cinder || dnf

chapter twenty nine

Dream slammed shut the apartment door and marched into the living room. Adri was sitting stiff beside the hearth, glowering at Dream as if she'd been waiting for him.

Dream clenched his fists. "How dare you send for me like some common criminal? Didn't you think that maybe I was in the middle of something?"

"How dare I treat you like a common cyborg, you mean?" Adri folded her hands in her lap. "You are a common cyborg, and one who is under my legal jurisdiction. It is my duty to ensure you don't become a menace to society, and it seemed quite clear that you were abusing the privileges I've allowed you in the past."

"What privileges?"

"I have always allowed you freedom, Dream, to do as you like, to go where you like. But it's come to my attention you do not respect the boundaries and responsibilities that come with that freedom."

Dream frowned and drew back. He'd had his own angry speech repeating in his head the entire hover ride home. He had not been expecting Adri to bite back with a speech of her own. "Is this because I didn't respond to a few comms?"

Adri tucked her shoulders back. "What were you doing at the palace today, Dream?"

Dream's heart skipped. "The palace?"

Adri raised a calm eyebrow.

"You've been tracking my ID."

"You've made it necessary to take precautions."

"I haven't done anything."

"You haven't answered my question."

Dream's internal warnings went off. Spiking adrenaline. He sucked down a breath. "I went to join the protests, all right? Is that a crime?"

"I was under the impression that you were in the basement, working, as you were supposed to be doing. To sneak out of the house without permission, without even informing me, to attend some gratuitous parade, and all the while Drista is-" Her voice hitched. Adri lowered her eyes, collected herself, but her voice was thicker when she spoke again. "Your records also show you took a hover ride today, to the outskirts of the city, the old warehouse district. It seems clear to me that you were attempting to run away."

"Run away? No. There is... that's where..." He hesitated. "There's an old parts store down there. I was going for parts."

"Is that so? And pray tell, where did you get the money for the hover?"

Biting his lip, Dream sank his gaze to the floor.

"This is unacceptable," said Adri. "I will not tolerate such behavior from you."

Dream heard shuffling in the hallway. Glancing around the door, he saw Pearl sneaking from her bedroom, drawn to her mother's raised voice. He turned back to Adri.

"After everything that I've done for you," continued Adri, "everything we've sacrificed, you have the gall to steal from me."

Dream frowned. "I didn't steal from you."

"No?" Adri's knuckles whitened. "A few univs for a hover ride I could have overlooked, Dream, but tell me, where did you obtain the 600 univs in order to pay for your-" Her eyes fell to Dreams boots, lips curling in a sneer. "-your new limb? Isn't it true that that money was reserved for rent and food and household expenses?"

Dream's stomach clenched.

"I screened Patches' memory. 600 univs in just one week, not to mention toying with pearls that Callahan gave me for our anniversary. It makes me sick to think what else you've been hiding from me."