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“Did you know Aspen before she came to Corium? Like, did you ever meet her before that night?”
She shakes her head without hesitating. “No. I never set eyes on her before.”
“You’d heard of her, though, right? That her father was rather infamous. Word spreads fast, especially in the underground.”
“I don’t know. People talk. I can’t pay attention to everything.” Now that seems evasive. Especially when she won’t look me in the eye.
Still, I can’t see the point in demanding she tells me more. Either she truly knows nothing, or she’s skilled enough in the art of lying that even I can’t crack her. It’s sickening how much I want to. Not only for Aspen’s sake. I need to know what makes this girl tick. How does she fit into any of this? She was involved, if only tangentially.Why?
The problem is, everyone else who would know why is dead, leaving her dangling like a loose thread. I hate loose threads. Especially when my daughter’s life might still be hanging in the balance. In that case, how am I supposed to let her go?
“Tomorrow, you’ll be starting classes.”
That shakes her out of it, to the point I’m surprised the food she’s chewing doesn’t fall out of her mouth as she gapes at me. “Tomorrow?”
“What did you think that examination was all about? I told you, all students go through it.”
“I didn’t think it meant I’d be enrolled immediately and shoved into classes.” I notice then that she’s not so interested in eating and instead chooses to push the food around on her plate. It shouldn’t give me a jolt of satisfaction to watch her tumble off her high horse, but then not much about the way my mind works makes sense.
“Don’t look so glum. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” I lift my fork to my lips, trying to hide a smile.
“Yeah,” she grunts, ending it with a snort. “I’m sure I will.”
We both know that isn’t true—and I’m hoping once she gets a sense of how dark and disturbing this jungle is, she’ll be more willing to look at me as a protector. By then, she’ll be more than willing to tell me everything I want to know… and if not, then we’ll have to go to plan B.
