Eternal Starling (Emblem of Eternity Trilogy) (9 page)

I spent the next few weeks getting ready for school to start, working, hanging out with Jasmine, and trying to forget about Alex. I gathered everything he’d ever given me: the dried orchids, the notes from our dinner, a CD mix with the songs we’d danced to that night in his ballroom. I had every intention of throwing them out, but when I got to the garbage can, I couldn’t do it. Instead, I put them in a storage box in the back of my closet where I wouldn’t have to see them anymore. I tried to do the same thing with my feelings and memories, hoping those things wouldn’t haunt me later.

As much as I hated to admit it, Alex had been right about one thing. Since he left, there had been no more shadows in my yard, or figures terrorizing me outside my windows. The malevolent figure from the night in the kitchen had made me feel helpless. Now, I was more aware of my surroundings and I avoided looking into the darkness for fear of what I might see. I hated that one experience caused me to be so paranoid. I used to enjoy my time alone, but now I was frightened by it.

I got my fall semester class schedule and picked up my books at the campus bookstore. I was relieved that school would start soon. Classes would be a welcome distraction; something to keep my mind off the events of the summer—off Alex. Throwing myself into homework was exactly what I needed.

Jasmine asked if I wanted to go shopping for school supplies. I needed some notebooks and pens so we went to a store near our house.

On the way to the store, Jas asked, “How are you feeling?”

I sighed. Jas asked me this at least once a day. She knew my feelings for Alex had been different than any other guy I’d dated, and she was worried about me. The problem was that I never really knew how to answer the question. “No one broke up with me today, so things are looking up.”

I meant it as a joke but her lips thinned and her cheeks pulled back in a concerned expression. I laughed. “I was kidding, Jas! Really, I’m fine.”

“If you were fine, the house wouldn’t be so clean. An industrial sander couldn’t have gotten that many layers of grime off the kitchen floor.”

I lifted my shoulders. “You know I clean when I’m angry. It’s how I work through things. I’m feeling much better.” Jasmine didn’t know about the figure outside the kitchen window, the danger Alex had been so concerned about, or the man in the park. I thought the fewer people who knew about those incidents, the better. I’d told her and Zach that Alex had broken up with me and left without any explanation. They’d been as baffled as I was.

Jas’s eyes slid over me, pausing on my face as she assessed me. When she decided I’d rather scrub the toilet than drown myself in it, she asked, “Do you think he’ll ever try to get back together with you?”

My face fell. “He said he needed to figure some things out, but that I wouldn’t see him. Maybe he’ll be back eventually, but I don’t know what I’d do if he did show up again.”

Jas’s expression echoed mine, only where mine contained sadness and confusion, hers was full of pity, which made me feel worse. We pulled into the parking lot and walked inside. We both found the supplies we needed, but Jas saw the clothes section and got sidetracked. Given how upset I already was, I wasn’t interested in going through the angst of trying on clothes too. I found a chair by the dressing room and waited. From my seat, I could see through the racks of clothes to one of the main aisles. I watched people walk by and every few minutes, Jas would come out of the dressing room and ask for my opinion.

There was a mother with a sneaky toddler who kept grabbing things off shelves and putting them in the shopping cart. The mom didn’t seem to notice. The thought of her getting to the check-out counter and finding the extra items in her basket almost made me smile. Some younger girls, probably in junior high, were standing around a display of tank tops and shorts, discussing what colors would look best on each girl and coordinating what outfits they would wear on the first day back to school.

I glanced toward the back of the store and noticed a man dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt. He was tall and lean. His dark brown hair fell below his ears in a way that was messy-on-purpose. It seemed like he was looking right at me. My suspicions were confirmed when he realized I was staring back at him and he immediately shifted his eyes to the bra display at his right and grabbed a few off the rack. Something was familiar about the guy, but I wasn’t sure what. He made me uneasy.

I got up and knocked on Jas’s dressing room door. “How much longer do you think you’ll be?” I asked.

At that moment she came out of the room. “I’m done!” she smiled. “Let’s go. Wanna get dinner somewhere?”

“Sure.” We walked out of the dressing area. I turned toward the bra section, but the man was gone. I scanned the rest of the store, but couldn’t see him anywhere.

Jas read the tabloid magazines on display while we waited in the check-out line. I was concentrating on the image of the man in my mind and trying to figure out what I recognized about him. It was clear the man wasn’t in the bra section on purpose, so what was he doing there? And why was he watching me?

I glanced around the store as I thought, but stopped abruptly when I saw the man again. He was standing next to a jewelry display, about fifteen feet away, watching me with a steady gaze. As I wrenched my eyes from his, I noticed the thing that had made my memory flicker: a red web mark wrapped around his arm and bicep. Only this time, I was close enough to see that the mark wasn’t a tattoo, it was some sort of scar. This wasn’t the same guy I’d seen walking around the pond at the park. The chances of two men having the same scar on their arm in the same spot seemed slim. Maybe Alex had been right after all. My heart fluttered in panic. I turned to tell Jasmine we needed to leave, but in the short time I had glanced away, the man was gone again. My eyes darted around the store, but he was nowhere in sight.

As a shiver shook through me, I rubbed my arms wishing Alex was around so I could tell him about the person who had been watching me. But Alex had abandoned me. I felt mad, frustrated, and the sadness that rippled through me was equivalent to mourning. I took a deep breath trying to calm down. I had made it through eighteen years before Alex came into my life; I could make it through the next eighty without him too.

We got to the checkout line and paid for everything. I helped Jas carry her bags to the car. As we drove to the restaurant, I couldn’t stop thinking about the man in the store watching me. I wondered how long it had been going on.

And why.

Chapter 6

It was my first day of school at Western State and so far, the day had gone as expected. I wasn’t as nervous about starting college as some of the other students. I’d been working on campus for the last three months and it had helped me learn where all the buildings were. I’d even met some of my professors over the summer. I already had homework in two classes and I still had one more class to go.

I wandered into the College Center, scanning the dining area for Jasmine. We had agreed to meet for lunch during our break in classes, but I didn’t see her anywhere. As I scanned the crowded building, my eye caught on one guy. For some inexplicable reason, he was sitting alone at a table, reading. His hair, the color of golden sand in the sunlight, fell in waves across his head. His jaw was square and the cords of muscles in his arms were showcased by the brown T-shirt he wore. I don’t know how long I watched him but when he looked up, our eyes locked and it felt like I had known him forever.

Embarrassed, I quickly tried to look away, but I couldn’t turn my gaze. His mouth twitched like he was amused and he tilted his head. After continuing our staring contest for a few more seconds, he slowly got up from his seat, never taking his eyes from mine. People automatically parted for him as he walked through the crowd and came toward me like he was being pulled by a wire that was attached between my chest and his. Without stopping in front of me like most people would when meeting someone for the first time, he moved closer and closer until his body was inches from mine. He put his hand on the side of my face and I shuddered involuntarily; he smiled at my reaction. He traced my cheekbone with the tips of his fingers brushing them lightly down the side of my neck. I could feel my heart beating harder with each movement and a warmth started to spread over my back—a warmth that I hadn’t felt since Alex had touched me. I would have been furious at his intrusion on my space—if I could move.

Then it happened again—I was falling into another dream. This time, the girl with the chestnut ringlets was pacing around a large room in a low-cut dark blue dress that flowed in waves from her tightly corseted waist. Cream colored lace accented the neckline, and elbow-length sleeves. She was talking to someone I couldn’t see. Her voice was hoarse and tears dripped from her cheeks.

“I don’t understand.” The sound of her quiet sobs echoed off the walls.

A male voice came from the other side of the room. “There are options.”

She vehemently shook her head. “If I leave, they’ll find me.”

“No,” he answered, “they won’t.”

She looked at the rug on the floor through blurry eyes. “How do you know?”

“Because,” the voice said with resolve, “I’ll make sure of it.”

She clutched a handkerchief in her hand and lifted it to her face. “I think leaving you might be worse than staying.”

“It will be difficult,” the voice agreed in a resigned tone, “but only until you forget.”

His words brought a fresh stream of tears to her eyes. When she could speak again she whispered, “And what about you? Will you forget?”

“No,” he answered immediately. “Never.”

And with that, the dream faded.

I blinked, trying to shake the vision from my mind and in the process, realized the boy’s arm was now wrapped around my waist, his greyish-blue eyes still firmly locked on mine. His hand slipped around the back of my neck as he pulled me closer and kissed me, our lips locked in a graceful dance. I don’t know when I finally remembered to breathe, or if I did. It felt like the kiss only lasted seconds. As his lips slowly stopped moving, I wanted to grab him, force him to stay there, our lips melting into one another, his cinnamon taste blending with mine. There was an intense urgency to his actions and the kiss was more powerful than any kiss I’d ever had, including the kisses with Alex. He backed a few inches away from me, his hand still on my neck, his eyes swimming in mine and I felt like I could drown there.

“You have the most beautiful sapphire eyes,” he said. I felt faint and completely overcome. He gave me a slow smile. “I’m Emil Stone.”

My breath was coming in short bursts. I couldn’t concentrate, let alone form a sentence. He seemed entertained by my reaction. Finally, I was able to pull my gaze away for a moment and stammer, “Evie. Evie Starling.”

“Is this your first year at Western State, Evie?” he asked, saying my name in a husky voice that made me shiver even though it was eighty-five degrees outside.

“Yes. Started. Freshman.”

Graciously, he didn’t point out that I couldn’t put a sentence together. “Well,” he said, “I have a favor to ask.” He watched me, probably trying to ascertain how exactly he was affecting me. Maybe if he figured it out, he could let me know. “Do you think you could show me around campus? I just transferred here from a college out east.”

I wasn’t certain why
he
would be interested in having
me
show him around campus. It was obvious he could have the entire cheerleading squad guide him if he wanted. I was thankful for the last few months that I’d spent wandering around the college getting to know the buildings.

“Sure.” My breath was becoming a little more normal.

He smiled again. “When are your classes today?”

That was a good question. Since my brain was on strike, I absent-mindedly pulled out my class schedule to check it. “I’m done at two-thirty.”

“That sounds perfect,” he purred. “I’ll meet you by the pool tables at three.”

I nodded okay and watched Emil walk back to his table to grab his book and backpack. He turned to look at me once more with an expression that made me feel like he was kissing me from across the room. His mouth slid into an amused smile as he walked out the door.

Now that he was leaving, the shock became more concentrated as I tried to figure out
what
had just happened. I’d had another dream from touching a guy and the heat on my back was making an appearance again. Why did this keep happening? And aside from the crazy dream-vision and birthmark heater, what kind of guy kisses a stranger? Every instinct I had was telling me I should have slapped him across the face. I didn’t even
know
him! I was furious with myself, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find the anger, even worse—I wished he would do it again.

I became aware of the whispers from other people who had witnessed the incident and realized someone was standing next to me. Jasmine. She had walked into the building at the same time I kissed,
then
met Emil. Jasmine saw the whole thing happen, along with most of the Western State student body, and was as stunned as me. Guys like Emil don’t kiss girls like me, not like that, not in public, not ever.

“Holy crap!” Jasmine’s eyes were huge. “Do you
know
him?” If her mouth dropped any further her gum would fall out.

I slowly moved my head from side to side.

“What did he say to you?”

“Eyes. He said I had beautiful eyes,” I sputtered and swallowed so I could speak. “He asked me to show him around campus.”

Jasmine blew a bubble, shaking her head in shock. “That’s the single most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Zach will never believe it.”

I glanced down and checked my clothes. Jasmine noticed as I smoothed my hand over my stomach. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Making sure my shirt is still on. For a minute, I thought he kissed my clothes off.”

In the dizzying aftershock of my introduction to Emil, Jasmine and I grabbed some lunch. As I was sitting down to eat, I thought I recognized an angry face in the crowd behind a group of students, watching me, as if he had been there and seen the whole thing. I moved to try and get a better look, but in the time it took me to shift my position, the guy who looked like Alex was gone.

My next class was Adult Development. It seemed to go by slower than any class I’d ever been in. The professor was going over typical first-day stuff—syllabus, what was expected, how not to fail the class—but my mind was only on Emil and the amazing kiss. Not to mention the inexplicable force I felt when I thought of him, almost like we were being pushed together. The way he kissed me made it clear he had a lot of experience in that department. I frowned, wondering if kissing random girls around campus was something he did often.

Finally, class was over. My professor yelled out the reading assignment, but I was already out of the room. I would look at the syllabus and figure it out later. I walked quickly across campus, arriving at the College Center with fifteen minutes to spare. I thought I’d have to wait for Emil to arrive, but as I turned the corner, I saw him bent over a pool table. His body formed a perfect line with the cue he was holding and I noticed a black and silver ring on the fourth finger of his right hand. The sight of his flawless form knocked the wind out of me and I hoped for a repeat performance of the kiss.

When I regained my composure, I walked up to Emil. “Hey,” I said, flashing the most enchanting and flirty smile I could come up with.

“Hi, sexy,” he grinned. I was taken aback. No guy had ever called
me
sexy before. I looked behind me to see if I was hiding some smaller, hotter girl. I wasn’t, and turned back to him, trying to conceal the confusion on my face. “How was your class?” he asked.

“Um . . . good. Are you ready for a tour?” I asked, still suspicious of his “sexy” comment.

“I would follow you to the ends of the earth.” His expression darkened for a millisecond, though I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been watching him so closely.

I gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t think we’ll have to go that far.”

We left the building, winding through campus following the sidewalks. Western State is a small college that only spans a few blocks instead of miles like larger universities. I asked for Emil’s schedule and pointed out buildings he would have classes in, and other buildings, like the library, that he would need to be familiar with.

As we came around a corner, Emil noticed the gardens.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s the Western State botanical gardens.”

He veered toward a patch of thick, dark green grass surrounded by shrubs and bright pink and white flowers. He looked over his shoulder at me and sat down. I followed, sitting beside him. In the silence, I could hear the splashing water of the creek that ran through the gardens.

“This is nice,” Emil said, looking around at the trees and flowers, a rare place of solitude and privacy.

“It’s one of my favorite places,” I agreed. I didn’t tell him I had been here a lot lately, trying to figure things out and deal with my feelings for Alex.

He grinned. “Maybe we should come here again sometime. We could do homework, or . . . something,” he said with a suggestive tone.

I inhaled a rattled breath. “Anytime,” I answered, hoping I wasn’t blushing as much as it felt like I was. I quickly tried to change the subject. “Did you visit Western State before you transferred?”

“No,” he answered. “Moving here was kind of an impromptu decision.”

“Oh,” I said, wanting to know more but not wanting to pry.

He seemed to understand and explained, “A friend of mine needed help.”

“So you came to help a friend and decided to stay?” I was impressed by Emil. I didn’t know many people who would leave their whole life behind and change everything to help someone out.

“Yeah,” he answered without further explanation. Emil didn’t seem like the type of guy to give more information than he needed to, which just intrigued me further. I already wanted to unravel the mystery of Emil and I had only known him a few hours.

We sat for awhile, listening to the creek. My mind was running through a million questions. I wanted to ask him about the kiss, why me, why in the middle of the College Center on the busiest day of the year, but I didn’t feel like it was the right time.

“Are you living on campus?” I asked.

“No, I rent a house,” he said. “How about you, do you live in the dorms?”

“No, but the people who live there say it’s chaos around the clock.”

Emil grinned like he was fully aware of the debauchery and hijinks that come with living in a dorm. “Where do you live?”