Page 201 of Cerulean Truth
Fuck. She pushed me away…
I couldn't bring myself to let her go entirely, though, and I asked, "Are you okay?" while still holding her in my arms.
Examining her face, I tried to discern any sign of hurt, but at first glance, she appeared to be fine.
"I'm all right," she said a little cold and detached, which I tried to ignore. She was obviously still mad at me for leaving but addressing that had to wait until I made sure she was genuinely okay.
"What happened? " I stared into her eyes, trying to make her see how worried I was. How much I cared.
But she averted her eyes.
"James, I'm tired, not to mention whiplashed from you breathing hot and cold all the time. I was asleep, and I would like to continue that if you don't mind. You've been gone for three days without so much as a text message, so I don't see why this can't wait until tomorrow."
Shit. This wasn’t good at all. She was still pissed with a capital letter P, my attempts at heroics notwithstanding.
"Emma, I'm sorry..." I started off, but she raised her hand and halted me.
"Please, James. I've had a very long day, please. Tomorrow."
I didn't want to leave it like that. I wanted to talk it all out then and there, and impatience gnawed at me. But she had beenhurt and if she needed sleep, wanted to sleep, I had to respect that.
"Fine," I conceded reluctantly. "We'll talk tomorrow."
She nodded and practically pushed me back out of her room. When the door closed in front of me without so much as a goodnight, I closed my eyes, realizing how much I had fucked up.
The dayafter yet another failed attempt on Emma’s life, she nexed me and asked me to come meet her. I portaled in within two seconds, feelings of guilt eating me alive.
"Emma," I breathed, relief flooding my system. My heart raced at the sight of her. I was so in love with this girl.
"We need to talk," she said as dryly as possible, attempting to maintain some distance between us.
"Yes, we do," I replied, closing my eyes for a second. "I need to tell you how sorry I am—not only about leaving without so much as a goodbye but for not contacting you after I left. Someone messed up my Nexus, but I should've found a way, and I'm so sorry you had to go through that shit..."
"Is that all you're apologizing for?" she asked sharply.
I frowned, clearly confused by her question.
"Should I apologize for something else? I know you don't like my opinion of Julian, but him helping me find you doesn't change the fact that I don't trust him. Even more so, as I still don't understand how he was able to locate you outside of Cyclos that fast," I muttered.
She rolled her eyes. "This isn't about Julian for a change; this is about Eliot."
"Eliot who?" I asked carefully.
"Eliot Campbell? Your friend on the Council?"
I had no idea where she was going with this. What the fuck had Eliot to do with anything?
"Oh gods," she gasped, sinking down on her bed.
"What? What, Emma? Talk to me. What about Eliot?"
And then she told me, she told me about the so-called blood testing, the DNA, the adoption—everything.
I could feel all the blood leave my face.
"So that's why I left; I wanted to visit my parents," she concluded, becoming aware of my distress.
I got up immediately, my hand trembling as I reached for my Nexus.
