Page 9 of Slow Burn


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My brows lifted as a whole swarm of butterflies sprang to life in my belly, their wings creating a gale inside of me. “They?”

Willow’s eyes filled with understanding, her expression one of understanding. I didn’t know this woman from Adam, however she’d been nothing but nice so far. If I listened to the people in my community, that didn’t matter one bit. She wasn’t part of the Fellowship, therefore, she was an outcast, an evil sinner who was doomed to an eternity in the pits of hell. But mygut was telling me otherwise, and that was the thing I chose to listen to.

“It’ll be fine. I promise. Myra is a great judge of character, so you have nothing to worry about. Just be yourself.”

Be myself, I thought. To anyone else, that advice might have seemed simple enough, but I didn’t have the first clue who I really was. I’d grown up in relative isolation, surrounded by a small community who taught you how to think and feel and behave, and anything outside of what was pounded into you was considered wrong. I’d been told what I was supposed to believe for so long, I couldn’t remember what I believed in before I’d been forced into the Fellowship. When I dared to question what I was told, or, God forbid, go against it, I was punished.

That was why getting this job was so crucial. I could no longer stand idly by, pretending that I held the same values of the people who’d raised me since I was eight years old. I couldn’t pretend to be okay with their judgement of others, or blindly follow their tenets.

I wantedout.

I’d taken that first step this morning as I snuck through my bedroom window, my heart in my throat the entire time, and as terrifying as that had been, going against the rules like that had been exhilarating.

I did something in that moment that I’d never done before. I took a complete stranger at her word, choosing to trust my gut over everything else.

“Um, could you point me in the direction of the bathroom?”

She guided me in the right direction, and I quickly locked myself inside, determined to right my appearance before I walked into a room with whoeverthemwas.

I’d taken care when it came to picking an outfit for the interview, but I could only do so much with what I had.

The women in the Fellowship were responsible for making clothes for everyone, and they weren’t exactly big on bold colors—or colors at all, really. They also believed that women should cover the majority of our bodies so men wouldn’t be tempted to sin.

With those kinds of restrictions, the boxy beige dress was the closest thing I had to something interview appropriate. The skirt stopped mid-calf, and the unflattering square neckline was at the base of my throat, high enough to cover my collarbones.

The thick fabric hadn’t let much air through, making my long journey into town even more miserable, and there was little I could do to hide the sweat stains on my back. I’d pulled my hair into a sleek, low ponytail—because that was as far as my talents stretched—but it was now frizzy with humidity and the short baby hairs were sticking up in a million different directions. Some of the women in the Fellowship wore makeup, but Agnes Oakes was firmly against it, so, other than the deep flush that came with the physical exertion of biking twenty miles down a freaking mountain, my face was bare of anything but sweat.

I did the best I could with nothing but cold water and damp paper towels, but the damage had already been done.

Willow’s head came up, her smile back in place as I came out of the bathroom. “Can I get you anything while you wait? Maybe a glass of water?”

I didn’t think I could handle putting anything in my stomach at the moment. “I’m good. But thank you for the offer,” I said quietly as I took a seat on the very edge of one of the sofas, anxiety clutching at my chest as those butterflies in my belly picked up speed. The longer I sat in that waiting room, the worse my nerves got.

I wasn’t sure how many minutes had ticked by when the sound of raised voices came from down the hall. Willow and Iboth jerked around just as a young woman came storming out from somewhere in the back, madder than a wet hen.

“That son of a bitch,” she grumbled loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. Her heels clacked loudly as she stomped her feet. “Piece of shit asshole,” she continued as she got closer to the door.

She spotted me just as she grabbed the handle and quickly whipped around on me, making my spine go rigid. “You’re here for an interview?” she clipped, pointing a finger in my direction.

My mouth fell open, perplexed. My eyes darted to Willow who was watching the woman with the same trepidation I felt all of a sudden. “Uh...” was all I could think to say.

“Whatever you do, donotsleep with him, ’cause he won’t call you back.”

With that, she turned and stormed out, leaving me sitting there, my face burning red in bewilderment.

Chapter

Four

LAETH

I wasn’tsure what I had been expecting when it came to the woman Myra Montgomery had spoken so highly about, but I could say with certainty it hadn’t been the woman in the hideous tan sack that acted as a dress, hiding her entire form.

Her red hair was frizzed out in a way that, when the light caught it, it looked like she had an orange halo around her head. Red splotches started at her neck and traveled upward to ruddy cheeks.

Eyes a strange combination of green and gold swam with trepidation as Willow guided her into the room, reminding me of a deer caught in headlights. She looked between Lark, Aurora, Shane, Gage, and Jensen, before finally focusing on me and holding there, as if she somehow knew I was the one in charge here.

“Guys, this is Deva Kent,” Willow said as the woman in the ill-fitting dress and ugly shoes took a seat in the chair across from me and my crew. She went about making the rest of the introductions, but from the tightness in the woman’s shoulders and the way she held herself at the very edge of the seat, like shewas prepared to jump up and bolt at any moment, I wasn’t sure she was absorbing the information Willow was giving her.

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