Page 157 of Cerulean Truth
"To our first date," I clinked her glass after translating our drinks and some tapas.
After toasting and taking a sip, she called me out immediately on my bullshit.
"I thought you couldn't date me as long as Martin—sorry, Julian—was here? Thought you had too much to do?"
Oh the irony.
"Turns out he's a lot less time-consuming than I expected," I replied dryly.
She wrinkled her nose, a tic she had that I thought was cute, buying herself some time before responding.
"You seem..." she started off hesitantly, "disturbed by his presence."
That was a very diplomatic way of putting it.
I let out a deep sigh. "I don't know, Emma. I just... I don't trust the guy. I don't trust the situation we find ourselves in. I mean, he's the Elder. He's like magi royalty. The chances of him and I meeting in my first cycle were slim to none, and now he portals into Cyclos, claiming to want to fix the Great Exposure, to ‘keep the peace’ or whatever bullshit story he’s telling next. He arrives right after you’ve been discovered and then, it turns out you've known the guy half your life? You don't find that a little strange?"
She bit her lip. "I do actually... I tried to ask him about it this morning even, but he brushed it off as coincidental..."
I huffed. "And you believe him?"
She bit her lip again.
"I want to... I'm going to choose to believe him. I have no reason to doubt him. It's a little strange, and maybe he has an ulterior motive, but who's to say his motives are bad?"
"Well, I'm not going to join you in your very naïve approach. I don't trust the guy, and I'll find out what he's up to," I said, biting off my words with annoyance.
"Naïve?" Her lips thinned, and she straightened her back.
When Emma got angry, it was like watching a documentary on a predatory species—like a lion getting ready to chase after agazelle and tear its head off. Her entire body language started to look ominous and threatening.
"I don't want to fight, Emma. I'm just worried."
"I don't see why you'd have any reason to be." She was getting under my skin, and she knew it.
I kept my clenched fist under the table, trying to hide the struggle of containing my anger yet again. "I just told you," I answered impatiently.
"Well, I'm not agreeing with you," she bit back.
"Fine," I stood up, ready to leave. "Ignore the signs all you want but know that I have no issue whatsoever killing him off if he so much as looks at you the wrong way!"
"You're leaving?" she gasped, her eyes widening in surprise with a hint of hurt, but mostly anger.
I frowned. "You want me to stay?"
She shrugged, sadness clear in her eyes, and my heart sank.I’m a selfish bastard.
"You're putting me on edge," I whispered, explaining my weird behavior.
Her smile grew. "I thought that was what I did best."
I returned her smile, caressing her cheek but not sitting back down.
"I'm drained, Emma. I'm turning in. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, but tonight was a bad idea."
Her face fell, and I felt like a bigger bastard than ever. But I had to get out of there and clear my head. Was there a reason for me to be paranoid about Julian, or was it just some case of ill-tempered jealousy?
Emma’s eyes narrowed. “Just so you know, next time you pretend to ask me out, just to get me away from anyone, I’m stabbing you where it will really hurt,” she threatened and I grinned at her cute attempt at being evil.
