Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (20 page)

“I had to call in a lot of favors, but my family name is well-known for our art collection so I was able to bring it back in time for our dinner.”

Alex mentioning his family made me wonder about them too. “The things you told me about your past? Your family? Were they all lies?”

“No, I tried to be as truthful as possible with you. I didn’t inherit my house, though; I bought it when you decided to go to Western State for college. My family was part of the London aristocracy during the 1700s. My father was a land owner and was very wealthy. We had estates in France, Italy, and London, where I was born. When I was fourteen, my parents drowned in a boat accident. I was an only child and their only relative, so I inherited all of their assets—including the art collection that I’ve continued to add to. I was fortunate enough to be alive in London during the industrial revolution. I invested some of my inheritance and I’ve continued investing well ever since. After I finished my education, I was approached by some family friends who asked if I’d be interested in joining the Amaranthine.”

I couldn’t begin to comprehend what Alex must have gone through losing his parents, let alone making a life altering decision to join the Amaranthine Society.

“Why did you decide to tell me all of this now?” I asked. “You’ve always been so careful about what you say.”

He exhaled. “For a couple of reasons. You were getting frustrated. Your annoyance and curiosity was making it difficult to get you to listen and trust me.”

“Imagine that,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I needed you to take me seriously and understand that Emil is a member of the Daevos—and that makes him very dangerous.”

I fidgeted, still uncomfortable with the idea of Emil as a bad guy.

“I couldn’t risk you talking to Emil, or anyone else, about your theories regarding me. I needed you to believe what I was telling you about him, but you weren’t willing to do that without a full explanation.”

I studied the sand for a moment, thinking about the Daevos and Emil. Finally, I glanced up. “I have a hard time believing he’s part of such a horrible organization, or that he wants to hurt me.”

Alex looked at me severely. “The Daevos are master manipulators,” he said. “That’s why I showed up at your car last week and told you to stay away from Emil. There’s also the chance that he was only sent on a mission to find you. I’m not certain what his intentions are. He could have abducted you the first day he kissed you, or any time since.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I asked.

“I warned you to stay away from him, but that was as much as I could do at the time. I couldn’t tell you anything else until I got permission from the Amaranthine leadership. When they said I could talk to you, I decided your sand dune trip would be a good opportunity.”

I watched the water lapping against the sand while I tried to deal with Alex’s assertion that Emil was not only dangerous, but evil.

I could see Alex watching me from the corner of my eye. “Do you believe me, yet?” Alex asked.

The things he’d told me were far-fetched, but it was hard to deny what I’d seen with my own eyes—like the powers of his ring. “I need some time to think about it,” I answered. “You might still be crazy.” My tone was teasing, though I kind of meant what I said.

Alex’s smile held a hint of disappointment. “What’s my percentage now?”

I bit my bottom lip, considering. “There’s a twenty percent chance you’re nuts.”

Alex laughed. “You haven’t called the insane asylum yet, so I’m taking that as a good sign.”

“You have to admit, it doesn’t sound like a story a rational person would come up with. How did you think I’d react?”

“You were more hostile than I thought you would be,” he said with a slight smile.

“What? Did you think I’d run to you with open arms, unable to keep my hands off you?”

Alex cringed. “Hugging and kissing me would have been a bad idea.”

I sucked in a harsh breath and felt like he’d slapped me. I turned away so he couldn’t see my reaction. I could feel the tears pricking my eyes and I was determined to stop them. Why did I keep allowing him to hurt me like this?

I no longer felt strapped to the sand. I got up in a huff, moving toward the dune buggy. Alex could see I was upset and followed me. “Evie, what’s wrong?” he asked obliviously.

I fisted my hands and gave him a hard look.

“Evie?” he questioned again.

“Add it to the list of times you’ve hurt me, Alex,” I said through my teeth.

His face fell in shock. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I gave an offhanded laugh. “Does it really matter anymore? You’ve made it excruciatingly clear. You’re here to do a job; that’s all.”

“Let me explain,” he said, putting his hand up. “There’s a reason—”

“Let it go,” I said, cutting him off. I was more hurt than angry, and he could tell. “If you want a ride back to camp, you should get in. It’ll be easier to convince my parents I want you here if I don’t come back alone. And that’s the only reason you’re here, right? To put on an act so you can make sure I’m safe? We better get back to it.”

Alex seemed surprised at my reaction, though I didn’t understand why. If he couldn’t tell I still had feelings for him, he was an idiot. He got in without saying another word. The dune buggy roared to life as I prepared myself for the performance I would have to give when we returned to camp. As we drove, I pushed all the things Alex had told me to the back of my mind to deal with later.

When we pulled up to the motor home, I could see my mom outside, already cooking dinner. “How was the ride?” she asked with a smile as we walked over to her.

“Great!” I said, with mock enthusiasm.

Alex recounted the entire trip for my mom, even adding in some information about a few of the dunes we didn’t visit. When he told my parents he’d never been to these sand dunes, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d tagged along using his ring every freaking time I’d been here.

I was bitter and hurt . . . and the worst part was I knew it wouldn’t be the last time it happened. I wished I didn’t have to be around him, but that wasn’t a possibility. So, I’d deal with the knowledge that he was constantly there by trying not to think about it. I consoled myself with the thought that as soon as I died a normal death, I probably wouldn’t remember Alex’s reincarnation revelations in my next life.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked when Alex decided to shut his mouth.

“He went out for another ride, but he’ll be back soon,” my mom said. “Here’s some dough for both of you, put whatever you want on it and we’ll start cooking your food.”

Alex followed my lead and topped his pizza with sauce, meat, cheese, and vegetables from the table in front of the RV. When we were done, we put the lids on the eight-inch Dutch ovens. My mom organized the charcoal into various patterns to ensure even cooking.

We had to wait about thirty minutes for the pizzas to cook. I used the time pretending to do homework and glaring at Alex as often as possible. We ate in relative silence except for the questions my mom asked. When my dad came back, my mom went in the motor home to eat with him and shut the door, leaving Alex and me outside where I could scowl at him in private. When we were done eating, Alex got up. I put my arms on the table and watched him grab the tent my mom had left sitting next to the drink cooler. He started to walk away. “Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.

“To set up for the night,” he said. “There’s only one road into the campsite. The best vantage point is two campsites down, so that’s where I’m pitching the tent. I’ll be back in a while.” Alex disappeared around the front of the motor home.

About five minutes after Alex left, my parents came outside and sat across from me at the picnic table, shuffling Uno cards. “Deal me in,” I said, gesturing to the cards.

“Where’s Alex?” my mom asked as she made three stacks of cards, one for each of us. She flipped over the first card on the deck. It was red.

“He’s setting up the tent,” I answered, picking up my cards. My hand wasn’t great, but I’d managed to get a draw four wild card.

My mom and dad looked over their hands as well. My mom plopped down a red nine to start the game. “He seemed a little depressed when you got back from your ride,” she said.

My dad put down a card next; I followed. “Alex doesn’t know what makes him happy,” I answered.

“Hmmm,” my mom hummed, her lips pressed together like she wanted to say more. She waited a few beats until her inquisitive nature got the best of her. “What’s going on with him?” she asked. “I didn’t know you two were friendly again.”

I drew a card from the deck. “We weren’t, but he apologized for everything. I think we’re trying to figure out how to be civil. I was surprised he showed up here.”

“Evie, if you don’t want Alex here, I’ll take care of it.” My dad nodded once, indicating his authority on the matter as he put another card down.

“It’s okay, he’s fine, Dad,” I said, trying to be as convincing as possible.

My mom watched me over the fan of cards in her hands, her eyes narrowed in concern. “How are things with Emil?” she asked. “Are you still together?”

I should have been prepared for this question, but I wasn’t. Yes, we were still together, but it was on a trial basis until I found out if he was a soul killer. I couldn’t exactly explain that to my parents though, so instead I shrugged and said, “Yeah. We haven’t been dating long, but we both like each other a lot.”

“What do you think Emil will say when he finds out Alex came camping with you?” my mom asked.

I lifted my shoulders as I put a draw two card down. “I’m sure he won’t be happy about it, but there’s not much he can do. I invited Alex in passing,” I said, angry that I had to lie to my parents because of the cover story Alex made up. “I really didn’t think he’d stop by.”

“Why do you think Alex came here to see you?” my mom asked, putting another draw two card on top of mine, forcing my dad to draw four.

“I don’t know,” I said.

My mom’s eyes were huge and her eyebrows shot up again. “If you don’t know, you aren’t looking hard enough.”

I was confused. “What do you mean?” Though my relationship with Alex was sometimes baffling, I felt he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in being anything other than my Protector . . . if that’s even what he really was.

“Evie, I’ve only spent a few hours with the two of you and I can feel the chemistry from fifty feet away. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, the longing in his eyes. That’s not how you look at someone you only want to be your friend.” She made the statement like I was the most naïve person in the world.

My mom’s perspective and opinions about Alex shook me. Did Alex really still feel something for me, or was he just being a good actor? At this point, I couldn’t tell and didn’t know what to believe. I decided that to prevent my heart from breaking into even more pieces, I would only count on what I knew, and what I knew was that Alex was excellent at creating illusions.

I shrugged. “Well, he hasn’t said anything to me about how he feels.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s here,” my dad suggested.

“Maybe,” I said, trying to sound like my dad’s theory could be right even though I knew Alex’s real reason for inviting himself on my trip.

After a few more rounds of cards, I heard Alex come up behind me and say hello to everyone. I didn’t turn around to look at him. I hoped he’d been using his ring and had heard my conversation with my parents. If his feelings were hurt, it served him right for eavesdropping.

“Did you get the tent set up all right?” my mom asked. My dad got up to start the fire for the night and Alex sat down next to me.

“I did. Thank you again for letting me use it,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to stay and spend some time with your family—and Evie especially.” Alex looked directly at me, his expression intense and eyes shining. My breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t seen a look like that on his face since the night I went to his house and we danced in his ballroom.

The air fell into silence as Alex and I stared at each other, but I could feel my mom’s eyes on us, watching closely. She broke the quiet. “Well, we’re happy to have you.” I turned away from Alex. “Do you want to play Uno?” she asked him.

“Sure,” he said, “deal me in.”