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“I think you’re lonely,” Drift said. “I think you’ve tried so hard to convince yourself that you’re better off alone, that the world is cruel and terrible and you don’t owe it anything, it owes you — and so you take all you can get from it, use anyone that you have to to get what you want — but what’s the objective, here? What’s the end goal? You’ll still end up as lonely as you were. You’ll be just as hollow.”
AJ’s mouth twisted in annoyance. “You do realize that you’re the one who’s been kidnapped, right?” she asked with a huff, crossing her arms across her chest. “Don’t push your luck, Princess.”
Drift tilted her head up to try and meet her captor’s eyes, studying her expression. While it was objectively true that Drift was at a disadvantage, here, she watched as AJ shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet her gaze, and Drift knew she’d been right. She bit back a triumphant smile. There it is.
“Sure, I guess,” Drift drawled, chains rattling as she gave a half-hearted shrug, “but what do you think my father would say if you brought me back injured? His little girl? He might just have you executed, ransom be damned.”
A flicker of doubt flashed across AJ’s face so quickly that Drift would have missed it had she not been making a point to stare.
AJ hummed, pushing herself off the wall and crouching down until their faces were level. Drift swallowed.
AJ gripped the side of Drift’s jaw with the pad of her thumb, a smug smile spreading across her face as she held it in place. “Doesn’t mean I can’t find other ways to punish you,” she said, voice low.
Drift’s eyes widened, lips parting in a startled fishlike gape.
AJ dropped her hand and laughed, head thrown back as she stood and put some much-needed distance between them. “God, you’re so easy to rile up. It never gets old.”
Drift bristled. “Yeah, well, your deflection certainly does,” she muttered. “I see you too, you know. You’re not all that hard to read — I guess we have that in common.”
AJ rolled her eyes, feigning indifference. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Open Book.”