The instructor marches toward me, his big nose almost touching mine.
“You surrender too easily.”
I scoff before I can bite it back. “Running never works. I would know. Fighting is pointless. What am I supposed to do?”
“Take this class seriously,” he snaps. “Or you will not survive.”
I flinch.
He means it literally and continues:
“Welcome to Kidnapping. That was a taste of the bruises you will bear. The fear. The adrenaline. Every woman in here is valuable... and fragile. I will make you tough. I will make you live.”
Although I dislike this man, I must admit, I’d do anything to be tougher. I’m tired of this frozen struggle. This class... I like it.
After class, Brutus hands me a water bottle.
“You did well,” he says gently.
I laugh, incredulous. “Was that well?”
“For your first day,” he says with dimples, “yes.”
“Where are you from?”
“Siberia,” he says, like it’s no big deal. For him, probably isn’t.
I see Micha waiting by the door, arms crossed, stance protective.
“I should go,” I tell Brutus.
He nods, still smiling, and something in my chest squeezes.
Brutus looks at me once more, just a glance, brief but warm. My stomach almost flips. Maybe in a romantic way. Or likesomeone is actually seeing meway.
For a split second, I even think...
I wish Gustav looked at me like that.
Then I hate myself for it.
Gustav hasn’t looked at me with anything but disappointment or rage since the castle. Since the dinner. Since I was belted, since he let the room watch me panic, since he punished me for breathing wrong.
Brutus is the opposite: gentle smiles, soft apologies, dimples.
I am staring at him like an idiot when Micha clears his throat.
My gaze tears away.
“I saw nothing,” Micha says quietly as I fall in step beside him.
I breathe out, relieved but confused. “Uh. Okay.”
We walk together toward my dorm. Snow crunches under our boots. My leg throbs where the wolves bit me.
“I’m sorry for running away yesterday,” I tell him quietly. “I hope you didn’t get in trouble.”
He shakes his head. “I worried. But I forgive.” Then, softer, “Please do not do it again. My heart cannot handle it... and Gustav may not forgive me twice.”
