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Days passed, and only a few halfs spoke tomatters either, and damn, he made it impossible to steer clear of hi dinner with Caleb and Luke He even showed up rando and creepy

A certain look would cross Aiden’s face whenever Seth stopped by I liked to tel h today weup, so I didn’t get to further exarabbed one of the dued it toward the walThe thing weighed a ton, but he

"Need any help?" I offered anyway

He shook his head and placed it against the wal"Come over here"

"What’s up?"

"You see this?" He pointed at the dummy’s chest There were several indentations in the flesh-like ertips over them "These are from your jabs today" His voice fil ed with pride, and it was better than any look he could give Seth "That is how strong your hits have becoers of death"

He chuckled softly "And this is from your kicks" He brushed his hands over the dummy’s hip Part of the material had been knocked in And part of ers to touch e who’ve gone through years of training and can’t inflict that kind of da fu rownup toys?"

Aiden glanced over at the wal , the one I badly wanted to touch "Possibly"

The idea of training with the knives made me want to do a happy dance, but it also reminded me of what the knives were used for "Can I ask you a personal question?"

He only looked a bit weary "Yes"

"If… your parents had been turned, ould you have done?"

Aiden paused before he answered "I would’ve hunted them down Alex, they wouldn’t have wanted that kind of life, to lose al their morals and ideals--to kilThey wouldn’t have wanted that"

I sed, my eyes stil trained on the wal"But they…

were your parents"

"They were my parents, but they wouldn’t have been once they’d turned" Aiden stepped beside o of the attachment

If it’s not your… mother, it could be any other person you know or love If that day comes, you’d have to face that they’re not the same person they used to be"

I nodded absently Aiden was technical y right, but in the end, his parents hadn’t been turned They’d been kil ed, so he’d never real y faced so like this

He steered er than you realize, Alex Being a Sentinel is a way of life for you, not just a better option like it is for soht a wealth of war back and forth in ave me a weird look, but shook his head "No

You’re always… so alive, even when you’re going through so that would darken the souls ofaware of what he’d said The hol ows of his cheeks flushed "Anyway, you’re incredibly determined--to the point of stubbornness You wouldn’t stop until you succeeded Alex, you knohat’s right and what’s not I’ I’"

My heart sort of swel ed He… cared forthe question about his parents

Somehow, it made me feel better aboutup a valid point No matter who I faced out there, if they were dai now In a way, I was actual y training to kil her

I took a deep breath "You know… I hate when you’re right"

He laughed as I ht when you don’t even realize it"

"Huh?"

"When you said I didn’t kno to have fun--the day of the solstice? You were right After row up real fast Leon says ot left behind soht, too"

"Hoould Leon know? He’s like talking to a statue of Apol o Anyway, you’re funny--when you want to be And nice, and smart, real y smart You have the best personality I’ve--"

"Okay" Laughing, he held up his hands "I get it, and I do have fun Training you is fun and definitely not boring"

Iincoherent, because ain Practice was over, and even though I wanted to stay with hi out I headed for the doors

"Alex?"

My stohtened "Yeah?"

He stood a few feet away "I think it would be a good idea… if you don’t wear that to practice again"

Oh I’d forgotten what I earing It was a pair of questionable shorts Caleb had picked up forat Aiden now, I realized he had noticed I fixed an overly inno-cent look on ?"

Aiden gave me one of his rare sot about the terrible thing I was training for His smile had that kind of i" He brushed pastat the door "In our next practice I ers if we have time"