HAZEL
"I'm the reason you're still alive." His voice was light, almost cheerful, but there was steel underneath. He moved further into the room, hands in his pockets. "So I suggest you fix your tone and stop looking at me like that. Be grateful instead."
Grateful? Did this fool just imply I be thankful?
The word twisted something in my chest. I sat up straighter, ignoring the way my body protested. "How the fuck am I supposed to be grateful when I'm powerless?"
He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he'd already solved. "Powerless is better than dead."
"Is it?" I shot back. "Is it really?"
"Ask your mother or your grandmother. See what they say."
I didn't need to ask. I could see the answer in the way Mother's shoulders tensed, in the way she wouldn't meet my eyes.
