Knock-knock-knock—knock.
The pattern was familiar.
Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach.
I was still waiting on a prosthetic for my leg and could barely maneuver around, let alone face who was at the door.
I cursed my family for putting me in this situation. If any of them bothered to use their critical thinking skills, then maybe I wouldn’t be left to shoulder dark consequences, but alas, they were oblivious, insensible, incognizant, and I was cornered.
Sitting on my lower bunk with a heavy tome spread across my lap, I debated the best course of action.
“I know you’re in there,” an ominous voice said.
With a deep, steadying breath, I closed The Ancient Art of War and Manipulating Those Around You and tucked it under my pillow.
I was on the bottom bunk, but it still took effort to roll myself out of bed without falling over. Grabbing onto the bedpost, I jumped on one leg.
My remaining knee was stiff and uncomfortable.
Apparently having my leg burned completely off wasn’t enough trauma, because new growing pains were making my joints perpetually achy. The lovely benefits of being a species who went through puberty in under a year.
I grimaced.
The door was only a few feet away, but it might as well have been miles.
Cursing the High Court for not getting me a prosthetic by now, I hopped forward awkwardly with my arms outstretched. They said they were acquiring one, but every time we asked, they acted weird about it. It had to be an intimidation tactic.
A foot away, I crashed onto the floor.
I crawled awkwardly on my elbows, then grabbed the doorknob and hoisted myself up. Foreboding washed over me as I opened the door.
Frigid air pooled into the room in a flurry of snowflakes and malfeasance.
“Hello, Jinx,” Dick said coldly as he brushed past me and entered the space like he belonged, which made sense because a corrupt oligarch was most at home in the suffering of others.
Cold from outside wafted in.
I hung off the door and said a quote often attributed to Plato, “The price of apathy toward public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
Dick smirked. “True.”
We sized each other up as snow and ice dripped off his shoulders.
I white-knuckled the doorknob and said crisply, “Let’s disregard the false niceties and get to the point of this visit.”
The man who controlled us kept smirking at me and said nothing. Another purposeful intimidation tactic.
Our battle of wills persisted.
We’d both shed our masks because there was no use for subterfuge between us. We both knew the worst of each other.
Dick stood up straighter and dropped his mask. Pale skin glowed with health and ruddy fixtures became more sculpted as he said, “I forgot how much you see through me.” He gritted his teeth. “It’s quite refreshing.” An obvious lie.
I pocketed my sunglasses and let him see his death in my eyes.
He had the audacity to bare his teeth with mirth.
Dick was part of the handful of people who were naturally immune to my abilities.
I wouldn’t call them powers, because that word was synonymous with something mighty and impressive, something with the potential to give something to society.
My abilities were Machiavellian in their cruelty.
They only took.
Violently.
Dick wrinkled his nose as he looked around the messy room.
My family were savages, and I was used to it. To expect anything better of them was an act of futility. So I didn’t.
“What do you want?” I held my chin up high, unwilling to cow before him like he wanted me to.
A horrible smile curled the edges of his lips. “I see you’ve begun puberty.” He stared down at me.
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t respond.
I waited.
Sunset blanketed the room in an eerie lavender glow, and everything the sunlight touched sparkled. There was something off about the extreme beauty of the realm, and it put my teeth on edge.
I had a bad feeling we’d discover something sinister in the glimmering landscape.
It wasn’t a matter of if.
It was a matter of when.
Moving quicker than my eyes could track, Dick grabbed my wrist in a punishing grip and squeezed. The pressure was overwhelming, and my bones creaked.
I screamed.
Something snapped.
I cried out louder as unwelcome tears streamed down my cheeks because unlike everyone else in my family, I was physically pathetic. No amount of mental prowess could make up for the fact that my body was flimsy.
Breakable.
Dick exploited it mercilessly.
I fell hard onto my knee and collapsed forward, my arm twisted in his grip at a horrible angle as snot ran down my nose.