“Sorry, I needed somewhere to read quietly and have a moment for myself to prepare,” she stutters, closing the books on her lap with a soft stud. A growl escapes my throat, and she looks at me, jumping up, grabbing her backpack and making amends to go out.
“It is fine,” I suppose.
“You clearly don’t want me here, so I am going to leave.”
She walks towards the door. I can’t let her go. Not now that I finally got her.
My hand presses against her shoulders as she tries to pass me.
“Wait.” I stop her. “How did training with Fintan go?”
Big doe eyes look up at me and she crunches her nose. Because of all the wrinkles her scrunched nose causes, her freckles make her look even more adorable.
“It was fine, but I didn’t get the hang of it completely,” she answers, looking at her feet. My fingers glide towards her chin, forcing her to look at me. I just can’t seem to help myself around her. Her watery gaze finds mine.
“You are doing just fine, Honey. You will get everything you want,” I comfort her. My voice is raw and stuck in my throat. I let a cough escape my throat and shake my shoulders, trying to shake this stinging feeling off me. “Maybe we should talk about how we are going to do things for tomorrow anyway.” I make up, trying to get her not to leave.
“You’re right,” she answers, her backpack falling off her shoulders, flopping her ass down on the couch again. I rub my temples and shake my head in disguise. How do I always seem to get myself in weird situations?
This is going to be a complicated night.
The stars shine bright as we stumble through the garden, back towards our room. It is eleven am and we discussed our strategy, resulting in us sticking together. When I suggested we stick together, she gave me funny eyes mirroring her shock and surprise by letting it rush through my body. For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t agree, but as she noticed I was being serious she agreed fast and firmly with my suggestion. We are not sure yet who we have to steal from, or how we are going to do it. So being ready to go when the clock hits 00:00 seems like a smart idea.
This time, I am going to change into effective clothes, because as far as we know, we are not being kidnapped at night again. Eliane hasn’t spoken about it after her emotional meltdown. I don’t want to bring it up, maybe she isn’t ready to talk about it. Maybe she never is.
She changes into different clothing as well. Dark clothes stick to her body. They hug her body and her curves seem to be on all the right places. She sits on the bed as she attaches multiple daggers on her belts.
I repeat. Belts, as in multiple ones.
She actually has more than the belt on her leg. She also has one on her arm under the top layer of her clothing and one around her waist. And I can’t ignore her sticking a dagger between the underwire of her bra.
“Is that really necessary?”I ask her, lifting my brows in question. She doesn’t answer, just lets out an exaggerated sigh and keeps stuffing her brown leather backpack with useful things, refusing to give me the satisfaction of doing what she promised. So, I start swinging some weapons around my own back too.
“How do you think we will know which duo we have to take something from?” she asks as I sit down on the bed, my backfacing her. “Do you think it will go with paper again, just like last time?”
“No, I am not sure, Honey,” I answer, my eyes lingering towards her backpack, the one that she keep stuffing fuller and fuller.
“Doesn’t that thing ever get full? ” I chuckle, changing the subject, because I would never admit it, but I am nervous as well. She narrows her eyes and gives me a strict look as I look over my shoulder. She is really a little fiery thing.
Time passes at a fast pace and the clock rings at midnight. I push the door open and we stroll into the darkness. I lock my jaw in place and take a deep breath before I allow my feet to drag me in.
Like magic tricks me, something feels stuck in my shoe, again.
Eliane must feel the same, because before she closes the door behind us, she bows over, unties her laces, takes her shoe off and shakes it. The little metal cylinder falls out and she gives me those eyes again. Heat prickles my skin and I follow her action. All the hair on my arms are standing straight up.
The second round of the trials have begun. I watch Eliane as she opens the cylinder and unfolds the small piece of parchment inside. Her eyes wide as she reads what is on it.
“What?” I snap, too curious to know what is on hers. She turns her paper so I can read what’s on it.
Hazel
