“Dave, get back to our room,” James tells him.

Scrambling to his feet fast, Dave moves quickly to James’ room and they hear the door shut.

Every eye is upon him. “He simply went into the wrong room is all,” he tells them. “I’ve known him a very long time and I assure you, he isn’t like that.”

Jiron comes close to him and says, “Just keep him away from my sister. I held back because he was your friend, I won’t a second time.” After meeting his eyes for a second in defiance, he turns and moves into Tersa’s room and then shuts the door.

“Everyone back to bed,” Illan announces to the rest. “Nothing more to see.” As the others begin moving back to bed, he comes over to James and asks quietly, “Was it a mistake?”

“It has to be,” James says defensively. “Dave isn’t like that.”

“A mistake it may have been, but whatever trust he had with everyone in this house is now gone,” he says. “If another ‘mistake’ occurs, I believe Jiron will make good his threat.”

“So do I,” he says. “I better go see how Dave is doing.” Turning around, he makes his way back to his room.

Inside, he finds Dave sitting on the bed facing the door. “You have to believe me James, it was an accident.”

“I do,” he replies shutting the door behind him. “But no one else here does. You’ll need to step carefully for awhile and rebuild their trust.”

“Why don’t we just leave here, the two of us?” Dave asks.

“I can’t,” he says. “I’ve been through too many things with these people to suddenly turn my back on them. They’re all good, solid friends, you’ve just gotten off to a bad start. But once they get to know you better, they’ll come to see what kind of man you are.”

“Thanks for saving me back there,” he says with a slight smile.

“You’re welcome,” James replies. “Just don’t make that mistake again.”