Love is a Losing Game

LIALG - Chapter 11

Bzzt bzzt bzzt!

The blaring of an alarm had me shooting up into a sitting position out of a dead sleep. My eyes jumped around frantically, and my heartbeat increased as I took in a room that was not my own. Only when I caught sight of blue did it begin to slow down. Well, for a moment.

Evie's eyes were wide, and her swollen, angry palms were up, weak red sparks falling from them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had tried to cast a protection ward, just in case. From the looks of it, it had failed anyway.

My heart sank at the sight of the fear that had flashed in her eyes. Was this my punishment? Was I doomed to be a perpetual danger to the people I love?

"I'm sorry; I should have turned that off," she apologized, reaching over and hitting a button on the alarm clock with her elbow. When she sat back down on Audrey's bed, her hair draped over her face, effectively hiding her expression. "How are you feeling?" she inquired, finally looking up and into my eyes.

"Never mind me, how are you feeling?" I dismissed, glancing down at her hands.

"Mal, don't do that," she chastised with a sigh. She was clearly exhausted with my behavior.

"Do what?" I asked, more bite to my tone than she deserved. This time it was me who was avoiding her gaze.

"Deflect," she clarified.

I could feel her eyes burning into my face. A sigh escaped my lips, and I concentrated on assessing how I felt. My body didn't ache, and I was quite alert. I hadn't felt this well rested in...maybe ever. "I feel...pretty good, actually. How long did I sleep?" I wondered, leaning out of the bed to look at the clock. It read six-thirty, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There was no way I felt this rejuvenated after two hours of sleep, especially following last night's events.

"It was the least I could do," Evie muttered, gazing at me with too much sincerity for this hour of the morning.

My head cocked at the comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can manipulate time, Mal. Speed it up; slow it down. I just can't stop it, or go back," she confessed sadly. "I figured you could use some extra sleep."

The way she always seemed to be immediately by my side; how she could balance homework, cheerleading, sewing, and being royal advisor; how she had managed to alter my shirt in just five minutes...it was all coming together. In fact, I felt rather stupid for not piecing it together earlier. "That...that actually makes a lot of sense," I stated, running my hand through my sleep-tousled hair. "So," I drawled. "Time manipulation, protection wards, unearthly beauty," I listed, and her lips quirked at the last one despite herself. "Any other magic I should know about?"

The smile that had appeared swiftly went back into hiding. Evie opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head and changing the subject. "Did you really have a nightmare about me?" she asked, a pained expression on her face.

My eyelashes fluttered, and my chest constricted painfully at the memories that threatened to come flooding back. In and out – I needed to breathe in and out. "No," I decided on, lowering my head and examining the pattern on her blanket. "I had a nightmare about myself; you were just in it," I whispered.

Her hands twitched, as if wanting to reach over and take mine. But with the state of her palms, Evie wouldn't be touching anything with them any time soon.

My stomach lurched with guilt at the reminder.

"Mal," she breathed, getting up from her place and moving to sit beside me on her bed. "Don't beat yourself up," she pleaded, bending over to see my face more clearly.