Tom guides all of us past the front desk and over to the elevator. We all pack into the elevator like a can of sardines, and Tom pushes the tenth floor button. James is located on the highest floor.
Fancy.
Piling out of the elevator, we all turn to Tom for guidance. He’s the only one that knows which room belongs to James. We follow him down the hallway and to the right. Stopping in front of the room at the end of the hall, Tom steps forward and knocks on the door. I glance up at Colton, who has yet to say anything since we arrived here. He’s very tense and glaring straight at the unopened door with a clenched jaw and the hand not holding mine balled into a fist. “Relax,” I whisper to him. His eyes flicker down to me but return back to the door shortly afterward.
The door opens, and James is standing there, staring at all of us with sleep laden eyes, shocked at our sudden appearance. No one informed him that we were coming. Rubbing his eyes, he leans against the doorframe. “Tom?” he asks. I look down at the carpet, trying not to blush. James is standing in the doorway only wearing flannel pants. I look over and see Emma and Natalie doing similar things. I may not like James very much, but there’s no refuting his attractiveness.
“Can we talk to you?” he asks.
Without saying anything, James steps away from the door and walks back into a room off to the side. Tom looks back at the rest of us, shrugs, and enters his apartment. When we are all in the room, James comes back out of the room, dressed in a pair of black jeans and fitted black t-shirt. Do mages ever wear bright colors? Goodness, all the guys dress so dark all the time.
“Since none of you really like me, I’m assuming this is important.” His eyes scan all of us before they stop on me. “Ryanne, always lovely to see you.”
Colton growls at him. I bite my lip to hide my smile. It’s weird, but I find it incredibly sexy when Colton does that. James’s eyes move down to our laced hands. I swear I see him smile, but it leaves as quickly as it came. What is going on?
“Ahh, I see some new faces in your group,” James says while looking at Natalie. She flinches and takes a step toward Liam.
“James, this is Conner, Natalie, and Kyril,” Tom introduces everyone. “I believe you’ve met everyone else.”
James sits down in a chair and faces everyone else in the room. Since we’re all standing around awkwardly, I decide to take control of the situation. This was my idea after all. I let go of Colton’s hand and walk toward James. Colton exhales loudly and reaches for me, but I throw up a shield so he can’t. David scoffs, and Colton grunts, but no one says anything.
“James, where is Phillip?” I ask.
“I honestly don’t know—probably helping Dravin do something. We got into this argument about you vs. Dravin, and he picked Dravin. So he left. I haven’t spoken to him since that fight at the house.”
“So, you know he’s working with the Gadramicks?” I drop the shield. James isn’t going to try anything. I trust him.
“I had a feeling. He’s always been a little angry at everything. He doesn’t think that you’re capable of accomplishing what the prophecy claims. He sees a small girl with magic and not much training. The prophecy doesn’t say how you’ll put an end to the war. It doesn’t have to be in a fight. There are many ways to end a conflict. Though, I’ve seen you fight. You have a lot of potential, and I’m sure you’ve come a long way since I saw you last.”
“Phillip attacked her, and she knocked him out…twice,” Liam says behind me. I turn around and smile at him briefly, before returning my attention back to James.
“Serves him right. I’ve experienced a little bit of your magic myself,” he says. “Sorry about your wrist.”
“Breaking my wrist must run in the family,” I mumble as I step back toward Colton, who is still glaring at James. Wait, did he just apologize to me? What the heck is going on? I narrow my eyes at James, and he smiles at me. I must be catching onto something.
James winks at me before getting up and walking toward Natalie, who is now standing off to the side. She stands up straighter the closer he gets to her. James glances at Liam briefly before reaching out and grabbing Natalie around the waist, crushing her to him. She squeals and tries to push away from him. Conner jumps up, but before anyone can react, Liam punches James square in the jaw.
James lets go of Natalie and grabs his jaw. Liam’s grey eyes darken as an angered look crosses his face. I run and jump in front of James before Liam can do anything.
“You’re protecting him, now?” Colton says.