Richard snorts. “It’s funny that you, of all people, would fall for a guy from the Swarm. That surprised me,” he says in a patronizing tone. Richard stares at his drink as he swirls it. “Apparently it wasn’t enough watching your dad or your best friend murdered. Those didn’t slow you down. No—not you. You’re resilient.” His voice squeaks. He nods his head and sniffs his drink. “I like that about you.” He then takes a sip, holding it in his mouth before swallowing. “But everyone has a button. It’s just a matter of finding it, and once you do . . .” His laugh is shrill. Grating. “Well, you can get them to do anything. You—” He shakes his index finger at me. “You’re interesting. Harder to control than anyone else in this city. I’ll give you that. A lot like your dad. I just didn’t expect it from a sixteen-year-old.”

Adrenaline courses through my veins, making every extremity feel charged and twitchy. “I was going to your stupid gala like you wanted.”

Richard snickers. He closes one eye. A prolonged wink. “You also impersonated the Swarm with your fake Twitter account.” Richard tucks his hand into his pocket. “And what about the Apple Store? I’ll admit, whatever program you installed on that computer, it took us a while. But I found what you’d been searching.” Richard snorts again. “You led me right to him, you know. I knew someone from the inside was helping your dad, and Hewitt’s boy might have gone undiscovered if it weren’t for you.”

I draw in a shaky breath. It takes everything in me to dismiss him. He’s only trying to crack me. He wants me to crumble in front of him. But I refuse to give him that satisfaction.

“You run the attacks.”

“I do a lot more than that.”

His pride is disgusting. Infuriating. “You murder people.”

“I keep people in line, Lia,” Richard says with a calm demeanor. “The mayor has revitalized this city. I help ensure that vision by controlling what’s broken.”

“By forcing the city to sell lakefront property? Blackmailing teenagers?” I trip over my words. “Making them join your Swarm?”

He rocks from heel to toe. His grin widens like I’ve said something amusing. “You’ve only scratched the surface. I got a city ordinance from the early nineteen hundreds repealed. That takes politicking. Coercion. Control.” He bites his bottom lip. Giddy, almost. “Let’s not minimize what I had to do to make that happen.”

Richard relishes it. He wants to brag about it. Celebrate it. Like he’s dying to be recognized.

My voice shrinks as I begin to wonder if the mayor is involved at all. “It’s all about control for you, isn’t it? You use the Swarm to get what you want.”