The Hollows In Our Freedom | 'Hollows' Book Ⅲ

Chapter Forty-Six

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T h e   H o l l o w s   I n
O U R  F R E E D O M
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"Okay, let's settle, everyone!" Elle caught our attention, moving to the centre of our circle, standing deadly close to the fire.

"We've got the tents up now, so all that's left to do is decide who you're pairing up with. As long as every M.R.W is with a Guardian, I'm not concerned with who is with who." She explained.

I immediately knew the pairings.

And it left Jace, Elle and I looking around very awkwardly.

"Alexi, you take the tent with Jace—you are, after all, training him." She offered after quite a long moment of silence. In fact, everyone had started to disperse to their tents by the time we decided on our arrangement.

I nodded, letting Jace guide me to our tent. It was pretty much one of the closest to the fire. He offered for me to go in first, and I thanked him before entering the tent, falling onto the thick duvet we would be sleeping on. We had another to blanket us, but it meant that we couldn't really roll away, since we had to share the covers.

Jace turned on the lantern on his side, but it only lit part of the tent. He stared at me for a few moments before he leaned out, tucking a few damp hairs behind my ear.

"Are you okay?" He asked, whilst I felt my heart enter cardiac arrest. I nodded, eyes drowning in his—his ever glittering Northern Light eyes.

He left his hand where it was, hovering an inch away from my face, for a few moments, before he drew away with a very small smile on his face.

He took his shoes off as he asked, "would you like to sleep now?" I watched him slip his shoes into a plastic bag and place them in the corner on his side of the tent.

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought that was the general idea of getting into our tent." I joked, watching him shake his head in response.

"Can you not hear Sky and Jameson from across us?" He asked, making me pause. I tuned into my hearing, making out sounds of shuffling, sometimes giggling, and then moans.

"Great." I said, scratching the back of my head. Jace stifled a laugh in response, and I watched him discretely, admiring the fact that he wasn't as obsessed with Sky as he used to be.

"How did you hear it and I didn't?" I asked him, watching him plump up his pillows.

He glanced at me before shrugging, "I guess I'm getting better at this." I smiled, ducking my head and folding back the duvet to get into it.

Jace passed me a pillow suddenly, and I glanced up at him, before taking it and thanking him. It wasn't that he had given me a pillow, but it was that he remembered I only like one pillow.

I yawned, placing down my pillow and sorting out my bed.

"Do you want to keep the lantern on?" Jace asked suddenly, making me turn to face him.

I thought about this, before smiling and shaking my head. "I feel surprisingly calm, actually, so it's fine."

Jace seemed mildly shocked by this, but pushed it aside and smiled at me. Silence fell in our tent, and once I had braided my hair behind my hair, I let my head hit the pillow. Jace and I were facing different directions, but the sound of him breathing reminded me that he was there.