CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Tris POV

I stand with the other transfers in a line facing the row of targets on the wall. We watch as Tobias demonstrates his throwing stance and throws the knife flawlessly, sticking it to the very center of the bullseye. We have completed our third and fourth days of fighting and are now learning to throw knives.

The morning after my disastrous fight with Drew, I awoke in Tobias's room shocked at how well the two additional doses of Erudite's healing serum had worked. I was still bruised, but most movements didn't even hurt and those that did, such as twisting, were manageable and did not prevent me from winning my fights against Will that day and Al yesterday. It felt awful to fight my own friends and I tried to hurt them as little as I could while still winning each match.

Tobias throws again, and the second knife sticks millimeters away from the first. I see Christina just past Tobias. Our eyes meet and hers narrow. I frown. I wish I knew why Christina has been so cold to me the past few days. She's barely spoken to me and I keep catching her glaring at me. At capture the flag last night, she argued with everything I said even though my ideas really were good. In fact, it was my strategy that won the game for our team.

When Eric tells us to begin, I pick up my first knife and balance it between my fingers. The weight and shape are slightly different from the ones I have practiced with. Uriah throws and hits the target with the knife, but it doesn't stick. I smirk as I practice my throw a few times without releasing the knife, just to get a feel for the new weapon.

"Hey, Stiff," Peter sneers from the other side of Uriah. "Remember what a knife is?"

I keep my eyes on the target and when I draw my arm forward again, I release the knife. I am the first initiate to hit the target and make it stick. It isn't in the bullseye, but it stuck in the inner circle.

"Hey Peter," I taunt, "remember what a Target is?" Peter glares at me, then narrows his eyes at my knife sticking out of the wood.

"Careful, Tris," Uriah says quietly. I deflate, knowing I shouldn't be drawing any extra attention to my skill, especially from Peter.

After a half-hour, everyone has hit the target but Al, and unfortunately, the loud clunking sound Al's knives make as they hit the floor catch Eric's attention. That's an especially bad thing today, because Eric seems to be in a terrible mood, possibly from his loss last night at Capture the Flag. Tobias told me that Eric was on the losing team during their initiation last year, too.

When Al misses again, Eric taunts him, which only makes Al more nervous. His next knife hits the wall, feet away from the target.

"What was that, initiate?" Eric says, his voice dangerously quiet.

"It – it slipped," Al says.

"Well, I think you should go get it." Eric notices that everyone has stopped throwing. "Did I tell you to stop?" Everyone begins throwing again all at once. We have never seen Eric look quite this deadly.

"But everyone's still throwing!"

"So? Are you afraid?"

"Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife? Yes, I am!" Al exclaims. I cringe. Refusal is one thing; Eric might have respected his stubbornness, might have though it brave. But admitting his fear is a mistake.

"Everyone stop!" Eric yells. In a fraction of a second, the room falls silent and still. He turns back to Al. "You. Stand in front of the target."

Al does as he's told this time, visibly shaking.

Eric keeps his cold eyes narrowed at Al. "Hey, Four, give me a hand over here will you? Four is going to throw knives at that target until you learn not to flinch."

The tension I make out in Tobias's shoulders, in the way he clenches his jaw, makes me even more nervous than before. He and Eric argue for a moment, but ultimately, Eric holds the authority and Tobias picks up three knives and takes his position facing Al. Al is so big that not much of the target behind him is visible, and he is shaking like a leaf.

I see the terror in Al's eyes as Tobias raises his arm, preparing to throw… I can't stand this!

"Stop!" The word leaves my mouth before I have time to think it through. In an instant, all eyes are on me. But I don't really notice them. I don't even look at Eric.

I only look at Tobias. I see the warning, the panic, the fury in them, but I have already spoken. It's too late to back down now, and to be honest, I don't want to.

"Any idiot can stand in front of a target," I say, looking away from Tobias now and at Eric instead. "It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying us. Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice."

Eric's lips pull wide into a menacing grin and I suppress the urge to shudder. "Then it should be easy for you to take his place."

Defiantly, I make my way to the target. Al squeezes my arm as he passes me. I stand in front of the target that Al nearly covered; the top of my head barely meets the center bullseye.

I look straight ahead and meet Tobias's eyes. He shifts and plays with the knife in his fingers and I think he's about to prepare to throw the first knife, but he doesn't. He drops his arm at his side and turns to glare at Eric.

"No," Tobias says in a low voice.

"Excuse me?" Eric scoffs, eyebrows raised.

"I won't throw knives at Tris."

They stare each other down for a minute and the tension is so thick, no one dares to breathe. Then Eric smirks.

"Fine," Eric says lightly. "I'll give you a choice. Either you throw the knives, or I do." Eric raises an eyebrow in challenge; I silently pray that Tobias will throw the knives. I know his aim is impeccable, and I know he would never willingly hurt me. Eric, on the other hand…

Without a word, Tobias shifts his feet to shoulder width apart and raises his arm to throw the knife.

The first lands a few inches from my left hip and I close my eyes in relief.

"Eyes open, Stiff," Tobias barks, and I do.

I feel the wind from the second knife as it imbeds itself an inch or two above my head. Eric grunts and Tobias's eyes dart to him.

"Come on, Stiff," he says. "Let someone else stand there and take it."

I glare at him. "Shut up, Four," I spit, and he glares back at me.

The third knife leaves his fingers and a moment later the thud as it hits the target is upon me. I feel a sting in my ear and the tickle of liquid. He nicked my ear. And by the look on his face, he meant to.

"That's enough fun for one day," Eric smirks. He stalks out of the training room and slowly everyone follows. Uriah is the last to go, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder as he passes me and finally leaving Tobias and me alone, still staring at one another.

Finally Tobias goes to a cabinet and comes back with a clean white square of folded gauze. He hands it to me and I hold it to my ear. I'm angry at him for intentionally cutting me, but I pause seeing the look on his face and the anger in his eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking, Beatrice?!" he explodes, making me jump.

I scowl. "I was thinking that what he was doing to Al was not right! He's my friend!"

His hands go to his hair, pulling at the roots in frustration. "I've told you to be careful around Eric, I've told you not to draw so much attention to yourself! I thought we were clear on that before you even came here! How do you think I felt having to put you in danger like that?!"

"Tobias, I…" I begin, my own anger forgotten, but I don't know what to say.

"You're reckless," he spits. "And it scares me, Tris! We have too much to lose!"

I reach for him but he flinches away. I let my arm drop and we just stare at one another.

"You're right," I whisper. "I'm sorry."

Tobias just nods before he turns and walks out the door, tossing the knife from his hand onto a table on the way out. It skids across the table and clatters to the floor.

I slide down the wall and sit against it on the floor, my arm curled around my legs. My head drops to rest against my knees in defeat. With my eyes squeezed shut I take deep, slow breaths. I feel like crying, and I'm all alone in here, maybe I should. Maybe the release would help.

At the sound of the door opening I am glad to have held back the tears. I expect to see Uriah or Tobias when I look up, but to my surprise, it's Christina that I see walking toward me. I push myself up to stand.

"That was incredibly stupid," Christina says bluntly. I nod. Going by the unsympathetic expression on her face, I don't think she is here to comfort me.

"Did you come here just to insult me?" I ask, remembering the angry attitude she has had toward me the past few days. She shrugs. I sigh. "Look, Christina, I don't know what I did to upset you, but I know you must be dying to get it out. You've been glaring at me for days now." Having grown up in Candor, I know that Christina is accustomed to saying whatever is on her mind. That is what has made her behavior even more puzzling.

"Fine, I will." Christina shoots me a look of disgust and shakes her head. "I'm pissed that you wouldn't tell me the truth about the twins' father! I asked if you followed him here and you made it sound like he was in some other faction!"

I furrow my eyebrows as I think back to remember what I said to her on one of our first days in Dauntless. I was very careful not to outright lie to her. "I didn't say he went somewhere else, Chris. I said that I had always intended to come to Dauntless, that I came here for me. That's the truth! What even brought this up?!"

Christina huffs. "I know who it is," she hisses. My stomach drops.

"What?" I can barely whisper. "H-how?"

"I overheard Uriah and Marlene talking a few days ago. I don't even know how I didn't see it – Marlene is right, Landon does look just like Four," she explains. I swallow hard. Uriah will definitely get an earful when I'm done here, he didn't say a word to me about this! "I couldn't hear Uriah's answer, he was too quiet. But that fight you and Four just had? That definitely confirmed it."

"Eavesdrop much?" I accuse, glaring at her and crossing my arms over my chest defensively. Christina scoffs. "Look, Chris, I couldn't tell you. The leaders told Four that we needed to keep it quiet."

"But I'm your friend!" Christina explodes. "You seriously don't trust me?!" I look down, and Christina shakes her head. "Or maybe you didn't want anyone to know that you're sleeping your way to the top and his favoritism is getting you through initiation. He probably trained you before you got here, too!"

My head shoots up and my hands ball into fists. I can't believe she just accused me of that! That's exactly why I didn't want anyone to know! Now I'm just pissed, and as I look at her, I remember all the comments she has made about Tobias, and the way I've seen her trying to flirt with him, and it all adds fuel to the flame. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Christina! That isn't even what this really about anyway, is it?! You're jealous."

"Jealous of the special treatment you get? You bet I am!"

I laugh humorlessly. "No, because I don't. Four doesn't even have any say in my rankings, that's why Eric is around all the time. You're jealous that Four wants me. I've seen you try and flirt with him. You accuse me of 'sleeping my way to the top', but I'm not blind, that's precisely what you have tried to do." Christina gasps at my words, but I just keep going. "But Four is mine. So back off!"

I storm out of the training room red with anger, not bothering to look back.