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“I think you will be sorry if you do that,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “Can you possibly think you have something to threaten me with?”
“Information,” she said. “It’s always the best leverage.”
“Be more specific.”
“If I’m imprisoned. If I disappear. People will find out about this scheme of yours.”
“It’s not my scheme. And how do you think they’ll find out?”
“There are letters. In the hands of someone who is watching the house. They’ll be sent to people all over the city.” She smiled. “I actually enjoyed putting that list together.”
For the first time he looked uneasy. Even appalled. “You haven’t done such a thing.”
“I have. Explained the situation. Played up the arrogance of the Council families in maintaining this secret for so long—”
“You could—knowledge like that could bring the whole city down—even before the next quake hits!”
“That’s what I thought,” she agreed. “So I think it would serve you better if I maintained my freedom.”
His expression turned grim. She could tell his mind was working furiously, trying to determine if she was bluffing, trying to figure out how to outmaneuver her if she wasn’t. But she was pretty sure he couldn’t follow this trail to its conclusion. Jayla’s friend Cody had the letters. If Jayla didn’t communicate regularly with Cody, the letters would be delivered. Even once her father pinpointed Jayla as an accomplice, he wouldn’t know who else was in the chain.
“For the moment,” he said, “you have your liberty. What do you intend to do with it?”
“I’m still determining that.”
His gaze was intense. “Once you think about it, Madeleine, you will see that there are no other choices. You will pay a terrible price—you must realize I have paid the same price—but your actions will save the world. It is a noble cause, if a heavy one.”
“I’m having a hard time seeing it that way.”
“You’re a silly, selfish girl who has never thought of anything but herself!”
“And you’re a murderer.”
He was on her before she had time to react. He slapped her across the face so hard that she staggered against a table, sending two plates crashing to the tile. Before she could do more than cry out, a blur burst through the door, and Jayla flung herself across the room. The force of her attack brought both of them to the floor, Jayla with a knife at her father’s throat.
“The world might need Madeleine, but it doesn’t need you,” she said.
For a moment they were all frozen in place, Jayla and her father staring pitilessly at each other, Madeleine gaping at both of them. Her father was the first to recover.
“Let me up,” he said.
For an answer, Jayla ground her knee into his stomach, causing him to grunt in pain. Her blade never wavered.
Madeleine gathered her wits and crossed the room, stepping daintily past the broken china. “I can tell what you’re thinking,” she said, peering down at him. “And it would be just as foolish for you to try to do away with Jayla. Because ifshedisappears, those letters are also going out to all your associates and all your relatives.”
His eyes still on Jayla, he repeated, “Let me up.”
“Very well. Jayla, you can release him.”
Jayla came smoothly to her feet, but didn’t put away her knife. Her father more slowly clambered up. He was trying to keep his expression neutral, but she could see a storm of emotions scudding across his face. Rage. Frustration. Uneasiness. An edge of panic. Each one gave her a sense of bitter satisfaction.
“We’ll talk again tonight,” he said.
“We won’t,” she answered. “I want you gone from here. I don’t think I can manage another civil conversation with you—and I can’t bear to look at you.”
“You’re barring me from my own house? Where do you expect me to go?”
