“I’ll lose a lot of money.”
“I can help you.”
“I don’t want a handout.”
“Who said anything about a handout?” I roll to my side to look at her. I reach out and carefully take her chin in my hand, making sure I don’t brush against a bruise. “You were going to let me stay here a couple of days, right? I can help cover your rent. That’s not a handout; that’s a valid money-trade.”
I stare her down, daring her to argue with my logic.
“Fine,” she finally mutters, “but you aren’t paying the whole rent. I’ll figure out a daily rate.”
I smile. I’m not so much as pleased with winning the challenge with Ava as I am with my next thought—where I’ll get the coins to pay her. I know exactly in whose pocket I’ll find them.
“Keller was hanging out down this way today,” Ava says, abruptly switching topics.
“Was he?” I say. “Did he haul his box along with him?”
“He did.” Ava snickers. “Hung out for an hour, screaming about conspiracies.”
“That is his favorite thing, isn’t it?” I frown at the thought of the man.
“You still avoid him, don’t you?”
“After the last time? Yes. Definitely.”
“No one believed what he was saying,” she says, trying to be reassuring.
“Some people never looked at me the same after that,” I say. “He put just enough doubt in their heads to make them not want to trade with me.”
“Anyone with an ounce of logical thought knew he didn’t make any sense,” she says insistently. “Why would you steal from Thaves—sorry, find things in their homes—if you were one of them?”
“Just ask Keller,” I say with a snort. “I do it to hide my identity. I’m not even finding things; they’re being given to me by the Thaves in charge. Don’t trade with me because the things I find for you have transmitters inside of them, sending your brainwaves back to the government or whatever. You probably swallowed the one that was shoved inside that apple.”
Ava laughs.
“That’s crazy,” she says.
“I know that.”
“People don’t believe him. Everyone knows you are one of us.”
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“I guess.”
We settle back against the bed, neither of us closing our eyes. Ava touches her cheek every now and then, wincing each time. I wonder if the doc has anything that could help her with the pain.
“Do you think any of what Keller says could be true?” she asks. “Not about you, of course, but the other stuff. Do you think the government, or whoever is running things in the east, could have rigged a volcano?”
“Not really.” I swallow hard and look away from her.
“What about the other stuff?” Ava asks. She sits up a little and looks at me. “The virus that killed so many in the valley—could that have been intentional? Some people still get sick.”
“I have no idea.” I let out a sigh. “You’re thinking about Layshell’s brother, aren’t you?”
“Yes. He almost died, and the doc said he will probably always be weak.”
“How old is he?”