I SUCKED IN air as Triven pressed the cold compress to my neck. We were still in the training room.
“Sorry.” He murmured. His thumb traced gingerly over the bruises. “These are going to look worse tomorrow.”
“I know. Thank you… for coming after me tonight. You didn’t have to step in like that. I could have handled him.” I didn’t quite meet his eyes. It was apparent to both of us I sucked at saying thank you.
“I know you could have.” He was stroking my ego. We both knew I couldn’t have taken Maddox. A few more seconds and I would have been unconscious. “I also know that you despise him and that tends to affect your judgment.”
“It's not just that I despise him, it's that I don't trust him.”
“He doesn't really give me the warm and fuzzies either, but he is a product of the world he was born into. Maddox wasn't raised like us. He never chose to be part of a Tribe. It was forced on him.”
I thought of my own upbringing. I was born a child of The Sanctuary, but Tartarus raised me. And I was still a better person than he was. "I believe it’s our choices that make us who we are and his certainly define him."
Triven was quiet for a while as he slowly nodded his head. "You're right. We may be handed a certain deck of cards but it is our choice how to play them. Maddox struggles with his inner demons every day, but remember, he chose to leave his Tribe and join us. His sins may be different from yours and mine, but we all sin.”
He was right.
“Come on. We can still get a little sleep before tomorrow.” Triven dropped his hands from my neck and I followed him back to our room, feeling ashamed.
New World Rising Page 17
