After tour-group-badge-twenty-two brushed by, Elder stepped toward me as I stepped toward him in perfect synchronicity. We snapped back together as if being far apart was unnatural.

It made no sense to be so aware of him when only seconds ago I’d been so close to never looking back.

His lips spread into a smirk as he held up a black wallet with a wad of Yuan currency sticking from the top. “I’ll tell you a few secrets of my own, silent one. I steal because I’m good at it. I steal because I get pleasure from it. You are my possession, and once stolen, I don’t relinquish what is mine—to anyone. And this—” he waggled the wallet— “is how easy I take things that don’t belong to me.”

My eyes widened as he opened the leather and thumbed nonchalantly through the cash.

Did he just steal that?

He didn’t care he was on a street in front of hundreds of people with property that didn’t belong to him. His body language didn’t change. He remained aloof and uncondemnable.

His thumb and forefinger pinched a colourful bill, rubbing it in a way that made my cheeks flare. Images of his fingers rubbing my nipple sprang from nowhere; only this time, it didn’t make me want to vomit.

He glanced up. “A few years ago, I would’ve stolen his money, thrown his identification and credit cards in the gutter, and run. I would’ve taken what was his because I believed I had every right to do what I needed to survive.”

He moved closer, drawing to his full height. “Just like you think you’re doing everything you have the right to do to survive.” Tapping my nose with the wallet, he whispered, “But sometimes, what you think you have the right to do isn’t the right thing at all. Sometimes, it’s wrong, and others get hurt.”

I ignored the condescending lesson he preached; my eyes darted from his, desperate to lock onto the man he’d pilfered from. Stealing me was one thing. Stealing someone’s hard earned cash just because he could was entirely another.

The babble of voices from the tour group wrenched me around.

Them.

He stole it from them.

Elder murmured in my ear. “Third man from the back. It was too easy. A small reach into his back pocket and goodbye holiday funds. What should we buy, Pimlico? Should we blow it on things we don’t deserve or donate it to another who has nothing? I could play Robin Hood, if you’re inclined.”

How could he take from someone who might’ve saved their entire life for this trip? How could he just remove someone’s property without a flicker of culpability or empathy?

You’re evil.

Trying to snatch the wallet from his hand, I glowered.

Give it back to him.

He chuckled, holding the cash out of reach. “Frustrating when the other doesn’t do what you want, isn’t it?”

I pointed at the leather, narrowing my eyes in reproof then pointed at the tour group. I didn’t stop to think I’d broken a very clear rule not to communicate. The audacity of his theft put aside my own issues in order to battle for someone else’s.

It’s not yours to take.

“What is ours in this world? Is anything truly ours? You were a belonging for a long time…but you’re a woman. Are you for sale? Was your incarceration unacceptable or merely an inconvenience to you?”

I had enough of this twisted conversation.

Shut up and give me that.

I jumped, stretching as he held the money higher. My spine screamed as whatever shock absorbers I should have had no longer operated for such activities.

Ignoring the pain, I tried to seize the wallet again, wishing I could scream to the group to halt and check their belongings.

Is this a worthy enough cause to speak?

To smear Elder with petty theft? Or could I fix this without giving up everything I had left?

Elder narrowed his eyes before dropping his arm and pressing the bulging wallet into my hand. “I haven’t stolen in a very long time. Until you, of course.” He licked his bottom lip, his gaze burning with hell. “I’m a taker, Pim, but I’m done stealing from those who don’t deserve it.” His voice darkened. “Go give it back to him.”

What?

“Go on. Before it’s too late.” Without another word, he stuck his far too dextrous hands into his pockets and strolled down the road.

I stood on my own amongst chaos.

A dilemma slammed into me.

The same one as before, only this time…I had money.

I had dollars.

I had time.

I had anonymity.

I could run. Right now.

I could hide. Straight away.

The cash turned heavy in my hands offering salvation as well as condemnation. Was it wrong to use someone else’s money if I needed it? Who had the power to justify who deserved it most?

Taking a step to the curb to cross the road, all thoughts of doing the right thing vanished. All I could think about was disappearing so Elder with his sexual threats and men like Alrik with his fists could never touch me again.

My heart wrenched tight on an invisible collar, yanking me to a stop.

You’re better than that.

Don’t become the criminal to justify a crime done to you.

The wallet hissed with slurs, calling me a thief—weak to take and wrong to keep.

My shoulders slouched.

No, I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t steal from another even if it meant my freedom. And Elder knew that. He’d made me face the truth by giving me yet another choice.

Choices.

I hate them!