Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (15 page)

Emil didn’t look at me as he responded in a sharp voice, “That’s quite a demand from the girl who wouldn’t tell me why she was pissed off earlier.”

I was fuming. If he wanted a fight, he was going to get one, and I didn’t care how hurt he was by it. “You want to know why I was mad?” My voice was low and callous. “Yesterday you informed me that you’re still in love with another girl. I don’t know why you’re in a relationship with me when I’m obviously not what you want and you’re just waiting for someone else to take you back.” I watched as his face turned from dark to shocked. “Since you’re having such a difficult time expressing your emotions to me today, let me make this easy for you. I refuse to be your second choice. We’re done.” I grabbed my purse from my lap and got out of the car, slamming the door shut.

I could see Emil’s still stunned face through the windshield and I walked with authority to my front door. I expected Emil to get out of the car and try to stop me, but he didn’t. I unlocked the door, walked inside, and locked it behind me. I was surprisingly calm considering I had just broken up with another boyfriend.

I put my purse down and walked aimlessly around the house, trying to get my mind off the theater and the demise of Evie and Emil. I finally settled on the couch playing the argument back in my mind. That wasn’t how I intended our relationship conversation to go. During the movie I had planned it out, ending with something like, I want to be your friend, but think we both need to work through some things. Now, I wasn’t sure I even wanted Emil’s friendship. The way he had looked at Alex was dark, almost evil. I didn’t ever want Emil to look at me that way.

I must have fallen asleep while my mind tried to muddle through everything that had happened, because I woke to a knock on the door. I knew it would be Emil, trying to talk to me or change my mind. Maybe I’d overreacted by ending our relationship, but I didn’t want to deal with the drama right now. I let the knocking continue hoping that he would get the hint and go away. After ten minutes though, the knocking didn’t stop and I decided it would be easier to answer it.

I dragged myself to the door and unlocked it. I braced myself for confronting Emil and threw open the door to find—Alex.

Chapter 11

My face registered the shock as Alex’s gaze looked me over, assessing my demeanor. “Evie, are you okay?” He didn’t seem to think I should be.

I nodded.

Alex looked at me intently. “Can I come in?”

I nodded again, suspicion in my gaze. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, or why he was here. He walked to the couch and sat down as I shut the door and stood by a chair in the corner.

“Don’t you want to sit down?” he motioned to the chair next to me.

“I’m fine,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “What are you doing here, Alex?”

He waited a moment, choosing his words. “After the . . . altercation, at the theater, I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

He looked up at me and I held his eyes. “What happened back there?” I sincerely hoped
someone
would finally give me an answer.

Alex exhaled an exasperated breath. “Evie, when you started spending time with Emil I told you to be careful. He is more than he seems.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked. I was upset and weary with the less-than-informative answers I was receiving from everyone.

“He doesn’t have your best interest at heart,” Alex answered.

I threw my arms in the air. “I’m sick of everyone always being so cryptic!”

Alex was quiet for a moment. “I’m aware it’s frustrating for you.”

“You have no idea!” I fumed. I was past the point of understanding and being nice. At that moment, all the rage I had when Alex left, the unanswered questions, flooded back to me.

Alex sighed, his expression tight. “If we’re going to do this, you need to sit down.” I eyed him warily as he motioned toward the chair next to the couch. I eventually sat. When Alex seemed satisfied I wasn’t going to move, he said, “Evie, you have more history than you think you do.” I stared at him. “I know you better than you realize.”

This wasn’t making any more sense than the things Alex had already told me. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “One month of dating doesn’t make you an Evie expert.” I was bothered that he was acting like he knew me better than I knew myself.

He seemed saddened at the mention of our past relationship. He forced the frown from his face, got up, walked toward me, and leaned forward until I could feel his breath tingling on my cheek as he whispered, “There are things you haven’t thought of in
centuries
.”

I waited for the joke, then realized he was serious. Apparently our break up had turned him into a raving lunatic. I should probably be flattered. “Really Alex, you don’t have to act like an immature kid. It’s fine if you want to see me again, but next time, just say so instead of making up asinine stories.”

Alex looked exasperated. “I am
trying
to help. Emil is not who you think he is.” I wrinkled my brow in suspicion, but Alex continued anyway, “He is
extremely
dangerous.”

“Yeah. You’ve mentioned that before,” I said. “What you didn’t tell me was how you know he’s dangerous, and why should I trust you?”

“I know because . . .” he drew his lips back, clearly debating whether to continue, “because I’ve seen things.”

A short laugh burst from my mouth. Great. My insane ex-boyfriend was having visions now too. Maybe we could discuss the dream-like things I’d seen and compare notes.

My disbelief didn’t seem to sway him. “I wanted to wait to tell you all this,” he said. “I didn’t want you to have to deal with it, at least, not so soon. And I still can’t tell you everything.”

“Deal with what?” I said through my teeth. I wanted to scream.

“That day I saw the man in the park . . . the one with the red web mark on his arm,” he paused to see if I remembered. I nodded. “The web is a scar that indicates the man belongs to a group Emil is associated with. I knew the man’s presence here might mean Emil was going to show up soon, but we haven’t had a problem with Emil’s . . . group for several years, so I hoped I was wrong. Emil showed up a few weeks ago. He didn’t waste any time letting you know of his interest in you. I knew he had been sent to find you.” Alex’s face was almost tragic as he explained.

I tilted my head and thinned my eyes. I was pretty sure Alex had gone nuts. “You’re losing your mind. Groups, delusions, and visions—you need a good psychiatrist and some drugs.” I was pissed off and continued, “For clarification purposes: you think that because a new guy at school paid attention to me, the apocalypse is about to take place?” I was seething, mad at Alex, Emil—and the whole situation.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Don’t overreact. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I’m saying Emil has ulterior motives.”

I leaned back in my chair, lacing my hands over my stomach. I gave him a calculating look. “All right. Say I believe your crazy story. You said you’ve seen things, so what exactly have you seen?”

He shook his head. “I can’t answer that.”

I pursed my lips and gave a knowing nod of my head. “Of course you can’t.”

“I
can
tell you that your safety is extremely important. If Emil knows I’m in your life and we’re talking again, he’ll be more careful. I can’t watch you from a distance anymore. I need to spend more time with you.” He said it like spending time with me was the last thing he wanted to do.

I put my hands up in front me defensively. “Don’t do me any favors, Alex.” He winced at my tone. “I don’t understand what you want,” I said. “You seem to be an expert at appearing when you think some sort of crisis is happening. You left me because you said it wasn’t safe. Now you’re telling me you have to be with me because it isn’t safe. Which is it?”

Alex pushed his lips into a thin line. “I already answered this question. I had to leave because I’m your soul mate.”

I laughed out loud. “Yeah, I remember that excuse. It doesn’t make any more sense now.”

“Just because it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t mean it’s not true.” Alex cocked his head to the side as he pegged me with a hard stare. “There’s a lot you can deny, Evie, but our connection isn’t one of those things.”

“Listen, buddy,” I said, pointing. “Just because we have,” I waved my hands in the air trying to come up with a better word than ‘feelings’, “
hormones
for each other, doesn’t mean we’re soul mates.” I paused, then added, “I’ve had
hormones
for a lot of guys.”

He lifted a shoulder, his eyes sparkling. “If this was only hormones, it would be pretty easy to take care of the problem. Obviously, it’s more than simple lust.” His lips slid into a confident smile. “And while you might have had feelings for other
boys
, they’ll never compare to me. Those
boys
are dalliances. I’m your other half.”

I shook my head, completely stunned. “You’re out of your freaking mind is what you are.” I raised my eyes to the ceiling hoping for some answers, they weren’t there. “Great,” I mumbled. “Of all the guys on the planet, I’ve got the one who believes in soul mates stalking me. Regardless of what you seem to think, your soul mate rationalization still doesn’t answer why you left.”

Alex cringed. “I wasn’t expecting our connection to be so strong that fast, Evie. I had to leave and get—counsel. But I told you, I was never really gone. I was stupid to think I could have a relationship with you and still keep you safe. My actions were irresponsible at best. Our physical relationship made it dangerous for me to be around you; so it will have to be managed—and I’m working on that. However, given other things that are happening right now, it’s even more perilous for me to leave you alone.”

I watched him closely. “Why should I believe you? You aren’t giving me solid answers and the stuff you are saying is making you sound more insane.”

He clenched his teeth, staring at me. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m telling you the truth.” His look turned calculating and in that moment, he seemed to decide something. “I can prove it.”

I met his eyes, wondering what he could possibly say to convince me. “How?”

Alex reached out and caressed my hand. As he did, the lily shaped birthmark on my back got warm like it had every other time we had touched or kissed. “Do you feel that?” Alex asked.

I narrowed my eyes and gave him a barely perceptible nod. “You have a mark on your back, it resembles a lily. When we first met, the mark got darker. Now each time we touch, you notice the mark because it gets warm.” My mouth fell open. He couldn’t have known that. He had never seen me without my shirt and I hadn’t told anyone about the strange sensations the mark had been causing, or the fact that over the last few months, the mark had slowly started deepening in color—it was now dark pink.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

He moved his hand away from mine. “Because everyone has one. They are soulmarks—a mark that travels with your soul into each new body your soul inhabits. Some people’s soulmarks are more obvious than others. Most people explain them away as birthmarks, if they even notice them.”

“What are they for?” I asked.

“They usually serve two purposes. They are a means of identification for a soul, and they also serve as a kind of matchmaker. When you first meet your soul mate, the mark gets darker. Once you have physical contact with the person, the mark becomes warm each time you touch and the color deepens. The heat and color intensifies depending on how intimate you become; that intimacy causes a bond to form between you and your soul mate. Some people are more sensitive to it than others.”

I inclined my head wondering if he was joking. “Are you trying to tell me you truly think you’re my soul mate?” I asked.

Alex gave me a conspiratorial half-smile. “Your soulmark seems to think so.”

I thinned my eyes and asked, “What does
your
soulmark think?”

Alex grinned and didn’t answer.

Aggravated, I shook my head. “Well, if a soulmark only recognizes its one true soul mate, my soulmark is defective. I noticed the same feeling from my
soulmark
when both you
and
Emil touched me.”

From the hard set of Alex’s jaw I knew he wasn’t happy about my soulmark recognizing Emil. “Unfortunately, it’s not defective. Though most people’s soulmarks only recognize one other soul, yours seems to recognize two.” He looked away for a moment and seemed to be gathering his thoughts. When he turned back to me, he said, “But that’s not something we need to deal with right now.”

I gave him a sidelong glance. “So if what you’re saying is true, both you and Emil could be my soul mate?”

Alex bit his bottom lip, thinking. “I suppose
anything
is possible,” he answered with annoyance. “Do you believe me now?”

I still wasn’t convinced, but there were too many things Alex knew about for me to completely disregard him. I waited for a minute, thinking. Alex kept watching, never taking his eyes off me. I wanted to know what it was that made Emil so dangerous and who the men were who seemed to be following me. I wanted more answers, and I realized I had something Alex wanted. If he felt the need to be in my life and wanted me to co-operate, maybe we could reach a compromise.

“Okay,” I said, playing along. “Since it seems you’ve appointed yourself my personal bodyguard, how do you propose we go about ensuring my safety?”

He smiled a little, assuming he’d won a personal victory and I might be willing to acquiesce to his warnings. I smiled back, thinking of the deal he was going to have to make in order to get what he wanted.

“The biggest problem is the time you’re spending with Emil. I’ll try to shadow you as much as possible—like I started doing when Emil first arrived. But Emil isn’t the only person I have to be aware of. I need you to tell me when you’re going to be with him in case I’m not already there. And you’re going to have to un-do your break up and fix your relationship with him.”

I stared at Alex, open-mouthed. There was no way he could have known about the break up. It had barely happened—Jasmine didn’t even know about it! “How did you know we broke up?”

Alex shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

I narrowed my eyes as a knot started growing in my stomach. “No. It wasn’t a guess. Just like you knowing about the lemonade I dumped on Luke’s head wasn’t a coincidence. Tell me how you knew.”

Alex pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger and sighed. “Of all the things you need to be worried about right now, that’s not one of them.”

“I can’t think of anything else more important,” I said, the knot getting bigger. “You’re freaking me out. There’s no way you could have known about the break up.”

Alex’s expression reflected a concern I didn’t understand. “Someday I’ll tell you all my secrets, Evie, but for now, we need to concentrate on your safety. You have to get back together with him.”

I was still trying to figure out how he knew about what happened with Emil and almost didn’t hear him. When I realized he really meant what he said, I was mad. “No way!” I yelled.

“Listen to me,” Alex said in a calm tone. “You don’t have a choice.”

I gave a staccato-like laugh. “Yes, I do. I choose not to date Emil. See how simple that was? I thought you of all people would be happy since you’re the one who told me to stay away from him.”