Chapter Four

Chapter Four

 

Realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere while she was so frustrated, she decided to try and bore herself into sleep by counting back from 1000.  She had just reached 763 and was starting to feel pretty relaxed when she heard a soft knock on her door. 

 

“Hey, Irin, you in there?” Jace called softly.

 

Irin briefly toyed with the idea of not responding and hoping he went away but decided she’d rather get this talk over with sooner than later.  “Yeah,” was all she replied.  She didn’t say she was going to make it easy for him. 

 

“Can I come in?” he asked hesitantly after a few seconds of silence.  She made him wait a few more before she got up and padded over to the door to let him in.  She didn’t wait for him to enter, instead moving back to her bed and sitting with her back against the headboard and her arms around her knees. 

        

Jace watched her warily as he gingerly perched on the edge of Nikki’s bed and faced her.  A few more loaded seconds passed before Jace finally stated, “You know we need to talk about what happened.”  He said it with no malice or judgment, only honest truth. 

 

“I know.”

 

“Look,” he started, “I don’t know what happened out there after Lance and I left, but we’re both concerned about you.”  It didn’t surprise her that he’d told his twin what had happened.  “When we left, you were going about your job like normal, and when I got back you’d run off into the forest without securing your captive, who escaped, and then you have some story about another Weaver in the forest.  I just don’t get it.” 

 

“I know you don’t,” she sighed.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  I saw what I saw.”  Though she spoke softly, Jace had no trouble picking up the firm belief behind her words. 

 

“Did you…are you sure you didn’t…ugh,” he groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.  If ever there were a sentence that could spark Irin’s wrath, it was one suggesting she was crazy.  “You didn’t hit your head or anything right?”  His eyes pleaded with her to see he only meant well, but she couldn’t help the way her eyebrows contracted in anger.  He continued hastily, pleading, “No, no, come on, please.  You know I have to ask.  You’re my baby sister, and I need make sure you’re ok.”

 

Irin took a deep breath to calm her innate defensive response because she knew that his words were true.  She closed her eyes and took another breath just for good measure.  “No, I’m fine,” she said, opening her eyes after a few seconds.  “No blows to the head, no traumatic injuries.  As far as I can tell, I got out of there scot free, except…” she trailed off, clenching her hand.

 

Jace’s eyes widened in alarm.  “Except what?  What’s wrong?” he questioned, leaning toward her with a look in his eye that clearly said he was debating whether or not he should whisk her off to the hospital wing. 

Irin let out a chuckle at the mental image she had of him trying to whisk her anywhere.  One thing was sure: the entire building would hear how she felt about it.  “Oh, calm down,” she said with some mirth from that mental image still in her voice, “I should probably just put some ice on my hand is all.” 

 

Jace didn’t look as less inclined to whisk her off as she’d hoped.  “Why, what happened?”

 

“Let’s just say that Stealer had one hard head.”

 

He finally sat back, deciding that her cracking jokes was the best indicator of her wellbeing that he was going to get.  “At least you flattened him,” he conceded with a small smile.  Irin smirked at the memory, and they lapsed into a tense silence, knowing that they hadn’t actually solved anything yet.  Finally, Jace was the one to break it.  “I don’t like this,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“You and me both.”  She leaned her head back against the headboard to look at the ceiling. 

 

“I’ve either got to believe that some rogue Weaver led my sister on a merry chase through a 1430s Irish forest or that my sister has started hallucinating for no apparent reason.  Neither is exactly an appealing prospect.” 

 

She exhaled forcefully.  “Well, look at it this way.  I’m the one that might be crazy, so in the end, you’ll come out on top.”  She tried to make it sound humorous, but it was a lackluster effort. 

 

He didn’t seem amused either.  “Do you think you’re crazy?” he asked seriously. 

 

“No,” she replied, looking him straight in the eye, “I know what I saw, and I didn’t imagine him.  I even tried to jump his Weave as he got away.  I just have no idea who the hell he was.”  Frustrated, she put her head in her hands. 

 

“I hope you’re right,” he said quietly as he stood off the bed and came over to give her a hug.  “Whatever happens, you know you can always come to me and Lance, right?” he asked as he patted her on the back and then drew away. 

 

She chuckled as she resituated herself into sitting Indian style.  “As if I would ever have to come to you,” she joked.  “Every time I turn around you guys are there keeping an eye on me.”  She didn’t say it bitterly, because in truth, she didn’t mind; they were good about not getting involved unless it was absolutely necessary.  

 

Jace laughed with her, but not for long.  “Look, I’m going to keep this out of the write up, but I need you to do something for me.”

 

Irin immediately grew wary.  “What?”

 

“We’re out of the rotation until Wednesday, so just take the next few days off,” he told her, “please.”

 

“But �"” she started to protest, but he cut her off.

 

“No, no buts.  You know that if I put it in the report, the Commander will have you shipped down to medical faster than you can say fuzzy bunny.  I don’t want to put you through that, but I will if I have to.”  Her glare could have melted icebergs.  “Just take it easy and catch up on some reading or watch movies with Nikki or something,” he suggested. 

 

She made sure her scornful look told him exactly how she felt about those suggestions.  “Come on, don’t you think this is a little overkill?  I already told you, I’m fine.”

 

“I know, but just do this for me.  It can’t hurt to be sure you’re fine, and a few days of relaxation are healthy every now and then anyway.”  Seeing that she wasn’t done protesting, he continued, “You know I’m not going to take no for an answer.” 

 

Irin knew she’d lost before she’d even started.  This was big brother Jace at his best, which was currently also his worst.  “Alright fine,” she groaned in exasperation, “but I hope you know I’m going to go insane!”

 

He grinned at her.  “Well, look at it this way,” he repeated her words back, “you might already be insane, so at least you’ll get two days of peace before they lock you up and throw out the key,” he teased as he bolted for the door.  He wasn’t fast enough, though, because before he could get it open, a pillow hit him squarely in the back. 

 

“That doesn’t make it any better!” she cried at his retreating figure.

 

“Be that as it may, you’re taking the days off, and don’t think we won’t catch you if you try to sneak off,” he told her with his body safely on the other side of the door and only his head stuck through the crack. 

 

“I hate you.  You know that right?” she asked sullenly, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

“I’m sure.  I’ll be back to check on you later.”  And with that, he pulled the door shut behind him.  She knew it was as much a threat as it was a promise. 

 

Irin had just settled down into a good, solid pout over this unexpected change of events when she heard Nikki entering her code and letting herself in.  Once inside, she flounced over to her nightstand to set down her purse before she turned and noticed Irin.

 

“Oh, hey!” she exclaimed happily, “I didn’t see you there.”  Well, obviously, Irin thought as she fought her eye roll.  She didn’t want to subject Nikki to her foul mood.  “Any excitement at work today?”

 

Irin briefly wondered if her brunette roommate knew exactly what not to say.  “Nope, pretty normal stuff,” she lied through her teeth.  “How about you?”  Seeing as Nikki was one of the librarians for the endless number of texts the Company had acquired over the years, Irin was pretty sure she already knew the answer. 

 

“Well, we did have a class visit from the second years, and one of the boys managed to knock over an entire stack of sorted twelfth century manuscripts, but that was about it,” Nikki replied as she sat on the bed and slipped off her heels.  This was a prime example of why Irin and Nikki just weren’t on the same page.  Irin was sure that she would go insane living a life where the most exciting thing to happen during the day was a stack of manuscripts falling over, but it seemed to suit Nikki just fine. 

 

They lapsed into silence as Nikki headed into the bathroom to change.  Upon emerging, she went immediately to the closet to hang up her work clothes.  “So do you have any fun plans for tonight?” she asked as she slid the closet door shut.

 

Irin wondered briefly if this was Nikki’s covert way of seeing if she could have her boyfriend over that night.  “Actually I think I’m just going to have a quiet night in,” she replied, inwardly cursing Jace to high hell for her imprisonment. 

 

“Oh hey, me too!” Nikki squealed.  “Brian’s got the night shift tonight �"”  Oh, that’s his name, Irin thought, “�" so I was thinking of ordering a pizza and having a movie night.  Do you want to join me?”  Nikki looked at her with excited brown eyes that went perfectly with her chocolate colored hair. 

 

Irin, wanted to say no, she really did, but she didn’t exactly have a lot of options.  It was either sit through hours of romantic comedies, attempt to read or try and find shapes in the plaster on the ceiling, none of which was appealing.  The movies, however, wound up being the least unappealing, so she found herself saying, “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

 

Nikki’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Really?  Oh my gosh, it’s going to be so much fun!”  Yep, there was that squeal again.  It was going to be a long night. 

 

Irin wasn’t sure how she survived the next two days.  Every moment she kept praying that a call would miraculously come in and her brothers would have to let her go, but one never came.  Thus she was left to movies, reading, watching people spar in the gym and other such meaningless activities.  Of course her brothers came by a few times during the day, but they were pretty busy and couldn’t stay for long.  The only time she really saw much of them was in the evenings when they would bring food up and hang out with her. 

 

She was currently in the process of seriously contemplating taking up Feng Shui and reorganizing the furniture in the room when there was a knock at her door.  Thankful for any distraction, she practically wrenched it open. 

 

Lance stood on the other side, grinning and bearing a bag in each hand.  “The fun, my dear, has arrived,” he proclaimed. 

 

“Oh, thank goodness!” Irin exclaimed and threw her arms around him in a hug, causing him to stumble back a step. 

 

“Have you missed me that much?” he asked in his usual cocky manner as she pulled back. 

 

She took a step back to let him in.  “You have no idea how bored I’ve been.  I’ve was contemplating taking up Feng Shui before you got here.”

 

“Well, as delightful as that sounds, I think I’ve got something better for you to do.  In bag number one,” he stated, lifting his right arm, “we have the greasy, fatty, amazing delicacies known as Chinese takeout, and in bag number two,” he lifted his left arm, “we have Monopoly, the best game known to man, and we are going to eat ourselves into a coma while trying to take over the world with our entrepreneurial prowess!” he proclaimed dramatically. 

 

Irin was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.  “I frickin love you.  You know that right?”

 

“I know,” he replied as he set the bags down on the table in the corner.  “Feel free to tell me how awesome I am as many times as you like.”  He gave her a cheeky grin.

 

“Don’t push your luck,” she laughed and went to help him unload cardboard containers from bag number one.  “Damn, did you buy out the whole store?” she asked incredulously as she removed the seventh container. 

 

“Two words: food coma,” he replied as he opened the Monopoly box and laid the board out on the floor.  “I’m the iron!” he claimed and snatched the little metal piece out of the box before she could say anything.

 

“You a*s!  You know I’m always the iron!” 

 

“Not tonight you aren’t!” he chortled. 

 

She chucked a fortune cookie at his head and got him right in the temple, but it only made him laugh harder.  “You know what?  Fine, but only because you were nice enough to come visit me in captivity.” 

 

Two hours, ten hotels, thirteen houses, four property arguments and a whole hell of a lot of Chinese food later, Jace arrived outside her door to Irin yelling. 

 

“Just because you’re the banker doesn’t mean you can pluck $500s out of the bank whenever you want!” 

 

“Well then, I guess you’re just going to have to win the bank next time!”

 

“You b*****d, that’s cheating!” 

 

“Hey, stop throwing food at me!”

 

“Then stop cheating!” 

 

Jace decided it was a good time to knock and interrupt them before it got worse, but it didn’t help much.

 

“Aren’t you going to get the door?”

 

“You get it.”

 

“It’s you’re room.”

 

“You’re closer!”

 

“So?” There was a pause.  “You got it in my hair!”

 

“Get the door or I throw more.”

 

A few seconds later the door opened to reveal Lance picking bits of what looked like chow mein and some unidentified meat out of his hair and off his shirt.  Jace practically salivated.  “Please tell me there’s more food in here.  I’m starved!” 

 

Lance pointed to the open containers on the table across the room.  “Help yourself if you can get past Miss Grumpy Pants here.”  Irin scowled at him. 

 

“Awesome!” Jace exclaimed and he hurriedly stepped over Irin to get to the table.  He didn’t even bother with a plate, instead snatching up the half-filled container of kung pao chicken and a pair of chopsticks.  “So,” he said after he’d had a few bites, “who’s winning?” 

 

“I am!” they each claimed and then turned to glare at each other. 

 

“I see,” Jace said disbelievingly.  “Alright, clear the board.  I want in,” he ordered as he stepped back over Irin and sat on the floor between the beds. 

 

Irin wasted no time clearing all the plastic pieces off the board.  “You have to be banker, though,” she told Jace.  He didn’t argue.

 

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