The Gender Lie(69)

She gave her orders calmly, explained the instructions easily, and commanded the boys’ attention for drills. Viggo had asked her to start the boys with basic martial arts training, and she had accepted. I actually had no idea of the entirety of the conversation that took place between them, but Ms. Dale was playing nice, and making a real effort to help the boys.

I hadn’t really interacted with her since the night she and I killed the princesses, and I was beginning to regret not being more insistent with Desmond about going to see her before. At the time, I had just been so angry, and a part of me had blamed Ms. Dale for what happened with Viggo, in spite of everything she had done to help.

A heavy hand fell on my shoulder, scattering my thoughts. Looking up, it was Owen.

“Hey, Owen. What do you think so far?”

He grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “This is great. I asked Desmond to sign me up as an instructor, but alas, I have a mission coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I’m on standby. I was here to see if you wanted to train though.”

I considered it, but shook my head. “Nah. I’m staying here for Viggo. We need to… talk.”

Owen pouted playfully and then nodded. “Yeah… heard some rumors that you guys maybe had a fight.”

I rolled my eyes. “No matter where you go, somebody is always in your business.”

Chuckling, Owen squatted down next to me. “True story. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I’m here to make up anyway, so unless Viggo is super mad at me, which I doubt, then I think it’ll be fine.”

“What’d you fight about?” he inquired.

“What’ve you heard?” I countered, and he laughed good-naturedly.

“Fair enough, none of my business. But listen… he’s not the jealous type, is he?”

As he asked, his gaze drifted over to Viggo. I followed his line of sight, and noticed Viggo staring at us intently, his green eyes flashing. I laughed, and then covered my mouth when the boys around us turned to look, waving them off.

“Afraid of Viggo?” I teased Owen.

“Terrified might also be an understatement,” he declared, shooting me an over-exaggerated wide-eyed face. I chuckled again.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll put in a good word for you when I make up with him tonight.”

Owen shook his head, practically vibrating with how much he didn’t want me to do that. “Oh no. Don’t do that. You start saying nice things about me, and he’s gonna find me and kill me.”

I snorted. “All right, I’ll talk about what a pain in the ass you are, and how cowardly you are.”

“Good,” he smirked.

“You’d better get out of here before he gets mad,” I said.

“Thanks for having my back,” Owen said before he winked and strode away.

I turned back to see Viggo looking at me again and when I met his eyes, he cast a small smile my way. I dared smirk back as I placed my chin on my knees. Our talk couldn’t come soon enough.





29





Viggo





I walked up to where Violet had been sitting, torn between wanting to pull her into my arms and wanting to maintain the distance between us for fear of another fight. She had been patiently waiting for me though, which had to mean something.

We locked eyes as she noticed my approach, slowly picking herself up off the floor with a calm expression. I felt a glimmer of hope slip through my feelings of foreboding.

“Viggo,” she blurted, taking a step toward me. “I… was wondering if we could talk.”

I gave her a considering look. “I’d like that,” I said.

She held out her hand to me and I took it gingerly, allowing her to guide me back to our room. It was slow, painstaking, and way too quiet, but once we were there, I sat down on our nest on the floor and rubbed my legs.

Her eyes took in my action. “How have you been feeling?”

I nodded. “Good. It’s taking longer and longer before I feel the need to sit down, so that’s something. It’s so frustrating, though.”

“And… your chest?”

I nodded again, my hand rubbing the area on my ribcage. “Not so sore anymore. Just the legs.”

She sat down in front of me, crossing her legs under her. “Listen… about the other day,” she said, her eyes on her hands. “I took some time to think about it and… I think you’re right. I just… needed time, I guess.”

I stared at her. “Are you sure?”

Violet smiled gently. “Of course I am. I forgot to… take in the motivations of the speaker, I guess. Desmond wants to win… you want to be fair. And I think your way is the better way.”