Page 40 of The Outcast
“They rejected me because the recruiter I spoke to asked me if I regretted it and I said no.” Keith had a look of defiance in his blue eyes. “My father wasn’t a nice man. Living with him in the cabin all those years was hard.”
“I believe you.” Aubri used a softer tone. “We didn’t find a criminal record on you. Did you ever go to prison for killing your father?”
“No. I was young and there were mitigating circumstances.”
“How old were you?”
He hesitated but then he muttered, “I was fifteen and fueled with anger from years of abuse.” Scratching his beard, Keith leaned forward with his elbows pressing down on his thighs. “But all of that is none of your business.”
Aubri and I left his room and walked through the corridors until we reached the room that she shared with Indiana.
“It’s a good thing that we cut him. Keith feels like a loose cannon to me,” Aubri said with a grim expression on her face.
“I agree. Sounds like he was dealt shitty cards, but we can’t risk sending him to France and then he gets a meltdown and kills someone. We know he’s capable of murder. How did he even get through the vetting?”
“That’s a good question. Let’s discuss it tomorrow, Banni. I want to enjoy a night in a real bed with my husband without you and Sparrow around.”
“Goodnight, Aubri.”
“Goodnight, Banni.”
Once I was in my room, I couldn’t fall asleep. Images of Sparrow kept me up and memories of her laughing and flirting with Shiva left a feeling of annoyance simmering in the pit of my stomach. It was strange because I wasn’t like the Northlanders, who couldn’t think rationally. Sparrow was incredibly beautiful, but she was a woman like all the other women I’d been with. We French people had evolved past such basic human emotions as jealousy. I had proven that much when I had encouraged her to sleep with men to get sexual experience. If I was the jealous type, I wouldn’t have brought it up at dinner tonight, would I?
I gave no room to the small voice that whispered how my stomach had hurt just from thinking about Sparrow with other men.
Turning on my side, I tried to empty my mind, but I couldn’t find peace.
When there was a small sound at my door, I got up and opened it to see if maybe by some miracle, Sparrow was outside.
She wasn’t there.
I was just about to close my door when I thought about Keith and the way he had come to her room earlier.
Making a quick decision, I walked down the hallway to Sparrow’s room and knocked gently on her door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Banni,” I whispered against the door.
It took a moment before she opened up, but it was hard not to reach out and run my hands through those gorgeous curls of hers.
“I think we should swap rooms,” I whispered.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like Keith knowing which room you’re in.”
“Oh.” Sparrow opened the door a little wider for me to enter.
I closed the door softly. “I just figured that if he creeps you out then maybe you wouldn’t get any good sleep in here. We could move you to my room and swap, or even better we could both sleep in my room.”
Sparrow furrowed her brow. “You want me to sleep with you?”
“Yes, I could give you a sense of safety.”
She arched her brow. “I’m a better fighter than you are.”
“Maybe technically, but I’m way stronger.”
