“The same reason I always do.”
“You went to confront him about Crystal,” I say. “And he threatened to go after her?”
He adjusts his grip on the wheel. “I told him she was back, and he was the reason she left. He said he’d help me get rid of Devlin.”
“And you said no to that?”
“It’s what I’ve been doing for years,” he says. “Getting revenge. But if she’s back… There’s no reason. Part of me wonders…”
I grip his hand tighter. “What?”
“If he stopped looking and had a funeral for her so we’d keep doing his bidding. He told us she wasn’t coming back, and we couldn’t do anything about it, so we should focus on what we could do.”
“Which was destroy the Darlings.”
“Yeah.”
“Then why were you still helping him tonight?”
He glances at me. “He threatened someone else.”
“Me?” I ask.
He doesn’t say anything.
“Aww, but I thought you hated me.”
“I do,” he says, pulling his hand away and giving me a sour look.
“I hate you, too,” I say, leaning over and kissing his cheek. “I’ll hate you forever, until the day I die, Royal Dolce.”
thirty-one
Baron Dolce
A town is waiting for her king. They’ve never worshipped like they’ll worship me. Her people don’t know it yet, but their lives are about to change forever.
I can’t just walk in and demand their obedience, though. I’ve learned from our mistakes in Faulkner. I’ll earn it.
I glance at the boxes in the back seat. Nestled beneath the Dolce Crystals, five thousand nights with Lady Alice wait in each one, precious currency to start a new life.
They’ll think I’m generous when I show up with a good time, free of charge. They’ve never had anything like this, never been to Wonderland.
One pill makes you larger.
The individuals will line up for more. The collective will be impressed at how their economy flourishes as the money flows in. By the time they realize they need it, need me, they’ll be completely reliant on what I provide.
Money. Intelligence. Drugs.
They’ll be nothing without me.
One hundred make you small.
I pat the briefcase in the passenger’s seat. Everything I need is here. Even if I hadn’t taken a single pearl, I’d be fine. But I have enough to get me started and keep me going while I get the equipment to start up a new operation. The first one was just an experiment. I’ve learned from that, too.
The past three years have been nothing but practice for this. People say high school is a joke, but they’re not paying attention to the right things. I’m smart. I could say the same thing. I didn’t learn anything in my classes that I couldn’t learn on my own, that I will use in any career. But I learned.
Everything that goes on in a high school is just practice. The way people treat you inside and outside that school, the power dynamics of teachers and students, other students, parents, coaches. You learn how people see those in each of these categories, how they treat others, what they expect and how they react when expectations are or are not met. Once you master the art of observation, you know how to get what you want. What you can get away with. How far you can go.