"We need to get something straight, Miss Hunter," he said in a sharp tone. "I don't want you playing with James' feelings. Pretending to be his friend or anything like that. The kid's got enough problems as it is, being such a young seer."
"Excuse me?" I exclaimed, outraged. "Pretending to be his friend? I never did such a thing. I LIKE your brother. Unlike you, he's a nice guy!"
"Don't pull your bullshit on me. I don't know what your game is, Hunter, but when I find out -"
"ENOUGH!"
Liam and I jumped, startled, and turned to where James was glowering at us. I guess his happy mood had gone out the window.
"Stop all this crap, Liam. You can Hear she's telling the truth so stop hassling her. And you!" He turned to me and I actually felt my heart skip with nerves. "You've got to get over your fear of LASER and tell him why you knew his name!"
He made the kind of exit you saw in movies. A dramatic huff.
"What has your fear of LASER got to do with the fact that you were stalking me?" muttered Liam angrily, more to himself than me.
"My hate of LASER," I corrected him and began walking to the front door.
"I'm pretty sure he said fear!" he called out after me. I ignored him and walked outside to wait. The sky was cloudy, threatening rain, which suited my sour mood. I heard the door open and close quietly behind me and immediately knew that James had followed me out.
"Sorry for yelling," he said quietly.
I spun around, shocked. "Don't you dare apologise, James. You did a good thing. We were being idiots. I just wish that you hadn't been so honest."
He sat down on the step and I lowered myself next to him. I felt affection for this kid for some reason, like he was the little sibling I never had. It was strange, I'd never even like kids before, even ones my own age.
"I think you should tell him about your mum," he blurted out. "He'd listen, I swear, and he'd know you were telling the truth."
"So you know about that, huh? Good to know that I can have privacy around you."
"Sorry," he said in a small voice. I couldn't stop myself, I put a comforting arm around him.
"You can't help it, James. And it's not like your abusing your powers. I wouldn't trust my secrets to anyone, but if I had to, I'd make that person you."
The front door swung open once more, interrupting a deep moment - I thanked the heavens, I was not good at deep - and Liam looked down on us with a frown.
"Let's go."
The car ride was silent. I rode shotgun next to Liam because James had managed to get into the back seat before me. And then sent me a look that said not to be rude when I went to follow him. I ignored Liam as he drove, yes manually drove, to my newest daily hell. I wondered what subjects I had been enrolled in, what kind of school this was, and whether or not I would die if I didn't eat something soon.
The school was far away. So far that I was worried that when Liam left I would be outside of the invisible boundary and my skin would start burning. But surely he wouldn't be that mean. Would he? When we finally arrived it was half past eight, only minutes away from the start of school. I went to leave the car but my door hadn't opened. I tried pressing the open button but it was locked.
"Go on ahead, James. I need to talk to Kayli about something," Liam said in a light tone. James paused, looking back and forth between us, before hopping out the car. I guess that meant Liam wasn't going to yell at me. I was still nervous. Once again the confines of the car were closing in on me, seeming to push me closer to him.
"What?" I asked dully.
"I'm sorry for having a go at you this morning," he began.
Whoa! What? Can I have a replay in slomo?
He continued, oblivious to my inner dialogue. "But that's my kid brother and I'm sick of the way he gets treated at school. He knows so much, not just educated but totally Aware. He could tell you things about every person in school. And he get's damn well bullied for the way he acts." He slapped his hand down on the dashboard to emphasise his point, making me jump.
"I want you to look out for him, okay? Stick up for him and maybe show others that you're friends with him. You're hot enough to gain respect from any hot-blooded male. Geez, you'd probably heat up the cold ones."
Huh. I'd just learnt three things about Liam that left me near speechless. He absolutely loved his brother and was a loyal sibling. He actually trusted me to do something for him. And he thought I was pretty? Did he actually just apologise and compliment me in the same speech? I must be dreaming.
"Sure. I'll look out for him," I managed to say.
He turned to me and smiled that glorious, breathtaking smile. "I knew you would. I lied big time this morning. I can tell you were never pretending to like him, even if I couldn't sense lies I'd be able to tell. You look at him differently to others, I can't explain it, it's almost protective."
"Yeah, I feel this connection to him for some -"
Liam cut me off. "You're late. Get to class," he said starkly and my door popped open. I climbed out, bewildered at his sudden change in emotion. Was he schizophrenic? It would explain a lot.
I turned to face the school as he drove off and sucked in a deep breath. It looked like a prison.
The Thief's Revenge - Ch 16 [james]
Start from the beginning
