Her Hidden Half (War Songs of the Courts #1)

Chapter Twenty-seven

Alec picked a hell of a day to disappear on me. It wasn't like it completely escaped my notice that he would disappear some days, but they were usually far more convenient than this. This time he'd left me with a pissed off Alaisdair, who's prolonged silence ate at me the longer it stretched. I wouldn't exactly categorize Alaisdair as a chatty guy but he definitely wasn't a mute either. Our interactions were always filled with quiet moments, but they had never felt uncomfortable. Until now. Now they were heavy with tension, so much so that I felt a physical relief when he finally spoke.

"You were never a scout, we're you?"

I lowered my book to my lap and sat up straight in the library chair I occupied. I shook my head slowly and watched, waiting for the anger to surface.

He stood with his arms crossed in a casual stance and sighed, looking away with a small nod. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"I was surprised you bought it," I said hesitantly, unsure if it would be pushing it.

A momentary smile lifted the tips of his lips as he returned his eyes to me. "I've seen you attempt to lie to Alec and you're terrible at it. Horrendous, actually. It's hard to listen to," he teased, a laugh in his voice as he watched me scrunch my nose in reaction. "I had assumed that you were simply bad at it. A mistake on my part."

"Yeah, well, Alec is a hard person to lie to in general," I said in sigh, genuinely upset it was so hard to lie to him.

"You two are close, aren't you?" He stated softly, as if a fact rather than a question.

I shrugged and looked down at the book I held as I ran a finger down the long side of the pages. "I've always been incredibly untalented at making friends. Alec was a surprise. I mean, when we met we immediately fell into a rhythm of trying to throw each other off balance with our personalities, but all we ended up doing was bouncing energy off one another in our own perverse version of ping pong. It's like we've known each other for our entire lives."

I laughed to myself and looked back up to Alaisdair. "I can tell that everyone is confused by our relationship by the looks they give us. They don't know what to make of us because we're both, to put it lightly, very friendly, but we've somehow stayed strictly platonic. And there's the fact that neither of us are people who really make or keep friends so that confusing in and of itself."

He watched me speak with a soft expression and said, "I think it makes perfect sense."

A smile slipped on my face at his words. "That would make you the only one who think so."

"I've never gotten the impression that either of you cared very much about what others thought of you," he noted in a quiet approval.

I shrugged, a small amount of pride escaping in my expression. "I think I'm dope, and so as long as that rings true, I couldn't care less what a stranger thinks. Alec, on the other hand, is so charming that even when you hate him you can't help but love him."

Alaisdair shook his head and let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I've noticed that."

My eyes shot to his at his low tone and I studied him closely. My mouth fell open as I recognised the fondness that warmed his eyes at the talk of Alec. His eyes lifted back up to meet mine and his face smoothed back into the carefully blank face he usually only wore while on guard, no doubt realizing I had caught his look.

"No way," I whispered, my voice filled with shock.

Alaisdair straightened, the last sign of his casual demeanor disappearing, and narrowed his eyes slightly at me in what seemed to be a warning.

I bit my lip in a smile, containing the ramblings of excitement that wanted to burst from me. A breathy laugh escaped me as I fell back against the chair. Alaisdair shifted and looked around the empty library to be sure no one was within distance to witness any of this. He turned back to me, devoid of all emotions, and it took every ounce of will I had to pick up my book and pretend to go back to reading when all I wanted to do was poke at him with questions teasingly. But I knew better, and even I though it hurt, I swallowed the impulse.

After a few excruciating moments of silence I peeked up. Alaisdair blank stare met mine with ease and I jerked my gaze back down. I let out a strained breath and concentrated on not fidgeting. My eyes glazed over as the words on the page I stared down at blurred and I shut the book, my control fading. Impulse had been my way since the beginning, so it would be a while until my control was strong enough to contain that.

I opened my mouth, fully intending to bombard the poor guy with questions when I heard it. Footsteps so loud I could hear them vibrate off the floor. The distinct click clack of heels hit my ears hard and I winced in response. I curled into myself and my hands shot up to my ears in an attempt to shut out the noise. The slightly muffled sound only got louder and I let out a small whine. Large hands pulled my face up making me meet the kind eyes that belonged to Alaisdair.

He kept asking what was wrong in his controlled voice, trying to identify the source of pain, but I couldn't speak. Not able to pull an answer out of me, he continued talking, comforting me with soft words. I pulled in long breaths until the pain subsided and the noises disappeared. I closed my eyes and let my my neck limply roll back to meet the chair. I swiped my damp forehead as I took in the smell of books to calm my nerves.

"Sit up," Alaisdair said in a soft but urgent tone.

I straighten and looked up to see him turn towards the front of the library. The familiar click of heels gradually made it's way closer towards us until the owner of said heels stood just a few feet away from us. The glassy black shoes sat attached to exactly the last person I wanted to see: Josie. I almost rolled my eyes at how unnaturally perfect she seemed, but the pain pressing against the back of my eyes made me think better of it.

Her naturally blonde hair sat perfectly curled down her back in a way I've never even attempted before, complimenting her tan skin. She wore a deep blue blouse and black trousers made her look professional and powerful while also somehow remaining sexy.

"Josie," Alaisdair said simply, an acknowledgement as well as a question.

She nodded towards him before looking past him to point her icy stare at me. I met her eyes impassively and watched as her eyes narrowed. Alaisdair shifted, blocking her view from me and I rolled my eyes.

For fucks sake, I wasn't so fragile that I would break from her simply glaring at me.

"The Council is here and they want to meet with her immediately," Josie said, her voice full of authority.

Alaisdair's muscles seemed to tighten at the news. "I wasn't even aware they were here. Why weren't we notified?"

"They're the Council. They don't bother themselves with these things. You should know that," she replied dryly.

"Of course," he said easily. "I'll take her now. Where will the interview take place?"

A pause followed, then, "Follow me."