Page 173 of Cerulean Truth
“What the actual fuck, Julian?” I snarled, using his Eldername. There would be no more Martin for me.
“You’re cursing now? James is rubbing off on you.” He smiled sadly.
“You think this is funny? You left us in the middle of a fight!” I was yelling. I hadn’t intended to, but with all the emotions coursing through me, yelling was all I had. “Why? Why the hell would you do that?”
“Because there was only one way for us to get out of Alliance alive, and I had to go procure it!” He didn’t yell back, but his voice was raised.
“Procure? What−”
“You need to ask James to lift the bubble on this cabin,” he interrupted me.
My eyebrow shot up. “And am I graced with any explanation as to why?”
“Because the United Chiefs are standing outside, after having eliminated the rest of the Board.”
I stilled. “What? The United Chiefs are here?”
He nodded. “They are on our side. They’ve just finished rounding up the remaining Board members and forced them to lift the bubble. But they can’t get into this cabin; James has to lift his bubble.”
“James is…” I swallowed. The words stuck in my throat, making it hard to breathe. “Hurt.”
Julian blinked. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” a voice snarled behind us. I pivoted quickly, finding James clutching Maurice as they approached us. “I’ll be even better after I’ve strangled you to death with your own dick. You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face here again.”
I hurried over to him, supporting him before his body could give out.
“Why didn’t you keep him in bed?” I sneered at Maurice, my voice filled with worry.
“You want to try keeping him there? Be my guest.”
My eyes found James’s. “Just let it go for now. We’ll talk about this later,” I pleaded.
James’s gaze hardened. “Let it go?Let it go? What, like I’m some godsdamn Disney character from Frozen?He left us in the middle of battle!”
I had no idea where his voice got that kind of strength because he looked like he was about to drop dead any second. I growled, taking a page from James. “Will you calm down and go back upstairs before you fucking die on me?”
James’s eyes widened at my curse. Maurice gasped a little, and I rolled my eyes at their exaggerated response. “Oh come on, it’s not like I’ve been Princess Proper until now.”
James’s rebuttal was lost when his legs gave out. I nearly screamed.
“James, lift the godsdamn bubble so we can portal you home!” Maurice yelled, still supporting James’s entire weight while I feverishly checked his side. The bandages holding his wound were darkening quickly with an almost cardinal color.
“James!” I whimpered pleadingly. “Please!”
James’s eyes were closing, but he took a deep breath and conjured up his beautiful cerulean haze.
The next few minutes happened so quickly, I could barely catch my breath. Maurice portaled out with Maria and James, yelling at Julian to portal me out.
The United Chiefs barged in, and I quickly explained Dale’s death, asking them to delay the rest of our conversation until after James and Maria recovered. They granted my request and took Dale’s body with them.
Julian grabbed my arm and portaled us to Cyclos, arriving two steps from my dorm.
As soon as my feet landed on firm ground, I wrestled my arm free from his grip and shot him a glare, unwilling to release my anger just yet.
“Take me to James. Now!” I demanded.
Julian shook his head. “Maurice has taken James and Maria to the Basilica. He'll let us know when they're ready for us. But before then, I need to talk to you.”
