Hunting Her

Chapter 26

After another solemn goodbye with Mila, which ended with a severe warning to pick up the phone next time she called, she got into a car with Oscar. Oscar barely spared me a glance as he put the car into gear and drove off. 

Aaron and Cam had volunteered to stand with me as I said my goodbyes and if either of them had noticed the cold shoulder I had been given by Oscar, neither of them said anything. Mila had to leave—being around me and them wasn't safe for her. The reasons for not wanting her help in the first place hadn't changed but it didn't make it any easier.

I turned on my heels once the car was no longer visible, and watched as Cam gave Aaron a curt nod before disappearing into the building. Aaron's freckled face pulled into a small smile. "So, are you up for a tour, or would you rather be shown to your room?" 

With a deep sigh, I looked the small pale boy in front of me up and down. "My room, please." 

Aaron nodded and pushed open the door, holdingit open for me. The building, from what I had seen, was a mix of family home, frat house and training facility. I let Aaron step in front of me as he guided me. I didn't say a word but I knew it wouldn't take long for him to speak, being that he seemed to do it a lot. "I'm sorry about your family," he suddenly said. 

My face dropped, not that he could see. 

"We all heard about it when it was posted all over the news. We've seen enough of Dominic's work to know it was him," Aaron continued.

"Please stop." I said bluntly, not wanting to relive this. 

Aaron's head moved as he looked over his shoulder at me. His eyes held so much sympathy that I had to look away. "Sorry. I didn't mean to push or remindyou of anything. I just wanted to—" He paused, scrambling for his nextwords. "I'm sorry, that's all."

"That's okay." I watched his shoulders relax. Hekept to himself after that, seemingly worried about what he should say. I feltbad; he was trying, and I was clearly making him nervous, so I started adifferent conversation. "Do you guys live here?"

Aaron slowed his pace to walk more beside me rather than in front. A small smile already back on his face. "We do. We have a few different safe houses, but this is the main base. We've all got our own rooms. We cleared a spare one out for you." He guided me to a staircase, leading me to the second floor. "We have a basement which we turned into the training area, and we have a garden where we sometimes have bonfires and drink a lot. Well, I don't really drink, but the others do."

I nodded along. 

"Sorry, I know I talk a lot. I hate silence." Aaron said, clearly noting the blank expression I had made without realising. I was trying to listen to him, but my mind seemed adamant to wonder. 

"It's okay." I said with reassuring smile. "I don't really like silence either." 

Aaron's smile grew as we stopped outside a white door at the end of a hall. "This is you," he said, gently opening the door. 

The room was painted a baby blue and contained a single bed, and a wardrobe. It was virtually empty. There was a small window that looked out on the woods that surrounded the house, and it seemed to be the only source of light considering the bulb from the overhanging light was missing. The removal of the bulb, I'm sure was done because of my recent actions. 

"I know it isn't a lot. It had more stuff but Hunter made us take it all out after you—stabbed him." Aaron said as he glanced around the room. "The wardrobe has some clothes in there, but Hercules has offered to go to the shop tomorrow to get you some more."