“Talen, walk outside.” Milo crosses his arms and speaks decisively. “Ava and I are going to talk, and then we’ll let you know what we’ve decided.”
Aerin ends up dragging me to the mucky ground at the side of the river. She fills a bottle with water before taking my hand again and leading me near the tree I had her pinned against earlier. We sit at the base, and Aerin hands me the water.
I don’t drink it.
“You’re going to need to give them a little time,” Aerin says. “This is a big blow to them, and they need to come to grips with it. I knew who you were from the beginning, so it wasn’t a shock for me, but I still had to learn to trust you. They already trust you.”
“I betrayed that trust.”
“And why did you do that?”
“To protect them.”
“Don’t you think they’ll understand that?”
“Not if they believe I had something do to with Will’s family or the fire. If they think I had a part in it, they’ll never trust me again.”
“Give them a chance,” she says. “I’ve seen how they all look at you—how they listen to you. That doesn’t just go away in an instant.”
“Feels like it just did.”
Aerin wraps her arms around my waist and leans her cheek against my chest. I press my lips to the top of her head and stare at the group in the distance, wishing I could hear what they were saying.
Eventually, Ava and Milo break from the group and come over to us.
“We took a vote,” Milo says. “Most of them want you gone. They want you to pack up, take her with you, and go.”
“I understand.” The words catch in my throat.
“Not so fast.” Ava takes a step forward and crosses her arms over her chest.
“I didn’t say we were going with the vote,” Milo says.
“I want to hear your side of this.” Ava looks at me pointedly. “All of it.”
I feel a brief sense of relief, but it disappears quickly when I realize everything I will have to confess. I also realize coming clean is the only way to win back Ava’s trust.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Inside,” Milo says. “I think everyone deserves to hear it.”
We return to sit around the fire. Off to the side, Luther quietly skins rabbits and squirrels while everyone else stares at me. Some look confused, others scared, but most of them just glare at me with anger.
“Who are you?” Ava asks. “Who are you really?”
“My given name is Theodore LaGrange. I started going by Talen when I escaped from the capital city.”
Ava and Milo glance at each other and then to Will.
“It’s true what Will says, then?” Milo tosses a piece of wood into the fire and keeps his voice calm.
“I’ve been trying to tell you all…” Keller smiles smugly.
Milo stands up, walks swiftly to the other side of the fire where Keller is standing, and punches him in the face. Keller reels backward, barely keeping his footing.
“How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up?” Milo yells. “You are going to keep your mouth shut, do you hear me?”
Keller rubs his jaw and scowls but says nothing further. Everyone else just stares at Milo—easily six inches shorter and forty pounds lighter than Keller—in complete shock and awe.