Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

fourteen

His eyes track Tris as she moves towards the target and Al seems to slump over with relief as he moves to make way for her.

"Same rules apply," Eric states when she gets into position and signals for Tobias to start.

"Eric, you've had your fun. You're taking things a little too far." I fumed, not even bothering to keep my voice down this time.

Eric turns his gaze on me again, his eyes studying me with...amusement? The damn asshole was enjoying getting a rise out of me and it only served to piss me off even more.

I hold his gaze and raise my chin in defiance, almost daring him to dole out the same punishment he did to Tris and Al.

Instead, he takes a step closer to me, totally uncaring of the other initiates' curious gaze on us and leans down until our faces were just inches from each other's.

"Don't start something you won't be able to finish, initiate."

I glare at the asshole as he gives me his back, turning back to Tris and my brother who was still in position with Tris at the target and Tobias ready to throw.

"Do your worst, Four." Eric nods.

Tobias pulls his hand back, and in one swift movement, sends the knife in his hand flying through the air.

A loud bang echoes through the silent room as the knife sinks into the wooden plank that lined the target to Tris's right.

True to Eric's terms, Tris doesn't even flinch. Meanwhile, I feel as if I'm about to throw up, Preferably on Eric for being such a dickhead.

"Oh, come on, Four." Eric drawls.

My brother throws again, this time, it barely hits the wooden frame- a significantly closer hit than before.

"You can get closer than that," Eric complains, sounding bored, almost.

"You want me to give her a trim?" Tobias questions to which Eric shrugs.

"Yeah, maybe just a little off the top."

Tobias nods, arming himself with another knife before he shoots it off and then another in quick succession. The first lands right above her head. Then the next lands on the target, pressing up against her ear.

"Points for bravery, Stiff." Eric praises, albeit a little sarcastically, "But not as many as you just lost opening your mouth."

Tris pulls away from the blade, reaching up a hand to her ear. Her fingers are stained red as she pulls them away and is bleeding from a small nick in her ear.

"Now, watch yourself. We're trained soldiers, not rebels." Eric says all leader-like, but there's no missing the underlying warning in his voice. "Alright, we're done for today. Get out."

I'm about to ask if she's alright, but she storms out of the room and the others soon follow.

"What were you thinking?" Tobias mutters scoldingly as he passes me, but says nothing more as he filters out the room as well.

With a deep sigh, I start to follow the last of the initiates who were still slowly making their way out.

"And where do you think you're going?" Eric's voice stops me.

With the anger that was still pumping through my veins egging me on, I whirl around the face him.

"Is it my turn to stand in front of the target while you throw knives at me?" I say with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

"Is that what you wanted?" Eric glowers at me, "Do you have a death wish?"

"A death wish? So, you were aware that you could've gotten someone killed, then." I scoffed.

Eric hums as he eyes me thoughtfully, "What is this really about, initiate?" He asks after a beat of silence, "I don't like talking in circles." He scowls, "Were you really concerned about a couple of nobodies or was it the fact that I had Four doing the dirty work that has you all fired up?"

I frown at him, "What the fuck are you talking about?" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air in exasperation. "This is about you almost killing someone! What was even the point of that entire display? Did you just need to boss some people around to stroke your ego?"

Eric takes a sudden step towards me, his face darkening in a way that made me want to cower. But I don't, instead, I roll my shoulders back and face him head-on.

"Careful," He snaps, "You'll learn soon enough that what I say goes around here, initiate."

I grind down on my teeth, "You're the leader and I'm supposed to be following your orders. I get that," I start, determined to get my point across. "But I'm also not some mindless robot that follows orders blindly, especially if it's as unreasonable as being a human target!"

My heart is racing by now as I try to rein in my temper before I sock Eric in the face and end up with a broken fist and factionless.

Eric stays silent, his intense gaze taking me in as he did before as if he was trying to pick me apart to figure out exactly what made me tick.

Just when I think he's about to ream me out for talking back to him, his lip quirks up into a smirk.

His eyes bore into mine as he takes another step closer, bringing us almost chest-to-chest while also confusing the fuck out of me with all his mixed signals.

"That's the kind of fire I like to see."

Then, he turns on his heel and stomps out of the room without so much as a backward glance.