AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What? Video games?” I ask innocently.
Salem giggles, leaning into Oz to kiss his cheek. “He’s just messing with you. Besides, he has a thing for violet eyes,” she teases.
I shrug. Again, no point denying it. And now that she’s been downgraded from enemy to person of interest, I have every intention of getting that woman underneath me. Then maybe I’ll be able to fuck her out of my system.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Astrid
I take a long, deep breath and blow it out. Being outside instantly soothes my frayed nerves, with the sun warming my skin as the breeze blows across my face. Lately, all I’ve felt is cold and wary.
“It really is beautiful out here. Thanks for this.” I keep my eyes on the view, not wanting to miss a second of it because I know before long, we’ll have to head back and face the others.
“You’re welcome. Anytime you want to take a walk, come find me.”
“Why are you being nice to me when the others hate me?”
“They don’t hate you. They have their own shit to deal with, and it’s easier to lump everything together than it is to separate and deal with it.” He takes a step ahead of me, sliding his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, and looks up at the sky.
“Not long ago, one of our teammates, one of our brothers, died.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” He turns his head to look at me before looking back up. “Anyway, it’s not just his death we’re dealing with. He betrayed us. He sold out Salem and arranged to have Zig and Oz killed. He played us all, and none of us suspected a thing until it was too late.”
His voice cracks at the end. I step closer and lend him my support without touching him.
“You were close before?”
“He was my best friend,” he answers, turning to look at me again.
“Guess the joke’s on me. The man I thought he was didn’t exist. It was all nothing more than an illusion.”
“At least you weren’t alone. I mean, you all believed the lie, right? I’m guessing that’s where the anger comes from and why everyone looks at me like I’m going to drive a knife into their backs any second.”
“We all trusted him. We were all blindsided.”
“But you think because you were best friends, you should have seen it somehow, right?”
He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need to. He’s not that hard to read.
“I’m guessing if he had that kind of loyalty from you all, he earned it at some point. I’m not sure what makes a person do the things they do—betray the people they love like that—and I don’t think we’re supposed to. We’re not wired the same way. To understand means to comprehend, and to comprehend means to sympathize, and sympathy means putting yourself in their shoes. But I’ve found that the only shoes a person should walk in are their own.”
He looks at me, taking in my words. I don’t know if he’s humoring me or if what I’m saying is making sense, so I push on.
“What he did and who he became are on him, not you. Some people are born bad, but most people are just born blank slates. It’s their experiences that dictate who they’ll become. He wasn’t always bad—if he was, you all wouldn’t have cared so much. Something happened that led him down a different path than the one he was on when he was your friend. I didn’t know him, so I don’t know if he made that decision lightly or if he stood at a crossroads when he made his choice, looking over his shoulder every step of the way. Nothing is ever as black and white as we think it is.”
“His wife was sick.”
“What?”
“His wife. She was sick.”
“Was?”
“She died. She had an aggressive form of cancer.”
And suddenly, the picture becomes clearer. “She was the fork in the road. What he did was unforgivable. But I don’t think the man was evil. And that’s why you didn’t see it. He loved his wife. That’s the be-all and end-all of it. People think love is this wonderful and miraculous thing that we should all strive to find. And I’m sure for some, it’s true. But this bullshit about love conquering all is what always gets me. Love can’t save you. Most of the time, it’s what ruins you.”
