Mated

Ten

James would return home at any minute, so I was sure to put everything back as they were when I had come in. Creeping back into the hallway, I locked the door behind me.

It grew dark out before I heard him come in. I was in the sitting room with Mike and Nad, as usual, when he did.

"OH! Watch out for that—too late," Nad said.

"What's all the noise?" James strolled into the room.

"Trying to show Malia how not to die," Nad shook his head in my direction.

"In my defense, I don't play games," I countered. Mike snickered from where he sat, always finding Nad's disappointment in me amusing.

James stood there for a while before leaving. I stayed for a bit longer then decided to stretch my legs, walking in slow strides through the halls and to the grand staircase that took me to the second staircase. Listening first to make sure no one would be walking this way, I stretched my ears enough to increase my hearing range to the floor above. I focused until I heard the voices and homed in on Eva's. The library door was left open a crack and I made out their positions in the room by their breathing. Eva was closer to the windows while James sounded near his desk.

"Has she brought it back up to you?" she was asking him.

"No," he answered.

"You need to know what you'll say to her when she does."

"I know," was his only answer. Part of me was relieved that it wasn't just me he spoke so candidly with. Eva's light footsteps walked toward the center of the room. "I don't have the answers she wants."

"Sure you do. She just wants to understand what it is that happened. She deserves to know so she can be prepared if she has another vision before it hits her all at once. What if the next time it takes longer for her to come out of it?" I felt sick. Did she really think that it—whatever it was, would happen to me again?

"But why her? How is there even a connection between th—" James cut his statement short when my weight against the railing caused the wood to creak and groan under my hand. Startled, I removed my hand to quiet the sound but it was too late. The door was pulled open and in three quick strides, James was at the top of the stairs looking down at me.

"Err—hi," I let out.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"I was just about to come up to...talk."

"Good night James, remember what I said," Eva came up behind him and began descending the stairs. She bowed her head in my direction and I caught a slight smile on her lips as she passed. Walking up and stepping around him, I entered his study.

"What did I tell you about coming in here?" he grumbled behind me. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "I should give it up, right?"

"Yep," I walked deeper into the room and stopped on the opposite side of the desk. He shook his head and a dark smirk disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He gestured for me to sit in the chair then leaned over the desk with his palms planted on the wooden desk. I settled into it and felt his eyes on me. I simply met his gaze.

"Listen, I don't want to bother you as much as you don't want to be bothered," I started. "But I need to know what happened to me here."

"We already told you. You had a vision of something that happened centuries ago."

"I got that." I snapped. I hoped my impatience hadn't transmitted across my face and I looked just as reserved as he did. I wasn't playing his games anymore, I'd show him that I could hold my own. "But why did I envision that war? It has something to do with those news clippings, right?"