Schooled in Revenge by Jesse Lasky Read Free Book Online

sorry.”
    Ava couldn’t hide her surprise. She knew linguistics was supposed to be part of their training, but they hadn’t yet gotten to that part. Clearly, Jane was way ahead of them.
    “Takeda wants us to speak many languages,” Jane explained. “To have many guises. You’ll see.”
    “I only know one Japanese word,” Ava said.
    “Which one?” Jane asked.
    She was preparing to answer when she spotted Takeda, making his way toward them from the tera.
    He stepped over the fire pit, looking at the captured intruder before turning his gaze on his students.
    “Well? What do you propose we do to him,
deshis?”

CHAPTER TWELVE
    They surveyed the bandit, sitting on a wooden stool below the large open window inside the meditation room. He shivered, candlelight flickering eerily across his face.
    “Let’s try this again,” said Cruz. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
    The thief shook his head, a move he’d made countless times in the thirty minutes they’d been interrogating him. So far, they’d gotten nothing out of him. The sack he’d been carrying had been filled with the burlap bags Takeda had given them when they first arrived on Rebun Island—bags that had been tucked away so they could focus on the path to revenge instead of the pasts that had brought them here.
    “Let’s throw him to the dogs,” Reena suggested, voice hard as she motioned toward the outdoor pen where the Akitas were still barking.
    “Don’t worry.” Sarcasm was thick in Cruz’s voice. “She doesn’t mean that.”
    “Yes, I do,” Reena said.
    Cruz glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the thief. “Okay, maybe she does.”
    Takeda spoke for the first time since they’d brought the man inside. “Cruz,” he said, “what should we do with him?”
    Cruz seemed to think about it. “I suppose the dogs do sound hungry,” he finally said.
    Takeda’s face was impassive.
    Jon stepped forward. “I say we take what he has. An eye for an eye, right?”
    “Wait!” Jane pleaded. “Don’t you think we should know his story first?”
    “We tried that,” Cruz answered. “The guy won’t talk.”
    Takeda looked at Ava. “Do you not have an opinion?”
    Ava did, but she was still trying to figure out if it was based on evidence or her lack of sleep.
    “I think we should let him go,” she finally said.
    Everyone grew quiet as they turned to stare at her. Then the room erupted into chaos, each of them giving their own reasons why they thought Ava was crazy.
    “Wait.” Takeda’s voice cut through the noise. He nodded at Ava. “Continue.”
    “The thing is,” Ava began, “he only took our personal items. Pictures, old letters, mementos from our past… Why would he bother? Plus, he shouldn’t even know where the satchels are hidden.” She paused, turning to the wall of the meditation room and removing a panel, revealing a hole where the satchels had been stored. She looked at Takeda. “Only we know that, and only because we were with you when you stored them away.”
    “Go on,” Takeda said.
    “Well, look at the timing. He broke in forty minutes ago, when we were all awake and outside, easily able to hear any noise he might make.”
    Takeda raised one eyebrow. “So?”
    Ava took a deep breath. “So he’s not a thief.”
    The room erupted again into protests.
    “Look at him,” Ava said, nodding to the man sitting calmly on the wooden stool. “The window’s wide open. If he thought he was in danger, why didn’t he just jump out the window? I mean, if he can break in, it seems to me he could probably break out. It’s not like we tied him up or anything.” Ava continued, more sure of herself now that she’d said it all out loud. “He’s not a thief. He’s a test. Hired by Takeda to see how we would handle the situation. To see what kind of justice—or mercy—we would exact on him.”
    The room was silent as everyone took in Ava’s words. Reena’s expression was tight, her face a mask of barely