“No, not yet, but Andrew wants to see you, and I need to talk to you.”
I shot up at the mention of Andrew’s name.
“About yesterday,” Nick started as he sat next to me on my bed. I never really noticed how many gray hairs he had. He must have been close to fifty.
“I understand your pain, confusion, and instability, but you need to know that you’re not alone. I’m here for you. I know I can’t replace your father, but I’m willing to act like it. You’re sixteen; nothing is easy for you, and everything is changing. It’s hard to keep up.”
My stomach sank. He was trying to have a father-son conversation when I was a girl who had never met my father.
“When you’re hurt, you need to tell me so that your injuries can be taken care of. I respect the fact that you don’t want to talk about what happened yesterday, but if you change your mind and want to get it off your chest, just tell me. I understand that you’re trying to prove your strength and worth because you’re younger, but we don’t expect you to be a superhero. We can talk about anything you’d like. Fighting obviously is something you’re interested in, but even other topics are allowed, from David to girls.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. If he had the slightest idea of who I was, he would have kept quiet.
“I know more than you think. I’m married,” Nick laughed and nudged me, but I thought of how hard it must have been for him to leave his family behind to fight Matthew. What if he never saw them again?
“Here’s my proof.” He pulled out a gold ring on a chain from under his shirt with the engraving, “In my heart, part of my soul.” He contemplated it in silence as he twirled it between his fingers.
“Why don’t you wear it on your finger?” I asked.
“I don’t want anyone to catch me and use my family against me or go after them. Also, I would break my opponent’s jaw with one blow if it was on my finger.” Nick smiled. “Enough about me, let’s talk about you.”
I didn’t have anything to say about myself, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have wanted to share it with anyone.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk, but just know that I’m here if you do. Anyway, let’s go over to Andrew’s. He wanted to talk to you.”
We walked out into the cold morning. It was hard to breathe as frost accumulated around my lungs. The silver moon hung low in the sky, and its brightness shone down upon Nick, making his eyes sparkle. I shivered as we walked silently between rows of sleeping cabins. We walked up the frozen stairs blindly, unable to see the steps ahead of us. My heart pounded. I wanted to see Maxime more than anything, but I was worried for his condition. We stopped in front of his door.
“Wait here,” Nick told me calmly, and I stood still with my back against the wall as he knocked.
“Come in,” Maxime’s faint voice rang in my ears.
“Alex is here, sir,” Nick announced.
I stepped inside. Maxime was standing beside his bed. His face looked devoid of color. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Sir, may I speak freely?” Nick asked.
“Nick, drop the ‘sir’ and say what’s on your mind. I have a name.”
“Thank you. I think you should go easy on Alex. He didn’t mean to talk back; he’s just really sensitive and caring. I respect the fact that you do not wish to tell us what happened last night, and that we cannot tell anyone of your injuries, but whatever Alex did, it’s obvious that he regrets it. He’s full of remorse and I—”
“I didn’t ask you to bring him here to be punished. On the contrary, I want to be sure that he’s all right. He didn’t do anything wrong, so regret is unnecessary.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Not ‘sir,’ just Andrew.”
“Be careful, Andrew.”
“Yes, sir,” Maxime said cheerfully.
Nick stepped out, and I was alone with Maxime. I couldn’t resist; I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my face in his chest. He was all right, and that was all that mattered to me. His warm hands wrapped around me—one on my back, the other cradling my head. I felt protected. His scent swirled around us. Tears ran down my cheeks. I loved him.
“Are you all right?” His voice was soothing and melodic.
“Am I all right? Do you ever take care of yourself?”
“Why should I?”
I wanted to answer, “Because I love you,” but couldn’t. He had silenced my words, but not my thoughts as I relived the previous night over and over again.
“Are you crying?” he asked. I stepped back, embarrassed, and he loosened his embrace. I wiped away my tears, growing extremely self-conscious. “I’m sorry,” he quickly added.
I laughed. “You’re sorry? I just got you shot!”
“You didn’t pull the trigger, and I got you beat up to the point that you couldn’t stand on your own.”
“You couldn’t even stand with help!”
“But that wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t, but I didn’t ask you here for us to argue. First, David cannot find out about last night. Second, no one can know about Keith and Orion, and third, you need to be more careful. If you won’t take care of yourself, at least take care of Ryan. Having you injured does not help him.” His words stung my ears.
“Why can’t David—”
“Because he will go completely insane,” Maxime interrupted.
“Why can’t anyone know?”
“Because they’ll question why you were attacked, or targeted, which would then lead to many more challenging answers that will give away your identity,” he answered. “Sam will be absent for a couple of days.”
“May I ask why?” I was tired of only getting half of the story.
“He’s . . . resting.” Maxime looked guilty of something.
“That’s why you’re standing?” I asked, assuming that Sam had donated his blood after what had happened.
Maxime nodded. “About last night, with Matthew . . . we’re doubling the security, but mostly adding soldiers to the night shifts. And we’re going to have to talk with some allies to come up with more plans. That shouldn’t have happened, and I’m not even sure how it did. We’re just lucky he didn’t bring his army in as well. But it means he’s targeting you, and we can’t afford that either.”
“How did he know where to find me?”
“I’m not sure, but even so, he shouldn’t have been able to get to you. That’s my point.”
I couldn’t continue the conversation knowing that it made him uncomfortable. Luckily, the bell rang to awake all the soldiers, cutting our discussion off.
“Here,” Maxime said as he took my hand and dropped painkillers in my palm.
“Thanks, but it really doesn’t hurt.”
“Please take them,” Maxime said tiredly.
I thanked him, and we headed to the long tables. There weren’t enough seats, plates, glasses, or silverware. Soldiers stood or leaned against trees. I stood in the crowd of new soldiers next to Ryan.
Maxime announced that the meals would be split into two periods so everyone could eat without having to wait hours on end. Groups A, B, C, and D would eat first, while groups E, F, G, and H would eat second. Being in Group D, I sat down at a table. There were many unfamiliar faces. There were about five hundred of us eating, mostly quiet, warming up to our new neighbors.
Maxime didn’t eat; he talked. He explained how our schedules were changing because our groups were larger, but today would be different. We were going to have a tournament. I didn’t know what to expect or what was going to be asked of me.
The top ten winners would be mentors, and the following top three hundred would be considered as the advanced class. There would be a small beginner’s class if needed, but most had had more than enough experience through meeting Matthew. The main difference was that the advanced controlled the environment and attempted fancy moves, while the others just focused on staying up and ta
king the opponent down. I didn’t want to teach, but I didn’t want to be considered as one of the regulars. I wanted perfection and expected to learn no less to face Matthew. I wanted him dead and would do anything to see that happen.
On the other hand, the idea of a tournament scared me. I had participated in minor tournaments in Tamizeh, like the one the day before Matthew had kidnapped me, but never anything of such a scale. My main fear was hurting someone else and ruining the peaceful integration of the two communities. My second worry was for Ryan. I didn’t know what to do with him. I was completely against him participating.
As soon as Maxime ended his announcement, excitement filled the air as everyone recalled past tournaments.
Maxime walked over to David, who was sitting at his usual spot. David’s eyes penetrated me as Maxime spoke. I wondered if he was aware of what had happened the night before even though Maxime said that he could never find out. The brothers left the table silently.
“Alex, are you all right?” Ryan’s innocent voice asked.
“Yes, thank you,” I said as I swallowed my painkillers.
“Don’t worry about the tournament. You’ll win,” he sang to me. I smiled, unable to answer. I didn’t want to tell him that I was against him participating, but I felt guilty for letting his dream flourish.
We washed our plates, glasses, and silverware, and handed them to hungry soldiers, then I followed Nick back to his cabin. He told me that I should start setting up everything for the tournament, but that didn’t help me much.
“We need to mark off areas for the combats. We need about fifty rings, which will be hard to map out. Go ask David for some rope,” Nick explained.
“No need.” I spun around to David’s stone face as he glared at me. “Andrew doesn’t want you to be doing that right now, Alex. He has something else in mind.”
“What about Ryan?” I asked.
“He’ll stay with Nick for now.” David turned around and walked away.
“What does he want me to do?” I asked as I caught up to him.
“I don’t know exactly. He has different ideas in mind, some of which I do not agree with,” David said.
“Such as?” I asked.
“Keeping you here.” He glared at me, then accelerated the pace. I remained silent.
Maxime’s cabin was quiet as we arrived. David didn’t bother knocking and simply kicked the door open before walking in and letting it slam in my face. I waited, unsure whether or not I was supposed to enter.
“Come in!” David yelled in an irritated voice. “Sit down,” he ordered. I looked around, but I didn’t know where to sit, so I sat on the floor. David’s stare pierced through me.
“Is Andrew here?” I questioned.
“Stay away from him!” he snapped.
“I’m sorry; I don’t understand.” I could feel my voice trembling.
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t,” I stupidly tried to defend myself.
“Sir.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sir!” he yelled.
“Sorry, sir,” I hesitated.
“You should be.” He didn’t look at me.
“What?” I couldn’t take it any longer. I didn’t know what I had done wrong, yet he kept harassing me. I stood up, ready to confront him. I wanted him to at least explain why he was mad at me.
“You heard me,” David said through gritted teeth.
“What gives you the right to say that? What have I done wrong?”
“Don’t question my authority!”
“You’re abusing it!” I was fired up.
David slapped his hand across my face. It stung and burned. I looked away, trying to refrain myself from tearing him apart.
“You do as I say, and I’m telling you to stay away from him.” His voice perforated my ears.
We stood there with only a few inches between us. I clenched my jaw, trying to contain my rage. Finally, Maxime and Megan entered, and David backed away immediately. I tried to act normally.
“Thank you, David,” Maxime’s voice was cheerful and light, full of charm. “Megan is here to take care of your neck, Alex,” he said. “Please sit down on the bed.” Megan’s voice was motherly as she gave orders.
I hesitated because it was Maxime’s bed. “Go ahead,” he chimed in as he noticed my hesitation. I sat down, not looking at him.
“I’ll need a list of everyone’s blood type for future references and to avoid repeating the same mistakes,” she announced as she placed her red bag next to me.
Maxime turned to his brother. “David, could you—”
“Yes!” David huffed, then stormed out.
Megan numbed my neck with a small injection, then stitched up my wound with ease. I couldn’t see or feel what she was doing, but it was quick and painless. She announced that she had finished, and Maxime and I thanked her simultaneously.
“It’s not that I mind treating you, but I don’t want to see you for a very long time, all right? You’re a girl. You shouldn’t even be here, so take care. And as for you, Andrew, watch her.” Megan smiled.
“Yes ma’am.” Maxime showed her to the door, then came and sat by me. He gave me a body-warmer, and I put it on. I felt awkward. I couldn’t face him after my argument with David, but I was deeply attracted to him and embarrassed.
“What happened?” he asked, but I didn’t look at him.
“What do you mean?” I responded, trying to sound casual.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. What happened between breakfast and now that you won’t even look at me?”
My heart shattered. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I didn’t have an answer. David was in my mind, telling me to shut up and to run away. I tried to ignore it but couldn’t. I felt pathetic as my eyes formed tears of confusion, but I held them in. He put his warm hand against my back and leaned toward me, making me feel protected as he gave into my stubborn silence.
“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” he sang sweetly.
I was frustrated. I didn’t understand why I loved him. I knew him fairly well, but he kept so much to himself, I wasn’t sure if I truly understood him and his motives. I couldn’t comprehend my puppy loyalty and trust in him when he was overly kind to me for no reason. I didn’t like how he treated me like a child.
“Why are you so nice to me?” I asked out of pure irritation.
“Because I don’t have a reason not to be.” His answer was simple, but it did not satisfy my annoyance. “Why do you ask?” He seemed muddled by the question, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Forget it,” I said as I faked a smile.
“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”
“Well, it should be.”
“But it’s not.” He laughed. “Well, maybe it should be.”
I looked at him in surprise, staring into his aquatic eyes. They were deep with no end; empty, but full of thought. I swallowed, unable to speak. His warm palm gently grabbed my hand.
“The tournament is about to start!” David burst through the door. I jumped up only to receive his icy glare. Maxime stood and announced that we should run off.
I avoided David’s eyes as I walked through the door, but that didn’t protect me from the stinging scowl that slithered down my back.
“Andrew, we need to talk.” David stopped Maxime from exiting. I kept walking and heard the door slam shut. I tried to forget everything that had just happened with David, but that was impossible. It had lit an eternal spark.
I headed to the long tables alone. When I got there, Nick waved me over.
“No more scar? You know the girls would have liked it.” Nick nudged me.
I grinned. “So how does the tournament work?” I asked, changing the topic.
“It’s really simple. You’ll be paired up with someone and fight him. As long as you win, you move up to the next round, which determines your level of combat. You should do very well.”
“Not that I know of until you lose. The tournament also tests your stamina.”
“Okay. And we only fight one person at a time?”
“Normally, yes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because we are such a big group, some rules might have to change.”
I turned to Ryan. “Are you participating?” I feared the answer.
“No,” he whined.
“Why are you disappointed?” Nick asked.
“Because I want to be like Alex and Andrew. I want to fight!”
“You should think that over,” Nick responded amicably.
“Alex!” Maxime said as he walked up behind me. “We need to talk, now.” He avoided eye contact. I looked at Nick, who wrapped his arm around Ryan and led him away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Maxime.
“Many things, but only one is important right now. There won’t be any more night classes.” His voice was grave.
“Why?”
“Because they’re dangerous.” His eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
“How?” I completely disagreed. He had been teaching me so I could defend myself.
“You could get hurt.”
I stared at him, puzzled. Something had changed his thoughts. Everything was dangerous and numerous scars had already accumulated, but he had another reason for canceling the lessons. Besides, he was the one person I felt safe around.
“I could hurt you, okay?”
“You wouldn’t,” I smiled.
“Maybe not intentionally, but I could. You don’t understand!”
“Then explain.”
“It’s complicated!” He was starting to get really irritated.
“Everything is complicated.”
“If I can’t control my anger, I will kill you!” His eyes suddenly turned black.
I took a step back. For the first time since I’d met him, I felt afraid of him. But I couldn’t believe him; I wouldn’t believe him. He would never hurt me.
“You don’t get mad,” I said quietly.
“You’re too innocent. I try not to, but the next time I lose my temper, you could lose your life.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” I was confused.
Violet Path Page 19
