Something darker.
“I thought you had duty tonight?” Henry asked Stephanie.
“I did. Charlie let me off early. We all hate when he does that. He’s so important to the cause, you know? But there’s no telling him otherwise. When he gets an idea in his head, well, he—”
“I have no problem telling him otherwise,” I cut in, attempting a smile. Penance for my earlier grouchy behavior.
“You’re his daughter. I think all daughters are wired for that,” she replied good-naturedly.
“You told him, right? About my involvement with the resistance movement back at Templeton?” Henry asked, choosing to ignore my remarks.
I wondered what he had told Stephanie about his involvement in the murder of young incubating chosen ones. His girlfriend at the time, Julia, had pulled the cords on the machines that kept them alive. He had never bothered to explain to me exactly what his role was in the event. The council never found out he was a part of it, but Julia was executed.
Stephanie nodded, stuffing a forkful of food into her mouth.
“Well, what did he say?”
Stephanie held up a finger as she finished chewing. As she took her time, I suspected she was trying to come up with an answer that, while truthful, would still please him. Henry must have picked up on the stalling tactic as well because he reached over and placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about it. I figured he wouldn’t let me in.”
My eyes widened as I watched Henry’s hand lingering on her arm. Even more surprising, she didn’t seem to have a problem with it. I cleared my throat, and he pulled his hand back.
“That’s not it at all. He appreciates your dedication to the cause, but he just has a lot on his shoulders right now. I mean something big. Maybe when this is over, you two can talk,” she replied.
“No, I get it,” Henry said casually. Too casually. He was putting on a show to make her feel better. I knew how much Henry’s need for revenge against the council propelled him—it was what drove him. And I didn’t entirely blame him. He had watched the council brutally attack and murder his mother and sisters. I thought of Louisa, pregnant and scared, and I wanted a bit of revenge myself.
“Seriously. Once this is all done, we’ll both go and talk to him. We could use a good man like you,” Stephanie said.
The side of Henry’s mouth pulled up in an attempt at a smile. “A good man, huh? You obviously didn’t hear that from anyone I know.”
Stephanie blushed again, and I was sure this time it had nothing to do with me. “Sometimes you can just tell.”
As I left the dining hall, I nearly knocked into Eric. “Whoa, there. What’s got your ass on fire?” he asked, grabbing me by the elbows in an attempt to steady me.
“Nothing,” I lied. I still couldn’t shake the dark feeling that had grabbed hold of me.
“Doesn’t seem like nothing,” he teased, looking over my head into the dining hall. “Aren’t those two cozy? What do you think that’s all about?”
I shrugged. “Nothing. Henry wants in on whatever my father is cooking up.”
“Nah, it’s more than that. They’re looking pretty intimate if you ask me. There’s all kinds of wants and needs bouncing between those two,” he noted, leaning back against a post. A lazy smile graced his face, and I could tell there was a part of him that enjoyed making me uncomfortable. I imagined this was what it would have been like if I had ever had an older brother.
I decided to give in to his bait. “Wants and needs?” I asked.
“Yeah. That’s how people work. How they size each other up. Whenever you meet someone new you gotta ask yourself two things: What do I need from him? What do I want from him? And for most people you’ll meet it’s usually a pretty good mixture of wanting and needing, but when you find that person you want more than you need…well, that’s got trouble all over it.”
Eric’s smile disappeared. “McNair told me that once.” He pushed himself on the post and began to walk back and forth. “Something’s not right about this, Tess.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not liking the way a chill had danced its way up my spine at his words.
“So, your father rescues you and just sits around the community. For what?”
“He says he’s planning something.” But at Eric’s words the feeling I had been trying to push down almost consumed me. Something wasn’t right. Why would my father tell me he wanted me out of this only to train me to fight? Why the sudden change? Was it just to teach his stubborn daughter a lesson? He told me it was because I was going to fight anyway, but it still seemed so sudden. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, my lesson seemed demented, brutal.