Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

forty-three

ERIC

    "Is there something wrong with that goddamn head of yours?" Four's pissed-off voice follows the sound of my office door slamming into drywall.

I let out a sigh, shoving my chair back and sauntering over to the door to shut it.

Leaning against the now-closed door, I raise a brow at my unlikely visitor.

I sigh, "What the fuck are you going on about?"

"You broke up with her? Are you out of your mind?" He chastises me like I was his younger sibling instead of Nessa and I frown at the guy, perplexed.

"I'm sorry, weren't you the one warning me off your sister in the first fucking place and now you're ripping me a fucking new one because I broke up with her?" I retort, "Which is it that you want, asshole? Make up your fucking mind!"

"You told me you loved her," He answers and I rub at my temples, feeling an impending headache building.

"I do," I grit out.

"So, you broke up with her?" Four stares at me as if he's worried I'd recently suffered from a head injury. "God, you're an idiot."

"You know what? Fuck you and get the fuck out of my office." I move to the side, throwing my door open once again.

Four doesn't budge, simply folding his arms over his chest and raising a brow at me.

I shoved the door closed with a loud slam, throwing my hands up in frustration. "What the fuck do you want from me, man? You were the one who wanted me to protect her, so that's what I'm doing. Protecting her."

He lets out a sigh, shaking his head. "This was not what I mean."

"I did what I thought would be best and I am not discussing it with you," I tell him before rounding the table and returning to my chair, deciding that maybe ignoring him might just make him go away.

Unfortunately for me, Four was like a gnat and he plants his hands on my desk, leaving forward until we were eye-to-eye.

"I still don't entirely like you," He tells me as if that was any news. "But after seeing how you are with V, I don't know if I'd rather my sister be with anyone else." He says, "I think you're making a mistake. Fix it before it's too late."

✧

"Congratulations to all of you for making it this far," Max's voice booms across the Pit.

I stood beside him with my hands tucked in my pocket, my eyes scanning the crowd until they land on a certain Eaton sibling- more specifically, the significantly more likeable and prettier one.

Immediately, my eyes hone in on Nessa as if she's all I ever see.

"Unfortunately, not all of you are going to be staying." Max continues, "Here are your rankings."

The screen at the front of the room flickers and the rankings are finally revealed.

I spot Nessa's name in second place and frown. Not because I'm not proud of her. I was, immensely. But because I can't help but wonder what kind of ulterior motives they could have for keeping her here, especially after the error that occurred during her test.

Cheers erupt across the room as people celebrate their success and my eyes land on Nessa again as she and her friends share a hug.

She's smiling, but her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes and as if she could feel my gaze on her, she tilts her head up to look at me.

I resist the urge to congratulate her and stare back at her stoically.

"Congratulations, new members of Dauntless!" More cheers and whistles fill the room.

I stand silently on the platform I was on, stepping forward when I see people starting to move towards the exit.

"Alright, listen up!" I yell, drawing everybody's attention to me. "Before you leave tonight, I want all of you in four lines." I say, "Everyone gets a tracking device. Don't ask questions, it's just a precaution."

Most of them comply wordlessly, but there are a select few who looks a little hesitant.

My eyes meet Nessa's again through the sea of people and my heart pinches at the fear I see shining in them.

I will Nessa to go with it with my eyes, hoping she'll understand and not draw any attention to herself, especially with Max hanging around.

Turning, I start to make my way down the platform. My gaze immediately zeros in on Nessa, which is mostly how it is whenever she's in a room with me,
and I head straight to her.

I watch as she slowly starts to back away to exit as inconspicuously as possible, clearly not buying the bullshit about the tracking device. That's my girl. But this time, I'm just going to need her to trust me.

Creeping up behind her, I seize her elbow from behind and drag her with me to the front of the line, ignoring how her eyes flash to me, burning with betrayal.

I jerk my chin towards her as we stop before one of the guy's administering the shots. "I want hers done now."

Nessa starts to struggle, trying to free herself from my grip and jerk her towards me warningly.

"Stop fucking moving," I hiss, pleading with my eyes for her to trust me.

Reluctantly, she holds still, wincing when the needle plunges into her skin.

I feel a sudden rage surge through me at the fact that she was hurt even though I was the one who ordered it and quickly tamp it down.

"You're coming with me," I tell her as soon as we're done and lead her out of the Pit and towards my office before she could reply.

I shut the door to my office as soon as we make it in. Leaning against my desk, Nessa crosses her arm over her chest with a huff.

"What do you want?" She demands, rubbing at the sore area where she'd gotten her shot.

"There are some things that are going to happen later tonight," I state, "I need you to not ask any questions. Don't trust anybody and just follow what everyone is doing. Exactly what they're doing, okay? Anywhere they go, you follow. There's not going to be any room for mistakes, Nessa. Understood?"

She doesn't reply me, simply narrowing her eyes at me and raising her chin haughtily. "Are you done with the tough guy act? Because I'm more than ready for that apology you owe me."

I resist the urge to break into a smile and roll my eyes at her, "You're not getting one."

Nessa takes a step toward me and I clench my fists at my sides to keep from touching her.

Smiling up sweetly at me, she reaches up to trace her fingers along my jaw. "Any day, now."

Instead of leaning down to kiss her like I really want to, I watch as she turns and leaves.