Dark as the Night

47

A/N: So this part is really really short, and I'm sorry about that! But it finishes up chapter 11 so it's in that precarious position of not fitting well with the previous part, and not being able to segue into the next one easily. 

Since James is inspecting Odessa's face in this scene, I decided to give you a photo of her inspiration, Lily Collins (whose hair and eyes I badly edited to reflect Odessa's coloring), to refresh your memory.  Who do you picture in your mind when you think of Odessa? Let me know in the comments and as always, click the little star to vote. :-D

-Evie

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James awoke with a start and looked around him. The Odyssey sat on his lap, open to a page much farther in than he had read. He was sitting on Odessa's bed, leaning against the wall. In front of the window, Odessa sat with her arms crossed on the simple desk the camp supplied all students. Her head rested on her arms; her eyes were closed and her breathing was soft and light with sleep.

He took a deep breath and pulled at his shirt where cold sweat had plastered it to his chest. He looked at his watch: 1:13 a.m. So he'd been asleep at least an hour. James stood on shaky legs and tried to stretch the remnants of the nightmare out of his system. He then walked over to the desk and looked at the girl snoozing softly on her finished homework. He carefully slid the practice test he'd given her out from under her arm and read over it. She'd missed five of the twenty questions he'd written – a score of 75%. One corner of his mouth lifted.

James crouched down and peered up at Odessa's face. Her brow was furrowed and her plush lips were turned down slightly. He brushed her long, dark hair from her face and took a moment to analyze her features – small, straight nose, delicately carved cheekbones and chin, and long lashes framing eyes he knew were wide and grey. Her skin was fair but her lips always had a dusky rosy color, and parted slightly in sleep, they looked enticing.

He sighed and stood, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Dreaming of his parents' murder always left him thrown off and more than a little lonely. He just hoped that whatever unsatisfactory scene was apparently playing out in Odessa's mind was better than the one he'd just relived. James hadn't dreamt of that day in months, and thankfully, it had been years since he'd woken, screaming, to a tear-soaked pillow. Still, the relatively peaceful awakening didn't make the ache in his chest any smaller.

Though the last part had been new – talking to Tai about their past together had brought the memory of Adam's decision to foster him to the forefront of his mind. Even now, James didn't blame Adam for his parents' deaths. That responsibility was solely on the government and whoever in it had ordered the murder of innocent people. He had always felt, instinctively, that the arrest warrant for Adam Adohi was a convenient excuse for a setup, and that the end goal had been Frank and Marianne's lives. One day, he would know for sure.

One day, he would have answers.

But now, he had to help Odessa find her answers. He had waited nine years so far and he could wait as long as he needed. The time was coming; he could feel it.

James gently picked Odessa up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down and, just as he stood upright, froze when a thought hit him. He had never considered anything as important as knowing what had happened to his parents. He'd secretly tried to research what could have earned them their executions, and considered everything else he did in his life as leading up to that objective.

And yet, now he was thinking of Odessa's need for truth over his own. What has this girl done to me? He wondered, equal parts shocked and terrified. He looked down at her face, which was now smiling serenely.

His own face hardened as his intuition answered – she was somehow related to all of it. He could feel in his bones that Odessa was going to be his salvation, that she would bring justice and peace to his soul. He had no idea how, but though his intuition had never been as reliable as Tai's, somehow he just knew.