Page 88 of Thief of Night
“Getting into places you’re not supposed to be is your thing,” Posey said.
There was no point in denying that, so she didn’t.
Posey put a hand on her hip. “I’m going with you.”
“You can’t,” Charlie blurted out, too surprised to consider her words.
“Bullshit,” Posey said. “I want to know what’s going on among the wealthygloamist-wannabes. This is one of the most exclusive conferences ever, and if you’re going, I want to go too. I know you can get me in.”
“That’s a bad idea,” Charlie said.
“You keep treating me like a kid,” Posey replied. “Hiding things from me. Acting like you have to protect me. Deciding my future without me Remember those months you barely got out of bed? I have my problems, but so do you.”
Charlie got up and started to clean off the kitchen island, pouring out the remains of bottles and cans, then dropping them into the recycling. It was familiar work and it kept her from letting her agitation show. “I never said I wasn’t a mess. But I’m not the only one hiding things.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Posey demanded.
Charlie turned to her sister, frustrated. “How about you tell me what you’ve been doing for work?”
Posey’s face had gone carefully blank.
“Well?” Charlie gestured to the apartment. “Where are you getting the money to pay for this place? And why have you been trying to pretend to me that it’s secretly affordable, when I know the rent in this building is well beyond what we should be able to afford?”
Posey met her gaze, looking flummoxed. She still didn’t speak.
“Exactly.” Charlie started back toward her room. “Look, I got into this trouble all on my own and it’s mine to fix.”
“If I did what you’re doing for a man, you would never let me hear the end of it,” Posey called after her. The words cut, worse than she could know.
“Is this another complaint about Red?” Charlie returned.
Posey seemed to have a sister’s intuitive sense that she’d struck true. “You’ve been like this for years, throwing yourself away on one worthless guy after another. You think that you can make them love you by doing things for them no one else would do.”
“Let it go,” Charlie said, warning in her voice.
“And you talk about the Hall family curse like it’s real.” Posey’s voice had risen. “It was just a stupid thing I said.”
“Well, you are the fortune teller. Who better to prophesy?” Charlie crossed her arms in front of her.
“You’re going to wind up just like Mom,” Posey snapped.
“And how long have you been waiting to say that to me?” Charlie asked, her anger uncoiling like a snake, fangs dripping venom. “Am I supposed to be insulted, when you live in our mother’s pocket? How many times a day do you call and text her, apparently all the while thinking that comparing anyone to her is an insult?”
“She’s apologized for the past,” Posey replied.
“Not for what she actuallydid,” Charlie said.
“How can she when you’ll never tell her the truth about what happened?” A light came into Posey’s eyes. “Of course, I could always tell her.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Posey smiled, pleased to have stumbled into leverage. “So take me with you to the Umbral Elevation Retreat.”
It was clear that Posey thought Charlie was being unreasonable, so strong-arming her was justified. She might not have ever intended to follow through. But Charlie felt a roaring in her ears at the familiar threat of blackmail, the one she’d caved to for so many years.
She picked up her phone and called their mother.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t been making terrible decisions all day.
