Then, Hollyn surprised them all. She stood up and walked out of the room without saying a word to any of them.
Kai felt defeated like he never had before. Had he lost the only woman he’d ever loved for good?
13
“Now, why are you letting your emotions get the best of you again? I thought you’d moved past that?” Yumia’s words only served to make Hollyn feel more insecure. How was she going to face her father and control herself if she couldn’t even express her anger in a situation where she clearly deserved to feel angry.
Instead, she held out her powerless hands and said, “I don’t know what to do.”
“Good!”
“How is that good?”
“Well, I don’t believe the first step to knowing what to do next, is admitting that you don’t know what to do next.”
Hollyn’s brain hurt with Yumia’s illogical logic.
“Let me ask you this. What are you most afraid of, Hollyn?”
Without hesitation, Hollyn said, “Failure.”
“And what happens if you fail?”
Hollyn gave a small, incredulous laugh. “I’m imprisoned for the rest of my life.”
Yumia shrugged, and Hollyn wanted to scream at her nonchalance.
“Maybe. Maybe not. After all, that could have already been your fate if your mother and your aunt hadn’t intervened. I’m just saying that failure isn’t the end. Failure is just a lesson to learn. What you do next determines whether you’ve learned anything or not.”
Hollyn knew Yumia was speaking truth, but it still didn’t help her understand who to trust.
“I feel so confused.”
“Ah, yes, the video, Thian, Katerina, and Kai. It is a muddled mess, isn’t it?”
“You know about all of that?”
Yumia smiled, showing her bright, white teeth. “Girl, there isn’t much I don’t know. Ha!”
“Then, if you know so much, who should I trust? Who’s telling me the truth?”
“Hmm. So, the question is, who is actually behaving loyally, and who has an agenda. That’s what you need to ask yourself? What is everyone’s agenda?”
“How do I figure that out?”
Yumia laughed. “You ask them. However, you have something that they don’t know about.” Yumia held out her hand. “Give me your hand.”
Hollyn laid her palm into Yumia’s, aware that she might just end up against the wall again. Instead, Yumia said, “Ask me something you want to know the answer to, something you think I might lie about.”
“Did you really teach Grigori?”
“Yes.”
A cool, blue flame covered their joined hands and turned green instantly.
“Now, really test me.”
“Did you enjoy my cooking?”
