My fists clench, making the zip ties dig uncomfortably into my skin.

“Now, November,” he says slowly. “Where is your father?”

I struggle against the restraints, pain be damned. “I don’t know,” I say, because it’s the truth.

I look at his desk on my right, but it’s too far away to get the knife Aarya said was hidden under it.

Conner sighs. “You may not know where he is at present, but you can tell me where you live.”

Suddenly it’s hard to breathe. If I give him my address in Pembrook, the people I love are in danger—Dad, Emily.

Conner smiles. “I see you understand the question now. Based on the assessment I gave you and your skill sets, I’d say your father has hidden you away in some sleepy town in the country that you don’t leave. Probably has a mundane job that never raised any flags. Near a forest—lots of light and trees.”

I cringe, remembering the yellow and green I chose on the color test my first day here—what else did I give away during my interview with him?

“Your aunt wasn’t easy to find, either, even in a small city,” he says casually, like he’s merely commenting on the weather. “But your father…he has managed to elude us for a very long time. Then again, our Family always was excellent at deception and disguises.”

My chest tightens at the mention of Aunt Jo and tears sting my eyes. “I’ll kill you!” I blurt out.

“Right. Right. That would be an excellent idea,” Conner says, and he has the same amused expression he wore when he thought he was catching me in a lie. “Now that you’ve said your piece, let’s get back to the question at hand.”

I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so much in my life. My skin is practically crawling with the need to strike out at him. But Conner isn’t the only one who can read people. The more pain he thinks he’s causing me, the happier he gets. So losing myself to anger is going to get me exactly nowhere. If there is one thing I’ve learned here, it’s that you can’t think your way out of a situation when you’re overrun by emotion. I take a calming breath. He doesn’t know where Dad is, I reassure myself. He doesn’t know about Pembrook.

“Silence? Is that your choice?” he asks.

I’m too far from the fireplace to burn these zip ties off. And even if I could somehow get over there, I would seriously burn myself before I could melt the ties.