Page 27 of Dissent (The Dissenter Saga #1)

“Y ou did a great job today.” Matias’s voice was warm and inviting, sending a flutter of heat within me. The cool mountain air was crisp in the twilight, causing me to cross my arms for warmth as we hiked back down the mountain toward camp.

“Really? I feel like I was terrible.”

After my god-awful training session with Wes, Matias had found me.

His job was to teach me marksmanship, which was basically how to work with guns.

Today was gun safety, and we spent what felt like hours reviewing the safety, how to turn it on, how to turn it off, how to load it, how to disarm it, and so on.

He also introduced me to a stunner, which looked like a handgun, but instead of harming your opponent, it just stunned them, immobilizing them for a period.

Apparently, the Dissenters weren’t interested in killing Telvians.

They wanted to dethrone Raúl, not destroy Telvia.

Freeing the people was the goal, and reuniting Telvia with the other regions would secure peace to the UFA.

Matias was clear that stunners were used as the primary weapon, with guns as a last resort.

Sasha armed most rebels with stunners and few had a lethal weapon.

Though similar in appearance, they were lighter than their deadly counterparts, and silvery in appearance.

The clips were a battery pack that held the charge for the quick zap of electrical energy that shot out of the barrel when fired.

My lesson today taught me about both, familiarizing me with each, and learning how to use them.

“Nah, you did great.” He flashed me another smile, sending little flutters off within me. God, I loved his smile, the soft contours of his face. “I think you might be a natural.”

I snorted, “Yeah, right .” Despite waving off his compliment, a little part of me beamed.

“Seriously… Oh, wait a second.” He stopped walking and reached out toward me.

“You have something right there.” Leaning in close, he gently brushed away something on my cheek.

His touch sent a tingle through my body, scattering gooseflesh down my arms. I didn’t dare move.

His hand glided down to my chin, thumb resting just below my bottom lip, as his eyes locked with mine.

I gulped.

Time slowed and we just stood there. How did it get so damn hot all of a sudden? It was like his body was radiating off waves of heat. I resisted the urge to pull on my collar, and just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, he took a lock of my hair and gently tucked it behind my ear.

“You’re beautiful.”

My breath caught as my heart pattered like a little school girl. I couldn’t have heard him right. “I’m sorry?”

He dropped his hand as a smile crossed his lips once again. “You’re beautiful.”

Yup! I heard right. “Thank you.” My voice came out in a whisper, as though saying anything too loudly would break the moment, shatter the magic that seemed to swell within me.

“Chase must have told you that all the time.” He spoke it as though he knew it to be a fact. I didn’t know how to respond to that, and my body buzzed with something I wasn’t ready to admit.

God, it’s hot. Matias looked away, finally releasing me from the spell I was under, and I took the opportunity to fan myself.

“You okay?”

“Yes!” I squeaked out like a mouse. Closing my eyes, I cleared my throat softly and tried again. “Yeah, just a little warm from the hike and all the training,” and all the touching .

He glanced up one last time at me, his smile becoming a devilish, sexy smirk that made me jitter. “Come on,” he motioned with his head, placing his hands in his pockets. “It’s getting dark, and we don’t want to be caught up here when it does. Let’s get some dinner.”

***

The rest of the hike back flew by. Matias made for great company, telling me about the forest, pointing out different trees and plants.

And he was so sweet and patient. That had become clear earlier while he trained me.

I really enjoyed his company. Something about being with him felt safe and natural .

We made it to the cafeteria, slipped in the entrance, and were greeted by the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to finish up their meals.

Matias led me to the dinner line. This time, the giant vats contained some dark colored liquid with chunks of off-colored lumps floating in it.

I was told they were vegetables and meat, but that last part was a major question mark for me.

Matias whispered in my ear stew as he ladled out the contents from the vat into my bowl.

I smiled in return. I had no idea what stew was, but I guess it stood for mystery meat .

Taking my bowl from me, Matias tipped his head and motioned for me to follow him.

Making our way through the rows of tables and benches, I got that distinct feeling on the back of my neck, like someone was watching me.

Sensing the little hairs standing on end, I casted a quick glance over my shoulder only to find familiar eyes looking right at me.

Sitting amongst friends, arms crossed, and the scowl I was sure was tattooed on his face, was Wes.

I shivered and turned away, trying my best to ignore him.

I followed Matias to a table where I was greeted by Edith, the girl I had just met that morning at breakfast, and Chelsea. They were both finishing up their last spoonfuls of stew.

“Hi, ladies.” Matias gave them a dashing smile.

“Hey there, Matias.” Edith fist-bumped him before turning her attention to me. “It’s the new girl! Welcome back.” She smiled, waving her hand so I would come sit next to her. “Ya survived your first day. How about that?”

Chelsea immediately scooted over, creating a space for Matias to sit down on her right side, across from me.

Her eyes beamed at him. He took the seat, and I couldn’t help but notice Chelsea inch toward him, ever so discreetly, until her hips were brushing his as they moved about.

She tossed her hair, the gorgeous curls raining down to the left side of her, creating a curtain of red.

“How was training today, Matias?” She ran her fingers through her hair, playing with it.

I never realized just how pretty Chelsea really was.

She was a maid in the house, so I seldom paid attention to her.

I never noted her emerald green eyes, how they sparkled like gems catching the sunlight.

Or how her curls shaped themselves into perfect, loose ringlets, or how milky and smooth her skin looked.

She wasn’t just pretty. She was downright gorgeous.

And as she tossed her hair about, smiling at Matias while he smiled back at her, I found a twinge of something pulling at my insides.

It bubbled up slowly, rising until it turned my stomach sour.

And I felt green with it. I was jealous.

“Earth to Mara!”

I snapped my attention back to Edith, who was tapping my head with her spoon. “What?”

She arched a brow at me. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

“I’m sorry, I was…spaced out. I’m just tired.” I gave her a quick smile before returning my attention to the bobbing chunks of god only knows what in my bowl.

Edith cleared her throat. “I was asking about how training went with Wes?”

I blinked, surprised by her question. “It was…not great. Why?”

A sly smirk overtook her lips and a playful twinkle crossed her eye. “Oh, I don’t know,” she toyed. “I was just curious because he’s been watching you ever since you stepped into the caf.”

“What?” My eyes darted back to the space where I caught him before, and sure enough, he was still there.

This time though, he appeared more relaxed, lounging in his seat lazily while his friends laughed around him.

And for once, he wasn’t scowling. His face was stoic, pensive, as though he was measuring out the solution to every problem in the world.

His eyes just stared at me, and he didn’t even try to hide it.

I looked away quickly, scratching the sudden itch on the back of my neck before finding the chain of my necklace and curling it around my finger.

Matias took a long look over his shoulder before turning around, the hint of a frown tugging at the corner of his lips.

His eyes glanced at me, capturing mine. In that brief moment, I caught emotions passing through him, but I couldn’t make them out.

Chelsea bumped his shoulder with her own, snapping his attention back to her.

She shot me a sideways look, and if looks could kill, I’d already be dead.

“So,” Edith cut in, “What’s the scoop? I know Wessy fairly well, and I’m very familiar with all his little stares and glares. That one doesn’t match with not great. ”

I faced Edith. “Why? What does that mean?”

An impish grin crossed her lips as she shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m just saying…”

“Well, I don’t know what you think happened, but it was pretty awful.” I turned my attention back to my bowl, poking the mystery chunks with my spoon.

“Why? What happened? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Matias reached his hand out and placed it on my wrist, stilling it.

I looked up, caught sight of his deep brown eyes, and my heart pranced. He really was so cute. He might have been about my age, but those big brown eyes and dusting of freckles gave him boyishly good looks. I took a deep breath, trying my best to clear my head to think.

“No, he didn’t. But he wasn’t exactly helpful, either.

He just kind of scared me a few times when he had me pinned, but he didn’t hurt me or anything.

” Well, he didn’t hurt me much. But I left that part out.

I didn’t need all this attention on me right now, and the look of concern written all over Matias’s face made me feel bad. “He was just an ass. That’s all.”

“Mmm,” Edith cooed as she licked her spoon. “That’s hot.”

I shot her a look. “ What? No, it isn’t.”

“Yeah it is. Sexy and edgy.” She practically purred out the words as she wiggled her brows at me.

I rolled my eyes, trying to give the impression that I didn’t care what she was talking about, but I could feel my cheeks burn. I bantered, “Are you high on something? Do you do drugs?”

Edith laughed as she patted my shoulder, “Nope! I just call them as I see them.” She pointed out her spoon in Wes’s direction. “And that one…that one has Bad Boy in Love written all over him.”

My back stiffened. “ Ew ,” I spat out.

“Shut up, Edith,” Matias snapped. I turned my attention to him, surprised by his sudden outburst.

Edith put her hands up with her impish grin still firmly in place. “I surrender. Just playing around is all…well, kind of.” She chuckled then, as she brought her hands down and scooped up the last bit of her stew.

Matias’s look was firm but confusing to me.

I didn’t get it. Why would he care anyway?

His eyes looked at me, and we held each other’s gaze.

I could feel it again, the tingling zipping sensation soaring through me as I got lost in his eyes.

It was that feeling of weightlessness when everything around you disappears as you get lost in something beautiful.

My consciousness just barely heard Edith’s comment.

“Uh huh…What tangled webs we weave, said the spider.”

I snapped out of it, turning to look at her again. “What does that even mean?”

She smiled and gave me a wink. “I don’t know…why don’t you tell me what it means?”

Yup, she was on drugs. No doubt about it. That, or she was nuts. I shifted away from her, feeling confident in my assessment, only to catch a fresh set of eyes on me.

Emerald ones.

And they spoke volumes of murder.