Page 28 of Aine

I remain quiet, desperate for a lie to come to mind.

“It was an accident!” I eventually cry out.

Damien stands, his seat flying back and smashing into the wall behind him. The sudden movement has me jumping to my feet, my fight-or-flight instinct kicking in and preparing me to run from the room. I eye him warily as he stands behind his desk, his chest heaving in what seems to be anger.

“Fuck, Aine,” he snaps. “Just tell me what you did!”

My chin wobbles as I shake my head, refusing.

His face turns red as I suck in a sharp breath and wipe at my cheeks. Damien runs a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose and straightening out his chair. I watch as he plops down in it and sighs.

“Go,” he grunts.

I blink, shocked, before rushing out of the room. A part of me whispers that he’s not going to let this go, but I push it aside as I hurry past Olivia, avoiding eye contact, and scamper across the lawn toward my cabin.

Chapter Eight

AINE

I watch Alexapproach out of the corner of my eye, his tall frame casting a shadow over the section of garden I’m working on. I pretend not to notice, not wanting him to excuse me just yet. I’ve been trying to kill as much time as possible in the garden since my conversation with Damien, hoping to avoid him and his questions.

Fortunately, he’s returned to pretty much pretending I don’t exist, giving me enough time to come up with a lie. It’ll be hard now that I fumbled so badly the first time, but I think I can play the scared, confused card and pretend I was too overwhelmed to think properly in his office.

It’s my best bet.

“Today’s your lucky day,” Alex says, prodding my calf with his toe.

Lucky me. Alex lingers as I set the clump of dirt in my hand on the ground. He’s smirking, and there’s a dangerous glint in his eye I don’t entirely trust. I like Alex, the beast friendly and easy to talk to, but it’s clear he’s a troublemaker.

All he does is walk around joking with Mia and Abby, and only once in the past week have I seen him actually do work.

Sometimes I catch him staring at the beasts in the training field, and once he walked over there to participate, but Damien sent him back to the gardens with a shake of his head.

“My lucky day?” I ask. “Why’s that?”

Alex gestures for me to stand, and with a groan, I push up off the ground and rise. I hold back a smile as I crack my back, enjoying Alex’s disgusted shiver at the noise. He does it every time I pop my bones, the man quite vocal in his hatred of it.

“You’re going to learn how to stock the veggies in the kitchen.” He claps his hands together before pointing to the wheelbarrow we all put the ripe vegetables in.

I nod, bouncing slightly on my heels. As much as I loved picking the weeds and thought it was the best job ever, it’s become tedious these past few days. Not to mention my back pain from being hunched over for too long.

Alex gestures for me to follow, and I do so without complaint.

Most of the beasts in the fighting area are gone. They usually leave around this time, and I assume it’s to go home and clean up before dinner. Both Jenna and Alex have been nagging me about joining and eating with everybody, but I’ve managed to successfully dodge their friendly concern. The thought of having to meet the entire village is overwhelming, and I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to avoid it for as long as possible.

Damien stands with the few men who are still lingering around, and I can practically feel his eyes boring holes into the sides of my head as I follow Alex. He seems to have a regular schedule, the man spending most of the morning in his office before coming to the field shortly after lunch. His constant staring makes me uncomfortable, but I’ve gotten pretty good at pretending I don’t notice.

“I’m glad to finally move away from picking weeds.” I laugh, hoping to clear the tense atmosphere.

Alex snorts, nodding in agreement. “Me too. You look like a hunchback when you do it,” he teases.

I gasp, offended by the truth in his words. Stepping forward, I reach out and lightly push his arm. It’s meant to be a friendly gesture, but Alex’s laughing comes to an abrupt halt the moment my skin comes in contact with his.

He hisses. “Don’t touch me.”

The space around us goes silent as I step away. My face warms as I look toward the ground, wanting nothing more than to run back to my cabin and hide beneath my sheets forever.

I try not to let myself be upset by his rejection but am a bit hurt he’s so uneasy being seen joking around with me. While I’m aware we aren’t best buddies or anything, I was under the impression we were friends.

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