Greys III - Revelations

Chapter 39 - Broken Pieces

That first night was uneventful, as were the next several. No sinister dreams, no visits from James' father, not even any conversations of note. And though it was strange, sharing Malachi's room became a routine. James and I would go across the hall late each evening once the Vault's corridors were mainly empty. Sometimes Malachi would already be in his room, sometimes he wouldn't be. Sometimes he would show up in the middle of the night after he was satisfied or exhausted with whatever solo-training he had been filling his time with, sometimes he didn't come back at all, opting to stay awake all night in a library or forested area or gym or cafeteria.

On the nights he wasn't there, James worked with me on my Sight, helping guide me through the cavernous Vault and search out Malachi. More than once, I watched him until I fell asleep - him training or studying or eating. He was often eating. Something about watching him was calming to me. Though I knew he was anything but calm-inducing.

When Malachi was in his room, he wasn't nearly as willing to talk as he had been on our first night, only giving brief replies to James but shutting down anything resembling a real conversation. And though his personality and ego hadn't changed, his needling or inappropriate remarks, his predatory smirks, and winks, or even his relentless attempts to fling unpleasant emotions on us, I felt like he was different somehow. He seemed more calculating, like he was planning something, watching, waiting.

Maybe he was just bored. He had a lot of time to himself, and with no one telling him what to do, no missions or targets or other duties from his master, there wasn't much for him at the Vault. And he didn't strike me as the type who knew how to do nothing well. His constant training, practicing, and studying made that apparent. It seemed every time I sought him out with my sight, he was working weapons or just his own strength, sometimes for days straight. It was like he didn't want to slow down for fear he'd feel something or think something outside of strength and violence and blood.

James and I didn't return to our schedule, though we saw some of our tutors on our own. I sparred with Prey and Parish once, saw Katz and Zodi briefly, and walked in the woods with Levi almost daily. But mainly, I spent my days training with my Clan, something that felt so rare and new after all our time apart. Kael and Nevaeh, James, and I spent hours everyday training and talking, becoming reacquainted with each other, and wrapping our minds around all the truths James shared. His father, his childhood and past, our powers and connections, the prophecy and what it could mean, our future.

To his credit, James never shied away from answering Kael's ocean of questions. And when Nevaeh spoke up, he answered those too, not sugar-coated or in a positive light, he just told them the truth, every time, no matter how damning it was. No matter how it made him look. That was what built our Clan again - his truth and honesty. Our sparring and time together helped, but James was the one who mended what had been broken. We had fallen apart because of lies, I suppose it is only made sense that we would be rebuilt by the opposite. And just as my forgiveness had helped James, his health and mind, I could see his improvements as our family came together again too.

He was gaining his weight back, he looked stronger, and he could eat and sleep regularly again. I caught the ghost of a smile on his face more than once when Kael would crack a joke, when Nevaeh would say something kind, sometimes just when he was in his own head. He looked serene in those times, and I liked his soft smiles.

Time stretched on at the Vault without a single sighting of Abby. And I couldn't decide if he was giving us time to calm down from our turbulent first days back, or if he was giving himself time to calm down. But I started to miss him and feel guilty for my anger toward him, even for what James and Malachi had done to Grayson. James hadn't experienced any consequences from the collar yet either, as he wasn't an actual danger to anyone in the Vault.