could match his speed, I would claw at his perfect face so I don’t have to see him smile when he so obviously says things I don’t want to hear.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard people make assumptions based on how my dad behaves most days, but somehow him saying those things makes them so much worse.
It feels like he’s mocking me on purpose and it stokes something inside of me that only wants retribution.
“Are you done, now?” Brice asks me and now I’m past wanting to claw his face. Now I want to gouge his pretty green eyes.
“You’re a freaking insensitive asshole,” I tell him. “Maybe you deserve what happened to you.”
I immediately regret my last sentence.
I’ve seen the lab. I hated it. I still have nightmares about what might have happened there when it was in use.
I don’t wish that on anyone, not even my worst enemy. And Brice might be far from being an ally, but he’s not my worst enemy either.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have …” I start saying, but Brice cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.
“Save your breath. I am indeed an insensitive asshole. That’s part of the problem. They messed with my brain so much that I can’t feel anything. Be it physically or mentally,” he answers.
I remember that’s not the first time he’s told me he can’t feel, but it is the first time I finally understand what he really means by it.
When the birds played with his brain, they didn’t just ‘program’ him to attack Elhyor, they also removed his ability to feel retaliation, to care about retaliation.
They made the perfect killing machine, or so they thought.
Elhyor still being alive and Brice trying to find ways to get back to normal must be quite a pain in their asses. Well, if the crazy man who ordered it and his minions are still in possession of an ass … after all, what would they do with one six feet under? Because I have no doubt that anyone who was holding Brice and his men prisoner is now dead.
I want to say more, to tell him that we’re going to find a way to get him back to normal, but I’m not even sure he wants to hear it. He doesn’t sound like he actually cares.
And I can’t forget the fact that he seems to be the only one in the world who can manage to decipher when I’m lying, and since I’m not completely sure yet that we can actually cure him fully, he might catch it.
I still don’t know how he does that, and I really want to know, but it’s not going to make this lie more believable just now.
