Unknown L (Book 1)

~~~ Coming Together ~~~

"We're in the middle of a war, so danger is kinda constant. I don't know for sure what it is this time, but Edra wouldn't have reacted the way she did if it wasn't bad. So for now, the plan is to stay here and not answer the door to anyone except her, and that means nobody else, no matter who it might be."

L creased her brow as Edra's words rang through her mind. "What did she mean? Why can't we answer the door to say, Maeve or Walter?"

Bryce shook his head, "Just trust that she knows what she's doing. Don't answer the door no matter what."

And with that, he walked out of the kitchen. The Worcesters confusion matched L's, and they were just as annoyed about the lack of answers. Mrs Worcester was the first to leave the kitchen, and L knew exactly where she was going. Her guess was confirmed when she heard Mrs Worcester speak again and Bryce's reply.

L was tempted to listen in, but she was distracted by Mr Worcester and Robbie changing their plans for the day. They decided to fix up a bed in one of the bedrooms since they couldn't go out. Robbie asked L if she wanted to help, but she didn't feel up to it. L didn't want to mope around but she hated being kept in the dark again. The training was supposed to put a stop to all of that and yet Bryce was the one trying to keep her out of the loop this time.

His attitude towards her changed more often than the weather. He seemed to think keeping her away from the danger would stop it from finding her. But L was certain that it didn't work that way, it always found her in the end.

She couldn't stop herself from listening in to Bryce and Mrs Worcester's conversation any longer. She'd caught snippets before and it was mostly about what he'd been up to. But now, L couldn't make sense of what they were discussing.

"... that's a load of bolony, and you know very well it is. This isn't about the war with Frallica. This is about you and her. Don't look at me like that, of course I know."

"You... do, but how?"

"Come on, I'm not blind, or stupid, I've known for a while. So what's stopping you?"

"I... don't know... everything? The threat of death and danger around every corner, not to mention I'm pretty sure she likes someone else. I wouldn't stand in the way of that, it's clearly love, I've seen it with my own eyes."

L felt something sink in her stomach. Bryce and Mrs Worcester were talking about a girl he liked. It was the last thing she expected them to be talking about. And she didn't want to face the reason why it bothered her so much. There was nothing between her and Bryce, and she'd felt happy about that, or had she? L wished she'd never listened in on their conversation, and she tried to stop, but she couldn't seem to pull herself away.

"Who does she like, and how do you know that she does?"

L couldn't help wondering who the girl was and if that's where Bryce had been recently. That would explain why he'd been acting so strangely. L growled out loud and internally kicked herself. This wasn't who she was. She wasn't the kind of girl to get jealous or be bothered if someone didn't like her.

She didn't need a guy or a relationship. They were obstacles that got in the way and caused trouble. She had enough of that to deal with already. She went to the sink to splash a little cold water over her face and took a deep, steadying breath to pull herself together. Bryce could like whoever he wanted as long as he was happy. Besides, she had much bigger things to worry about.

She walked through the house to stand by the Christmas tree, looking out of the window behind it. L could see out to the snow-covered paths that were well trodden by this time. It hadn't snowed again, but L had a feeling it might start later that day. She was about to go find Robbie when movement caught her well trained eye. She watched the figure walk up the path and sighed with relief when she saw it was Edra.