CHAPTER TWELVE
Calder
Calder,
My thoughts are only of you. There are six hundred, seventy-seven steps between my front door and yours. I'm sure of it. I've counted them. I walk them in my mind. I step out of my front door and I come to you in the night. I slip into your bed and your heat burns into me as we quietly touch. Your mouth finds mine in the darkness and the taste of you makes every part of me ache with want—my body, my skin, and my heart. I know you in the dark, just as I know you under the bright daytime sun. I'll know you in Elysium, and in any other place the gods deem to send me for loving you. I'm not afraid. But I miss you, and I don't want there to be any steps between us. I want my bed to be your bed, and I want your nighttime heat to be within arm’s reach. Every night before I fall asleep, I pray that day comes quickly.
Yours always and forever, Eden
P.S. I suppose my academic lessons have ended for now. I have to say I like the new curriculum very much, E.
I grinned down at the paper and then hid it under my mattress with the other note Eden had written me. I flopped down on my bed, which was really nothing more than a straw-stuffed mattress and a wool blanket, and lay there trying to cool my body down. I'd probably be wise to go jump in the river quickly before I went back to the fields. Eden's note had the blood coursing through my body and images of us in bed together filled my mind. I groaned and put one arm over my eyes, trying in vain to empty my brain.
After a minute, I sat up and unfolded the blank piece of paper Eden had provided with her own note.
Eden,
My thoughts are only of you. When I bathe in the morning, the water running down my skin is your fingertips, touching me everywhere. When I work in the fields, the feel of the velvety plant leaves reminds me of your skin. As I stand in my doorway, looking toward the main lodge and you, the deep blue twilight sky is your eyes. I burn for you, so intensely I feel like I could light every worker cabin, all fifty of them, and we'd no longer need candlelight. I'm going to take you away from here, to a place where my bed is your bed, and my home is your home. And in that place, I'll never be more than an arm's reach from you, my beautiful, brave Morning Glory.
The spring festival planning is underway for the workers and I've been assisting where needed. I won't be allowed to come near you during it, but I'll see you, and I'll know you see me, too.
Yours always and forever, Calder
I turned the paper over and did a quick sketch of myself, standing in the doorway of our cabin, looking toward the main lodge. I drew light emanating off my skin and cast a glow over all the cabins surrounding my own. I smiled as I folded it up.
I left the cabin and walked the half-mile to the edge of the field where Xander was standing, leaning against some sort of light green box by the side of the dirt road.
Xander turned when he heard my footsteps and cocked an eyebrow. "Decided to come see where all the action is?" He laughed.
I grinned at him. "Is this what you do all day? No wonder you're mostly crazy."
He snorted. "I'd disagree with you, but . . ."
I smiled and leaned against the box next to him. I patted it with my hand. "What is this anyway?"
He looked down at it and then back toward the road. "It's an electrical box. It houses some wires or something that bring electricity to the main lodge."
I nodded, furrowing my brow. "So aren't you supposed to be walking around or something?"
"What's the point, Calder?"
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Hector would say it's how safety is ensured."
Xander let out a humorless laugh. "More like how slaves are ensured."
I stared at him. "Slaves?"
"Isn't that what we are? Don’t we work out here all day for no pay?"
I stared at the road for several minutes not knowing exactly how to answer that.
Xander turned toward me, seemingly reading my mind. "Hector would say we work for our family, but Calder, if the floods don't come, if Hector's wrong about that, then we're going to end up old men out here."
I shook my head. "I wanted to talk to you about that." I let out a deep breath and turned to face Xander. "I need to leave. It's not safe here for me anymore. I need to take Eden with me and leave." I looked around to make sure there wasn't a soul in sight.
Xander didn't look surprised, but he studied me for a few beats before responding. "Yeah, you do."
I let out another breath. "I need help."
Xander laughed softly. "Yeah, you do."
"Will you come with us?"
Xander nodded. "Yeah."
Relief flooded me. "Seriously? So we're really going to do this?"
Xander squinted up into the sun. "We're gonna try." He turned toward me. "But, listen, I'm gonna be honest, we have a lot going against us here. Hector educated us only because the state would've cleared us out if he didn't. But we're gonna be like fish out of water out there." He waved his arm in the direction of the city miles beyond us, maybe to the entire world beyond us. "I mean, we're eighteen-year-old men, and we have no skills other than farming and walking around for hours a day." He laughed, but it was hollow.
I was quiet for a minute. "I've been wondering," I massaged the back of my neck for a second, "that woman from the school system came out here every month to look at our lesson plans."
"Yeah, I remember her," Xander said. "That's what I meant about Hector educating us because of the state laws."
I nodded. "Right. So why didn't anyone ever check up on Eden? How did Hector get away with not educating her?"
Xander stared out at the road and then shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe since he's her guardian, he can do as he pleases?"
I furrowed my brow and let out a breath, not having any idea what to make of that. "Do you think Kristi would help us? I don't even know where to start."
Xander nodded. "I think so. Let me talk to her and I'll let you know what she says."
"Okay." I looked at him. "Thank you."
He extended his hand. I gripped it. "Whatever I have, you have half."
I let out a breath, feeling emotion wash over me. "Same goes for you, brother," I said solemnly.
I looked back at the road, steeling myself for what might be to come.
**********
A few days after I talked to Xander on the edge of Acadia, I was walking home after my work in the fields when, from a distance, I saw Eden entering the Temple. I was far away, but she couldn't be mistaken with that long fall of golden hair. Mother Miriam stopped at the front and sat down on the small, stone bench to the side of the doors as Eden disappeared inside.
I turned hastily and made my way to the other side of the field where I was able to walk straight to the back of the Temple without being seen from the front or the sides. I looked around and when I didn't spot anyone nearby I tried the back door, found it unlocked and quickly ducked inside, latching it behind me. In Acadia, there was little reason to lock doors. Our security walked the perimeter so we felt secure that the only people inside were family.
I stood listening for a minute and then I peeked around the open doorway that led directly to the front stage. I spotted Eden alone, kneeling in prayer in front of the twelve candles on the left wall, each one representing one of our gods. Her eyes were closed and her lips moved ever so slightly.
I walked forward, my footfalls creating no noise at all, and stood with my hip propped against Hector's podium.
"I thought you only prayed to one," I said softly.
Eden startled, her eyes flying open as she brought one hand up to her chest. She simply stared at me for a beat and then her face broke out in a stunning smile.
"In my mind, I do. The other ones just happen to be represented here."
I tilted my head, studying her. "Does he ever answer you?" I asked, raising my eyes heavenward.
Eden shrugged, as her eyes met mine. "If you mean does he talk to me like Hector says the gods talk to him, no." She shook her head. "But every once in a while . . ." She stood and the candlelight behind her in the dim, windowless room, outlined her shape under her white skirt and blouse. My body stirred. "Every once in a while I hear something . . . something between a feeling and a whisper." She began walking toward me, a small smile on her face. Gods, she was stunningly beautiful. Sometimes she seemed unreal to me—a vision. Had I really just touched her so intimately? How could that not have been a dream? "Do you ever hear them whisper?" she asked on a smile.
"No," I said, standing up straight and turning fully toward her as she approached me.
"Maybe you're not listening closely enough." She raised a delicate brow. She was teasing me.
My lips lifted in a small smile. She was so beautiful, I felt something close to fear looking at her—like no matter what I did, no matter what I tried, I'd never get enough of her. I'd never resist her pull. But I had no desire to resist anymore. "Maybe."
Eden smiled a mischievous smile and reached her hands up and around my neck. "Perhaps they told me to come here today," she said softly. "Maybe the feeling of claustrophobia that overcame me in my room and made me tell Mother Miriam I was feeling pious, was really the gods whispering to me, letting me know my arrival would be perfectly timed to you coming off the fields for the day."
I let out a breath and chuckled softly. "Will she come inside?" I asked, nodding toward the front door where Mother Miriam sat outside.
Eden shook her head. "How can I properly say the Twelve Petitions if I'm interrupted? Then they have to be started all over again . . ."
I gazed down at her and her lips parted. I groaned and leaned in and took her sweet mouth, my tongue pushing between her lips to gain access. I hardened and instinctively pressed into her, moaning again. She let out a little gasp and pulled me in closer. Oh, Morning Glory.
As her tongue wrapped around mine, she reached down between our bodies and rubbed me through my pants. Oh holy hell. Pleasure pulsed through me and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, reaching up with my hands to cup her cheeks as my tongue plundered deeper. I was dizzy with lust, with the taste of her in my mouth and her smell—apple blossoms and springtime—surrounding me.
I pressed toward her hand and felt her body bump something behind her. Hector's podium. Thank the gods it was attached to the floor and wouldn't tip right over.
Eden continued to rub me through my pants, leaning back slightly against the podium. I went down on my knees in front of her, and looked up at her beautiful face, worshipping her. Worshipping at the altar of Eden. She smiled gently at me, and ran a hand through my short hair.
Suddenly, I needed to taste her, more than I needed to draw in another breath. I bunched her skirt up and put my face against her soft mound. Eden sucked in a breath and moaned softly, igniting me. Her other hand came up to my hair as well and she ran her fingers through it.
I brought her underwear down her hips and heard her breath pick up. "Calder," she moaned, but didn't say more.
I brought my face to the soft patch of blonde curls and inhaled. Heat pulsated through my body, accompanied by half-formed thoughts and visions: instincts that told me to thrust into her, plant my seed inside her, protect her, lay a bounty of food at her feet. Gods above. Her scent had turned me into a caveman.
But when I opened my eyes and looked up into hers—filled with tenderness—it was my heart that swelled and clenched. She had every part of me. I was hers.
I turned my face back to her and licked down the crease of her sex with my tongue. "Oh!" she gasped, pressing herself into me. I couldn't help the moan that came up my throat either. My tongue found that little piece of flesh that made Eden moan and pant, and I circled it with my tongue. She tasted so good—sweet and musky—like a more intense version of her skin. I loved it. I loved her. Her hands gripped my hair and I smiled against her. I laved my tongue around and around that small spot until Eden was crying out and grinding herself into my face. I felt animalistic, needy, like I wanted to devour her, mark her, and claim her as my own.
Eden froze. I moaned as she tensed and shuddered and panted out her climax right against my mouth. It was the most intense thing I'd ever experienced in my whole life. I wouldn't be able to get up now if I tried though. I was hard as stone. Pulsing with my need for release.
After several still seconds of me breathing against her, I pulled her underwear back up and let her skirt down. My eyes widened at what I saw. "Oh no. Eden, I . . . I'm so sorry. I didn't even consider that I . . ."
She tilted her head, still a little dazed, a confused look on her face.
I brought my hands up, my palms still smeared with dirt from the fields. I had forgotten and apparently she hadn't noticed my hands in the dim room.
Her eyes widened and she looked down at herself, her white skirt covered with dirty marks where my hands had been. It looked like a dirty dog had pawed her. I felt ashamed by my dirtiness compared to her purity all of a sudden. Was she thinking the same thing?
She stared at the dirt for a minute and then burst out laughing, clutching her stomach and leaning back against Hector's podium. I started laughing, too, and it took several minutes before we finally got a hold of ourselves.
"Seriously," I laughed, "this isn't funny. How are you going to get out of here?"
Eden wiped at her eyes. She looked around, her eyes finally landing on the ashes next to the twelve candles.
She turned back to me. "You need to go. They won't let me come here again after what I'm about to do, but it was worth it." She laughed softly. "I'll look for you at the festival."
I nodded. "Okay." I was worried though and didn't want to leave her. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes, I promise." She leaned forward and kissed me once more on my lips and pulled away, smiling.
I let my eyes roam over her beautiful face and down to her skirt where there was an extra amount of dirt smears right between her legs. I felt heat move up my own face and I laughed softly. "’Bye, Morning Glory."
"’Bye, Butterscotch."
I turned and snuck back out the back of the Temple, standing against the wall for a minute, until I was sure I didn't hear anyone walking nearby.
When I moved to the side of the building, I heard Eden let out a shriek and then a minute later, the front doors of the Temple banging open. Mother Miriam's voice came quickly, "What did you do?" she shouted.
"I'm sorry!" I heard Eden cry. "The ashes! It wasn't my fault. They tipped over and . . ."
"All over you?" Mother Miriam asked harshly. "You always were a clumsy thing. Come on. You need a bath. You're lucky I don't bring this to Hector."
I smiled despite myself and leaned back on the wall of the Temple. I should have been feeling shame I supposed, but I just didn't. "Morning Glory," I murmured, smiling. I started my walk to the river where I took my time washing off every bit of the dirt on my body, sad at removing her essence from my tongue, smiling to myself when I pictured Eden, my dirty handprints all over her.
**********
In Acadia, the workers hosted a festival every April. It was a celebration of winter ending and that the spring crops were bursting with life again. No one worked that day, and everyone chipped in to cook for the different booths and to set up the games. Generally, we just celebrated the blessings the gods had bestowed upon us and the peace and success of our community.
I'd always enjoyed it in the past. It was a chance for a day of leisure and for my friends and I to compete at the different booths.
But the morning of the festival I rolled out of bed at dawn, feeling antsy with pent-up frustration even though sleep was still clinging to me. I walked to the door of our cabin and stepped outside, my head turning automatically toward the main lodge. Eden's window was dark. She was still sleeping. I pictured her lying in her bed, her eyes closed, and that golden hair spilling over her pillow as her breasts rose and fell. I scrubbed a hand down my face and closed the door, none too quietly, and began my walk to the river.
"Wait up, Calder," I heard Maya call behind me.
I stopped and turned around, bending to pick her up when I reached her.
"No, don't carry me. I wanna walk," she said in her slightly slurred speech, coughing a small cough.
"Maya . . ."
"It's morning. You don't need to be in a hurry yet," she teased, smiling.
I smiled back. "No, I guess I don't. Come on." And I took her hand in mine.
After we'd visited the outhouse, we made our way to the river. I took my shirt off and waded in slowly, getting used to the cold water. Maya stayed closer to the shore as she splashed water over her face and hair, coughing more in the cool air.
I swore under my breath. Her cough had gotten better for a while, but now it was back. And it didn't sound good.
As I watched her, I suddenly felt filled with anger that my sister had to splash cold water on her head in the chilly morning, as the people at the main lodge woke up to a warm shower and indoor plumbing.
I had been taught my entire life that our sacrifice was pleasing to the gods, and it made us holier to live with the amenities they alone provided. But suddenly, standing there, it enraged me that Maya should have to sacrifice and the council members' kids didn't.
I reined in my emotion and dove into the water, coming up a short distance away and shaking the water out of my hair. I heard Maya laugh behind me. "You're like a fish," she called.
I laughed and dove back under the water, coming up just the same. Maya laughed again and clapped her hands. She mimicked casting a fishing reel and I pretended to be caught, floundering in the water and attempting to make an escape. Maya laughed louder and began to "reel" me in. I pretended to fight and strain as Maya reeled me toward shore, where I finally flipped and flopped on the ground, creating a dramatic fish death. Maya kept giggling and finally, I opened one eye and grinned back.
I stood up and splashed some water in the places I'd gotten sand on me and then Maya handed me a piece of fabric, and I used it to blot the water off my chest and run it over my hair.
"Do you like it here, Maya?" I asked.
She looked up at me. "Yes. It's my home," she said. "I like it anywhere you and Mom and Dad are."
I nodded, watching the water pool in the rocks at my feet. "You know if I ever left here, that I'd come back for you, right?"
Maya squinted at me. "Why would you ever leave here? If you did, you couldn't come to Elysium with us. You'd be lost in the great flood with the rest of the sinners. Please don't ever leave here, Calder."
I flinched. "Okay, Maya. Anyway, today's not the day to talk about this. Today," I scooped her up and she shrieked and then laughed, "is the spring festival and I'm going to win you whatever you want."
"I want a flower wreath for my hair."
"Then that's what you'll have." I laughed and carried her back to our cabin.
My mom and dad were awake, so we all started the day. Mom made breakfast as Dad loaded the small wagon outside our door with the baked goods my mom had been preparing all week.
For the festival, those baking were given a bag of sugar to use as an ingredient and Xander and I usually went from booth to booth, shoveling in treats, making ourselves sick by the end of the day. For some reason, the thought of sugar didn't fill me with my usual enthusiasm.
I stood in the doorway again, needing the air as all four of us clambered around the small space. It had always seemed crowded in our cabin, but now it felt tiny, claustrophobic, and I could hardly breathe. If I wasn't sleeping or working, these days I spent most of my time on the small porch.
"Make yourself useful, and help your dad," my mom bossed.
I took a deep breath and went and grabbed a couple wrapped plates of desserts off the table.
By noon, the setup was done and I walked through the rows of booths slowly, checking out the various items: cakes, cookies, cupcakes, hair wreathes, bouquets of wildflowers, soaps that smelled like different herbs, scented candles made from beeswax, jars of clover honey. Although the workers had made or collected the items, everything that was out was a gift from Hector, and we were encouraged to take what we needed. Everyone seemed happy, full of excitement today, but the whole festival suddenly seemed to me like a small morsel Hector threw to us workers to keep us happy, when he lived like this every day of the year, taking his fill of whatever treats and luxuries he ever desired.
I'd take Eden away from here, yes, because there was no other option, but would I miss any of it? It was all I'd ever known. And it would break my mom and dad's hearts. And Maya . . . I'd come back for her. I'd have to. Once I got Eden and me settled, I'd come back for her.
I massaged the back of my neck. It seemed like so much uncertainty. And Xander was right—I was wholly unprepared for the world outside. I didn't fear it so much as Hector had taught us to. I wasn't even sure exactly why . . . maybe it was the people Xander had met at the ranger station . . . maybe those happy looking movie stars in the magazines we had swiped and hid under the floorboards of Xander's cabin. None of them looked evil or cruel. I hoped I was right to be optimistic about the way other people lived and acted outside Acadia, because I knew one thing for sure. There'd be no coming back here once we left.
I was interrupted in my thoughts by the sound of voices rising and some calling out and I looked behind me to see the small, horse-drawn wagon, draped in bright fabrics, that Hector used to ride through the festival as people waved and clapped for him. Eden was sitting beside him, solemn in the white lace dress she always wore to Temple and special events. Hector leaned over and whispered something in her ear and a look of discomfort passed over her features before she smiled demurely and nodded at him. Anger and jealousy spiked through me as I leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing where all the booths were set up. He had no right to her. If I could, I would have scooped her off that stupid, pompous wagon right then and there and walked off with her. But to where? And with what? So that she would be hungry by dinnertime and I'd have nothing to feed her? She couldn't know all my doubts. She was counting on me and I wouldn't fail her. But inside, I was nervous, confused, filled with questions I had no way to answer. I felt angry and frustrated.
I walked back around the small grove of trees and weaved through the booths until I was next to the wagon, about a hundred feet to the side of it. I walked along at the same pace, ducking behind booths here and there. Finally, Eden turned her head and caught sight of me. I grinned at her and her eyes widened as she coughed into her hand, hiding her own smile.
I ducked behind another booth and when I stepped out, Eden was looking around for me and spotting me, started to "cough" into her hand again. I walked along with her like that for a few minutes, loving that I was making her smile.
When the wagon made it to the first of the game booths, Hector stepped down and then offered his hand to Eden who took it and stepped down as well. I moved closer, blending in with the rest of the people now crowding around the booth.
The game booth was a series of three platforms, one close, one farther, and the third one all the way at the back wall. There were three, heavy beanbags on each platform and the object was to throw a larger beanbag with enough force and just the right placement to knock all three off.
Hector leaned in to Eden again, pointing up at the variety of flower head wreaths. I moved closer and Eden caught my movement and looked over at me and then immediately down, obviously forgetting Hector had just asked her a question.
Hector looked at Eden and then up at me, and his eyes took me in coldly. "Which one would you like, love?" Hector asked loudly. Eden startled and looked up at the booth, hesitating and then pointing to a wreath of pink and yellow wildflowers, long pink ribbons hanging from the back of it.
"Then that's the one that will be yours," he said.
He took the beanbag from the little girl working there and threw it at the first platform, easily knocking all three smaller bags off. The crowd cheered like he had just knocked a ten-ton boulder over with his bare hands. He turned toward Eden and took her hand and kissed it, brushing his lips across her knuckle. My gut clenched and I felt a clawing need to rip her away from him.
He turned back around and Eden looked toward me, biting her lip and then giving me a very small smile.
He threw the beanbag at the second platform and cleared those, too, the crowd going wild.
Suddenly, Xander was beside me. He leaned in. "Relax. It's all a show. She wants to be next to you as much as you want to be next to her."
I breathed out and relaxed my hands, which had balled into fists.
Hector took the beanbag in his hand again and hesitated as he aimed for the farthest platform. He made his throw and two of the three smaller beanbags slid easily off, but the third remained. Hector smiled, letting out an exaggerated breath, and raising both hands in an "oh well" gesture.
"I'll win one for the princess," I blurted out, loudly.
I felt all eyes turn toward me, but my focus remained on Hector.
"You idiot," I heard Xander mutter, but my pride ruled the day and I stepped forward.
"Here, Calder," the little girl at the booth said, grinning at me and showing a big gap where both her front teeth were missing. I took the beanbag from her and watched as she set up the three platforms again.
"All set," she said. I threw the first one and cleared the platform easily. The crowd clapped, although not as exuberantly as they had for Hector. I threw the second one and cleared that one easily as well, and the crowd cheered a little bit louder.
I moved over to the third one and glanced back at Eden. Hector had moved behind her and had both hands on her shoulders and was squeezing her lightly. My blood heated and my jaw ticked. Eden widened her eyes and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but didn't.
I turned back around and aimed at the third platform, all the anger in my body seeming to collect in my hand as I threw that beanbag as hard as I could. Silence surrounded me as the bag made contact with the three smaller bags and they all flew off in different directions, the larger beanbag plowing through them and hitting the back wall. There was a second of silence before a loud groan came from the wood of the booth wall and it wobbled as my eyes widened, right before it crashed backward, landing on the ground with a loud thud.
I stood frozen for several seconds, and then the little girl in front of me whose mouth was hanging open, moved slowly to the wreath Eden had requested and silently took it down and held it out to me.
I took it from her and turned around. Eden was standing there with her hand over her mouth and her eyes shining with laughter and delight. And Hector stood behind her, his face a red mask of anger.
I handed the wreath to Eden slowly, and she took it from my hand, her skin brushing mine as her eyes widened and she blinked up at me. I tore my eyes away from her and looked up at Hector. "Father," I said, bowing my head and turning away. I moved past the booth, where two men were already putting the back wall up, and through the crowd. Xander jogged to my side and walked with me silently until we got to my cabin where I put my hands on my lower hips and paced in front of it.
"You impulsive fool," Xander said, glaring at me. "Calling attention to yourself and Eden when we're planning to leave? Are you stupid? Now you probably just made it that much harder. Did you see the look on his face? You threatened him."
"He had his hands on her," I gritted out.
Xander moved closer, his face right in front of mine. "Yeah, he did. He plans to marry her. He plans to have his hands all over her . . . forever. And you have to stop acting like a prideful idiot and ruining any chance we might have to get out of here with any ease."
I let out my breath and scrubbed my hand down my face. "You're right. I know you're right. I'm a fool." I sat down on my front step, bowed my head, and laced my fingers behind my neck. A couple seconds later I felt Xander sit down next to me.
We were both quiet for a few minutes before Xander spoke again. "I talked to Kristi. She says we need money, enough to last us three months or so, just long enough to get a job. She estimated three thousand."
I raised my head and looked at him incredulously. "Three thousand dollars?" I laughed. "Where are we supposed to get three thousand dollars?"
Xander shrugged. "I suppose that might be where Eden comes in. Surely the council members keep some money on them. She could start taking just a little, so they don't notice when she does it."
"Stealing again."
Xander let out an annoyed breath. "Do you have a better idea?"
I shook my head and squinted up at the sky. "No."
Xander was quiet for a minute. "Does Eden know how to count money?"
"I barely know how to count money. I mean, I know in theory, but obviously not in practice."
Xander nodded. "I don't know if we can risk bringing anyone else in Acadia into this."
"No, we can't." I thought for a minute. "What about the Castle family? Think there'd be any way of contacting them?"
"Ah geez, I don't know," Xander said, running his hand through his hair.
Bob, Tina, and Melissa Castle were a family that had come to live with us several years ago and then one day, in the middle of the night, they'd taken their things and left, right after Bob Castle had been punished by Hector for insolence. I never knew what the "insolence" was exactly, but Hector talked about those who weren't righteous would never feel comfortable in Acadia, and would be lured back out into the sinful society, as had happened with the Castle family. But I wondered if the Castle family would have another story to tell. Who knew if we could even trust them? My brain was all scrambled most of the time these days. The only people I knew for sure I could trust with my very life were Eden and Xander.
"They might not help anyway," I said. "I never knew them very well."
Xander sighed. "Let's see what Eden says about the money situation up at the main lodge. One step at a time, okay?"
"Yeah. Okay."
"And no more stupid testosterone-fueled stunts with Hector. In fact, you might be wise to apologize to him."
I grimaced. "I'm not sorry."
"Fine. But at least pretend you are."
I tensed my jaw and pictured him bringing Eden's knuckle up to his lips again. But Xander was right. If I wanted to get her away from him, I needed to play this smarter.
As it turned out, I didn't have to go to Hector on my own to offer an apology. The next morning, he summoned me to the main lodge.