Page 114 of Cerulean Truth
“Fuck Emma.” An almost hysterical sensation overwhelmed me. She was in danger, and I was the only one who could protect her.
Bursting through the gates of the Universitas, I ran through the four Palaces at warp speed, thanking my lucky stars I knew their hallways like the back of my hand. It took me another five and half minutes to arrive at the library. My eyes scanned the room frantically, trying to locate the Emma.
There! Near the window! Relief flooded my system like never before.
It didn’t even occur to me to call out for her, I just ran up to her, wanting to get my hands on her before anyone could tear her away from me again.
She looked up as I blasted through the doors, her eyes widening in surprise.
TWENTY-NINE
EMMA
After my talk with Jackson, I went and sat down in the library, staring blankly at the wall, my mind racing with all this new intel on James. The man I had… The man I was… I sighed, unable to bring closure to those unfinished sentences just yet.
What I did understand with unsettling clarity was that James was a stone-cold killer. I also realized Enya had tried to warn me about him for that exact reason. Hadn’t she said all Offensives were basically assassins? Then why was I so shocked to find out James had killed so many people?
A whirlwind of chaotic thoughts danced through my mind as I tried to make sense of it all.
I revisited every shared moment, scouring for signs, any subtle hints that might have betrayed his concealed life. He had been moody and distant, sure, but always in control. The epitome of control, even. Clearly, beneath that facade, there was more darkness than I had ever imagined.
As I grappled with this newfound knowledge, a part of me yearned to distance myself from him, to escape the danger that encircled him. But another part of me, a part I had only recently discovered, whispered into the depths of my soul. It reminded me of my own darkness, the secrets I held, the shadows thatlurked within me, and the spilled blood on my hands. How could I pass judgment when I, too, battled my own demons?
No wonder he’d never given me any crap about “Kevin.”
I began to comprehend his insistence on me mastering control over my abilities. Perhaps he feared I would tread the same path of death and destruction he had experienced.
We were more alike than I could have ever imagined...
He understood my darkness to its core. His tenebrosity may have eclipsed mine but both were cut from the same cloth.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to find clarity amidst the chaos.
The truth was this revelation didn't change who James was as a person. He was still the same man, the same infuriating man who made my heart beat faster, simply by showing up.
He and I had our own paths, our own secrets, and our own ways of coping with the obscurity which resided within us. His happened to be a dangerous one, but it didn't define him entirely. It was a part of him, just as my own was a part of me.
With a newfound resolve, I made a decision. I would not let his background dictate my feelings for him. However unclear those still were.
Before I could properly conclude my musings about James and his indecipherable actions, a large figure burst into the library, making me jump up instantly and take on a fighting stance.
"James!" I exclaimed, utterly surprised, when my mind finally caught up to his identity. “What are you doing here?”
“You need to come with me,” he commanded, his breath ragged as if he had just run a marathon, his eyes so dark that the green was nearly entirely swallowed by his intense, black irises.
“Why?” I asked, frowning.
“Because I’m telling you to,” he spoke impatiently.
“Do you remember what I told you about ordering me around?” I asked deeply annoyed with his tone, choosing to overlook the alarming state he was in.
His jaw tightened. “This is not the time to argue. Grab some overnight stuff in your dorm if you must but do it quickly and follow me.Now.”
I arched an eyebrow defiantly and folded my arms. If he thought I would comply when spoken to in that tone, he was sorely mistaken.
With a single shake of his head, he crossed the room in only two large strides.
"You…” he seethed, grabbing my arm, “are an infuriatingly stubborn pain in my ass!"
