Page 68 of Afflicted

“Silas,” I murmur. “You’ll get in trouble.”

He takes my hand, the one he’s still holding, and lifts it, slowly, above my head. He pins it gently against the trunk of the tree, bringing his other hand to rest on my waist.

“Silas, what are you doing?”

His mouth inches closer to mine. The camera on the fence whirs, and my eyes flash up to it. It’s turning towards us, slowly. But we’ll be in view soon.

My eyes move back to Silas’s.Oh god. Why is he so beautiful? Thank god I don’t have to think to breathe, because I’d have stopped by now.

He dips his head until his lips are barely an inch from mine, pressing his body against me.

He’s going to kiss me. Oh god, he’s going to kiss me and the camera’s going to catch us, and they'll send me away. They’ll punish him. This isn’t allowed. This isn’t allowed, and yet my eyes flutter closed, waiting for him to crush my mouth with his, wondering what he’s going to taste like.

With a sudden jerk I’m pulled away from the tree, and my eyes fly open. Silas drags me through the forest, away from the fence, away from the camera. I don’t know what to think, my head’s swimming. Maybe he wasn’t going to kiss me. Maybe I imagined it.

He’s not talking, just pulling me along behind him.

“Silas, stop.” I try to yank my hand away, but his death grip doesn’t budge. “What was that? Silas?”

“Sorry,” he mutters, so I barely hear it.

“Sorry? For what? Did you not-”

He stops, rounding on me. “I’m sorry, alright? It won’t happen again.”

I keep walking, letting him drag me back to the compound. I can’t understand the deflation I feel. Silas is my friend, did I really want him to kiss me? I grimace as I admit to myself that maybe I did. Some stupid desire to chase away everything that happened. I’m an idiot. I learned nothing from Matt.

Back at the compound, Silas takes me to the dorm, and leaves me there without another word. I watch his back as he disappears. For some stupid reason I start crying as I wash away the peach juice in the bathroom.

I crawl into my bed, and continue to cry. For Kaden, for Silas’s baby brother and sister. And maybe a little bit for myself too.

CHAPTER22

SILAS

“You want to dowhat?”Sam eyes me incredulously. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“She’s depressed, and needs a breather.” The truck keys jangle in my hand. “Come on, what’s she gonna do? Overpower me and run away?”

“If the other humans get wind of this there will be riots.” Sam crosses her arms over her chest. “Absolutely not.”

“Sam, seriously, I will sneak her out, no one will notice.”

She cocks an eyebrow. “Why are you asking me? Why didn’t you go ask your buddy Anderson?”

“You bloody know why.” I tilt my head, giving her my most charming smile. “Come on, Sam.”

“Don’t use a sexy face on me, it won’t work.” She narrows her eyes, then rolls them, shaking her head. “For fuck’s sakes.”

I can’t help but laugh, knowing that I’ve won. “Thanks Sam.”

“Yeah yeah, go have fun.” She waves her hand towards the door. “Just don’t let anyone see, OK?”

“No problems.” I hurry out of her office, heading down to the garden to look for Juliet. She should be down here somewhere. I spot the blonde head of hair almost instantly. She’s bent over a cucumber vine, plucking them and depositing them in a basket at her feet.

“Hi,” I say as I approach, and she gives me a hesitant glance. I shouldn’t be surprised, I haven’t seen her since I almost kissed her in the forest two days before.

“Hi.” She straightens up and brushes her hands together. “How are you?”

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