Page 49 of Aine
Jenna urges me to sit and keep her company while she works, claiming that spending all day by herself in this room drives her crazy. It doesn’t seem like the beasts rarely, if ever, need medical attention, and she complains loudly about it while she continues fixing up her medicines.
At some point, Avia joins us, her eyes sad as they look me over. I grin and speak in my cheeriest voice, not wanting the pity I know she feels for me.
Jenna’s in the middle of telling a story about her first time giving stitches when Avia holds up her hand and tilts her head to the side. The room goes silent as she listens to something our human ears can’t detect.
“Damien’s coming,” she announces.
I shove the new container of sunscreen Jenna gave me in a bag with the capsules and try to act normal. If he looks in here and sees the medicine I’ll lie and say it’s for me, but I’d rather he not know I have them.
Damien enters just as Jenna stands. She looks him in the eye and crosses her arms over her chest, not at all pretending to be happy with him. I appreciate it, my friend loyal even if I haven’t told her the details of what happened between us. He gives both her and Avia a nod, his lips pursed as he turns to me.
It seems he’s come to collect.
I gulp before standing slowly and walking over to him. He says nothing as he places a hand on my back, the tension between us thick as he leads me out of the room. I crane my head to look at the two women in panic, frowning as they each give me a thumbs-up.
Everybody’s trust in Damien is worrying. We openly feared our leader behind closed doors back at my old village, but everybody seems to genuinely like Damien here. He must truly have them brainwashed.
My body’s stiff as I follow Damien outside, not trusting his motives. He drops his hand from me the moment we exit the building but remains by my side.
I prefer when he walks ahead.
He breaks the silence first. “I wanted to apologize for my actions this morning. Beasts rely on scent to detect emotion. There were too many upstairs and I was unable to accurately pinpoint yours.”
I turn, surprised he’s taken it upon himself to apologize. I didn’t think he knew how.
“It wasn’t until you asked me to stop that I realized I was smelling Olivia’s arousal,” he says. “It won’t happen again.”
I nod.
The remainder of the walk to his house is spent in uncomfortable silence. Freya sits in a chair outside the cabin watching us, her gaze making me nervous. Damien doesn’t look at her but does move to walk on the other side of me, putting his body between ours.
Olivia is just beginning to walk up the stairs as we step into the foyer.
“Perfect timing,” she says. “I left some dinner on the counter for you, Aine.”
She gestures toward the kitchen, her eyes lingering as I mumble a rough thanks and head in that direction. Damien’s footsteps are loud as he follows, and I try not to flinch as he eyes the bag I set on the counter. Can he smell what’s in there? I hope not.
Jenna would have warned me if he could.
Damien watches through narrowed eyes as I approach the plate on the counter and start shoveling the stewed meet into my mouth. The sooner I finish eating, the sooner I can go upstairs and hide in my room.
“Will you pour me a glass of water while I run to the bathroom?” Damien doesn’t wait for my response before leaving the room.
I hold my breath as I spin around in search of a cup. My hands shake as I pull one from the cupboard and fill it with tap water. Now is the perfect opportunity to give him the sleeping medicine, and I’d be foolish not to take it after it so conveniently fell into my lap.
I waste no time reaching into the bag and ripping open the capsule, internally panicking as some powder spills on the counter. What’s left in the container gets poured into his cup, and I scoop up the bit that was spilled and dump that in as well. I debate putting in two vials, but the sound of the toilet flushing foils those plans.
I scramble to grab my fork and use the handle to stir the mixture until it’s disintegrated and impossible to detect.
Damien returns with his ever-present frown and grabs the cup with a mumbled “Thanks.” I hide my shaking hands beneath the counter, but thankfully, he doesn’t seem to notice.
My pulse races as he brings the glass to his mouth, his nose wrinkling as the liquid is placed underneath his nose. Can he smell what I’ve done?
His eyes lock with mine as he brings the glass the rest of the way to his lips, his gaze unwavering as he downs the liquid in one go. He grimaces, cringing as he slams the empty cup on the counter.
“I’m going to bed.”
Chapter Twelve