He opened his hand, and my hand dropped. “You see. Dead fish.”
“I just didn’t want to cut off your circulation.”
His teeth flashed as white as the mist. “How about you try cutting it off, so I can focus on our surroundings instead of on you?”
He wanted me totry? Bastard. I grabbed his hand and strangled it. “Firm enough?”
“Better.” More teeth appeared.
I shook my head.
“By the way, you stopped singing.”
“I thought I’d give your ears a break since the snakes are gone. I checked, remember.”
He grinned this time. “At least hum.”
“I’m starting to run out of songs.”
“Know any songs by The Intrepids?”
“A few.”
“Let’s hear them.”
So I sang the first all-droid band’s greatest hit. And then their second hit. They pretty much only had hits since they created their music by tapping into the cloud and analyzing the most popular lyrics and melodies before weaving them together. The process was quite fascinating, having little to do with art and everything to do with artificial intelligence.
If I’d been free to choose my path, I would’ve gone to Earth and studied AI. Although Nima and Iba had allowed me to take some classes, I was never allowed to attend any full-time programs, and those were the ones where all the great things happened.
“How did you find yourself owing Joshua Locklear agajoï?”
It had only been a matter of time until Remo brought it up. “Remember that pouch of Daneelie scales a squadron oflucionagaconfiscated a couple months ago?”
“The ones Joshua sold to the Earthly army to use in biological warfare?”
I wrinkled my nose. Daneelie scales were an aphrodisiac, and yes, they’d been used in battle before—by my own parents on the Day of Mist—but since then, a law had been passed forbidding their sale on the Neverrian and Earthly black markets.
Remo pulled me to a stop, his expression wavering between shock and more shock. “You had something to do with that?”
I bit my lip. “I didn’t know what they were going to be used for when I sold them to—”
“Wait.Yousold them? They wereyourscales?”
My teeth sank deeper into my lip. I tried to collect my hand from his, but he tightened his grip, not even allowing any wiggle-room.
“Why?”
“Because I needed money.”
He let out a dull chuckle. “The princess of Neverra needed money? Come on, Amara. At least make up a better lie.”
“It’s not a lie,” I snapped. “I wanted to get my parents an anniversary gift.”
“You have billions in Earthly banks, not to mention trunks of gold in Neverra.”
“But those billions and gold aren’t mine, and I wanted this present to be fromme.”
“So you clipped your scales and sold them to the most power-thirsty human general? How did you even meet him?”
