Page 119 of Override

These things are boring.

The response takes less than five seconds.

Taibhse:

Walk down the hallway.

My eyes immediately lift. Toward the camera. Toward the corridor beyond it.

A pulse of uncertainty moves through me.

Ronan told me to stay. The thought surfaces automatically. Then another follows it.

Ronan also told me not to leave the house. Not visit my father. Not question him. Not to wander.

Not.

Not.

Not.

I stare at the hallway. Then at the ballroom. Then at my phone. Finally I slide off the stool. My pulse quickens immediately.

Not from fear. From anticipation.

The hallway is quieter than the ballroom.

The music fading with every step.

My phone vibrates again.

Taibhse:

Right.

I stop. Look toward the intersection ahead. Then turn. Voices drift toward me.

Women's voices. Laughter. Conversation. The sound feels strangely familiar.

My phone vibrates one more time.

Taibhse:

Door on the left.

I reach it. Pause. Then push it open.

The room beyond is smaller. Private. One of the event's side lounges.

Several women stand gathered near a refreshment table. Talking. Laughing.

And standing in the middle of them—My mother.

For a second I can't breathe. She looks up and sees me.

And her entire face lights up.

"Maeve." The word leaves her like she's been hoping to see me all evening.