We Set the Dark on Fire (We Set the Dark on Fire, #1)(25)

“So let me go,” Dani said, using the unprecedented emotion in her voice, looking right into his eyes. “Walk away. Find someone else.”

But he was already shaking his head. “You can do this,” he said. “That training of yours . . . The way you slip into a lie like it’s a whole new person. You’re a hundred shades of a girl. You hold those shadows and bring them to life when you need them, and they’re flawless. Look how far you’ve risen, how many people you’ve fooled.”

Dani let him continue, but the heat that had flared to life in her chest went cold.

“And then those teachers at that school,” he began, like solstice had come early and brought him everything he asked for. “They took all your history, your raw talent for deception, and they handed you the kind of training that gave you perfect control and restraint, taught you to ruthlessly value yourself and your potential above all. The way you can turn your face to stone. Use an expression like a weapon. The way you see everything around you . . . Dani.” He shook his head, disbelieving. “They couldn’t have made you a better spy if they’d been trying to.”

By the time he stopped for breath, his eyes shining, Dani was all ice.

“Are you finished?” she asked, enunciating every word with perfect precision.

“I—”

“Good,” Dani said. “Because you have a lot of nerve.” She took a step toward him, the frost in her veins remaking her. “You think you can come in here and tell me what I am? What I know? What I can do? You think after a few weeks of voyeurism you’re better equipped to judge my potential than I am?”

“I—” he began again, but Dani took another step forward.

“I’m talking now,” she said, and he closed his mouth. “I don’t need you to tell me how impressive I am, or how well-suited to your task. I’m well aware of my own skills. You think you can see something in me first? Give a purpose-starved girl a compliment and turn her to putty in your hands? Think again. I know I’d be good at what you’re asking. But you said it yourself: I value myself and my potential above all. So what you’ve failed to tell me, besides some run-of-the-mill attempt at blackmail, is why I’d want to risk my life for you.”

The ice had melted. Electricity buzzed through Dani’s veins. Was this the grown-up version of the take-no-nonsense girl she’d been in Polvo? Someone who spoke her mind and never let anyone tell her what to do?

Sota was still silent, looking slightly dazed by her outburst.

“You can talk now,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m . . . trying,” he said with a self-deprecating smile. It took a moment for him to look up again, but when he did his face was more open. Honest. “Look, you’re right. And I’m sorry. It was an insult to think I could bully you or flatter you, so I’ll just tell you the truth. The reason you should help me is that people are suffering.” He spread his hands helplessly in front of him. “They’re starving. They’re sick. They’re dying just because of where they were born. And that’s what we do. We try to stop that. Sometimes we don’t succeed, but sometimes we do. And we need your help.”

“Speaking to a girl like an equal,” Dani said. “Was that really so hard?”

He smiled. She didn’t smile back.

“So, if I do it, it’ll be to help all those people. The sick, dying, starving ones. But if I don’t do it, you’ll still blackmail me?”

Sota shrugged, though this time he at least had the grace to look apologetic. “That’s basically the deal, yes.”

“I’m not saying I agree with you, or that you’re half the savior you seem to think you are. But it looks like I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she answered.

When he turned to leave, he saluted her.

It took Dani a moment to turn to stone this time. A hundred shades of a girl, he’d called her, and though she hadn’t appreciated the delivery, he’d been right. Dani slid into her lies like a second skin. It was part of survival. She had no doubt she could do what he was asking her to do. The only question was, what would she be setting in motion when she did?

She thought about it as she wandered up the path, only shaken from her reverie by a rustling in the leaves to her right. From the bushes emerged Carmen, the smirk on her face and the sticks in her hair telling Dani she had just seen way too much.





8


While the Segunda’s life revolves around the home, the Primera’s domain is public. Social functions must become her second home, and her command of social graces may be the deciding factor in her husband’s success.

—Medio School for Girls Handbook, 14th edition


“ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?” DANI asked, pulling disdain on over her fear, drawing the shadow’s threads tight around her. “I know they don’t trust Segundas with anything too interesting, but I’m sure you can come up with something better than this.”

Carmen’s smirk only widened. “Nice try, Primera,” she said. “But you’re not gonna convince me you’re just out for a stroll. Not when I just saw your handsome companion leaving before you.”

It was proof of everything she’d just told Sota that Dani kept her face impassive. She waited, hearing her maestra’s voice: Silence is a weapon; don’t let anyone disarm you before you’re ready.