“Are you threatening Mom?” My voice breaks as I speak.

My father straightens as if I slapped him. It’s the only indication I have that he’s startled by my suggestion, because his features—even his eyes, so like mine—haven’t changed.

“That is a display of your ignorance,” he says.

“False.” I push myself off the metal table and stand. “You’re hurting her already, but you wouldn’t know that because you’re never home.”

I honestly don’t know what’s gotten into me. I’ve been the good soldier in my father’s shadow for so long, but it’s like the last few days have flipped a switch inside me.

I await his reprimand, my punishment for defying him, but my father only stares at me, saying nothing, so I start to move past him.

“Shy,” he says, and there’s something in his voice that makes me turn back. For a second, his expression looks full of regret, but then it’s like a gate drops and his cool manner returns.

I shake my head, and then, because this may be the only time I can get away with this, I add, “And you know what? I’ll always be here to save Mom, because she’s been there to save me. But you—who will be there for you? Elite Cain?” I pause to scoff. “You’re just a commander, remember?”

My father’s shoulders go rigid, but I don’t wait for anything—for words or his scorn. I leave. I promised Mom I’d be home for dinner anyway.

Chapter Eleven

Anora and a New Friend

I don’t get the chance to tell Shy thank you for covering for me with Mr. Seth because he isn’t in class all afternoon, something that bothers me more than it should. I wonder if he found someone else to go to lunch with—maybe another girl, the one who hugged him around his waist yesterday. Maybe they’d lost track of time or ditched to go back to his house.

Stop! I order myself.

I can’t let a few instances of kindness blind me from things that truly bother me—like Shy’s watchful gaze and his perceptive questions. It might seem wrong to be suspicious of him, but some of the greatest threats never set off warning bells.

In contrast, Thane is a walking siren—everything about him screams run the other direction, and what he already knows about me makes him dangerous. I haven’t decided what I’ll do about him yet, but the only option I’ve come up with is fleeing town. I doubt Mom will go for that.

For now, I’m stuck.