The Necklace: The Trial Realm

Chapter Fifteen: Someone Is Always Watching

"Holy crap."

I nod slowly, still peeking around the little alcove Oliver and I had hidden in.

"I know."

I'd gone head first into my story of Serge giving me a break to let me get out some frustrations on a nice run that turned not nice fast when a werewolf jumped out and tried to kill us. Oliver had remained completely quiet throughout the whole story, his face a mask of detachment that made it much easier to quickly blurt out everything I wanted to say.

"How did it feel?" He asks, rubbing his chin with the backside of his hand.

It wasn't a question I'd been ready for. I was waiting for him to freak out or threaten to tell or at the least ask if I was ok, but not to ask me how it felt. I'd not even considered it.

"It felt..." I start, unsure where I'm going with it. "I guess it felt natural. The fighting him part anyway. It was the first time I really dropped back into that mindset I used to keep at home, always watching everything and everyone. I felt in control of myself again, instead of controlled." I felt my cheeks warm at my lame speech, but Oliver only looks down at me with a weird intensity in his eyes. Like he's talking, without saying a word...but then he does speak, and it's just as confusing.

"Never drop that guard." He tells me quickly. "Stay in that mindset you're talking about. Only it can save you."

I just stare at him for what feels way too long before he turns to glance up the hall himself. I use that brief moment out from under the scrutiny of his gaze to wipe away the chills his words had formed on my arms. Save me from what? The dangerous of this realm as a Custode...or something else?

When his eyes found my face again, they were light, his jaw relaxed and his posture straight and even. "You really are amazing, you know that?"

"I-uh, what?"

He chuckles lightly at my discomfort. "I mean, you do realize what you did, right?" When I just continue to stare at him, he smiles, laying his hand on my right shoulder, his thumb rubbing back and forth slowly. "You saved a very important man's life. You took on a werewolf with absolutely no training at it and you won."

My tongue felt too big in my mouth and my brain just kept thinking of the way he was touching me. It felt...more than just a friendly pat on the shoulder. And suddenly this hidden little alcove felt way too hidden and way too small.

"Well, I, uh," I stumble over my words, using the ploy that I'm checking for people again to step just out from under his hand. "I wouldn't say I won, not once he went all furry fury on me."

Oliver's light chuckle echoes in the small space and stupid me, it makes me smile. "You still tried. And as a Newb with no supernatural training, I'd take that as a win. You should be proud of yourself, Mal. It's a big deal. You faced your first battle and you haven't even completed the first week of bootcamp yet." There's a proud twinkle in his eyes, but then he looks away. "It's no wonder you were chosen for our group."

"As a peacemaker." I scoff, trying to be relaxed.

Oliver rolls his stunningly blue eyes. "Look at it this way, that werewolf wanted to make war between his gun and Serge's head. You didn't let that happen, so therefore..."

"I kept the peace." I say mockingly. "Still not the same."

"Anyway, that isn't what I meant." He brushes it off. "I meant you being a badass is why you were chosen for our team. Only the strongest teams stay in The Hub. You're one of them for a reason."