by Harold Wall
"What were you doing here?" Emerald asked crossing her arms.
Jasmine narrowed her eyes but smiled. "Spying." Was the only thing she'd say.
"Could've fooled me." Emerald muttered.
"You're a good fighter. I'm surprised you aren't in the business." said Jasmine.
Emerald snorted. "I'm not into that kind of thing."
"You look very familiar. Have we met before?"
Emerald was on guard again. "No." she answered crisply.
"Hm," Jasmine continued to stare at Emerald as she thought. "Jonathan." she finally said, making Emerald jump.
"How do you know my father?" she questioned, her hand tightening around the hilt of the knife she was still holding.
"I've done a couple of jobs for him. Nothing that concerns you. But he talks about you." Jasmine answered carefully, not failing to notice the knife still in Emerald's hand. "But this
job wasn't for him. Just so you know. And I already promised that I wouldn't harm you."
This didn't make Emerald feel anymore relieved. But she managed to lessen her grip on the knife. The news also was surprising to her. Jonathan talked about her to other people?
That was strange to hear.
"I think you should leave now." she finally said.
"If it's worth anything, I really like you. You're a great opponent and I hope that we can meet under… better circumstances." Jasmine said as she packed up her arsenal of knives,
except for the one Emerald was still holding.
Emerald smiled without humor. "Well, maybe if you stopped taking jobs from my enemies we would." she commented crisply.
"Hey, a job's a job, you know?"
To that Emerald couldn't say anything because it was only true in the kind of profession that Jasmine was working in.
With a final nod of her head Jasmine was off, out onto the balcony, grabbing the railing with one hand and throwing herself off.
Emerald rolled her eyes before going back to Lucas.
He was waiting patiently for her on the couch, not having missed the whole conversation between her and Jasmine.
"So…" Emerald trailed off, tentatively sitting down next to him.
"So," Lucas mimicked, crossing his arms, his bluegreen eyes appraising.
"How much did you tell him?" Sky asked.
Emerald shrugged and looked back up at the sky again, wishing for the stars. "Some about the Night World. Mostly my stuff, my past. He asked to stay the night because he didn't
think he'd make it home."
"So who do you think it was, that sent Jasmine, I mean?" Sky finally asked quietly.
"Thierry." Emerald answered not missing a beat.
There was a stunned moment of silence before Sky or Carter could talk.
"And why's that?" Carter choked out.
Emerald shrugged. "Just a guess. I know it's not my father, because he likes to do things himself. At least when it involves me." Emerald added, thinking back to what Jasmine had
said. "I do have a lot of enemies that could've done this, but again, they strike me as the one to come do it themselves. Thierry's left. He knows about this weird power thing that'll
change the course of the world. He probably wants it too."
"That makes no sense. You're logic doesn't add up, Emerald. Thierry's too… naïve to do something like that." Sky pointed out.
"I think that's exactly why it has to be Thierry." Emerald disagreed. "He's too stupid to realize just what Jasmine does. He asked her to just spy, not realizing what she does is
assassinate, or at the very least torture. He doesn't know my world as much as he'd like to think he does."
"But, Emerald—" Sky started to object, but broke off when she jumped off the balcony's railing.
"I'm really tired; I'd like to get some sleep, now. If you'll excuse me." With that she headed inside. Sky and Carter followed, Carter pausing to close the French doors before
scurrying after them.
They had paused in the hall. Emerald had a note in her hands that was addressed to her, with just her name on the back in the exact middle. It was that thick, fancy cardstock. On
the front side, the letter was closed with four triangles, holding the points together a wax seal. The insignia nothing Emerald had ever seen before. Same with Sky and Carter.
"What does it say?" Carter asked softly as Emerald broke the seal and opened it, her eyes flitting from left to right as she read.
"Hm," Emerald chuckled without humor before throwing onto the floor. "I'm going to get some rest." she told them ignoring Carter's question. "Goodnight. I hope you guys don't mind seeing yourselves out."
Sky and Carter nodded slowly, not able to talk at the moment. Emerald gave them a small smile before heading into the bedroom and softly shutting the door. She climbed into the
opposite bed that Lucas was currently sleeping in and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Sky and Carter had picked up the note and were reading it, not being able to resist the temptation.
She says she's fine, but she's going insane. She says she feels good, but she's in a lot of pain. She says it's nothing, but it's really a lot. She says she's okay, but she's really not.
They finished at the same time and looked up at each other with concerned looks, before looking at the closed bedroom door.
The phone rang at six as usual, but when Emerald went to go grab it, instead of feeling the cold, hard phone, she met something soft that had a pulse. She lifted her head then and
brushed the hair out of her eyes, looking up to see Lucas. She'd totally forgotten that he'd stayed the night.
Lucas smiled and, without a word to Emerald, answered the phone: "Hello?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end before the woman at the desk finally said, "I'm sorry, who is this?"
"Lucas, I am Miss Emerald Song's boyfriend." he answered, winking at her.
Emerald rolled her eyes and plopped back down onto the pillows, closing her eyes again. It wasn't like she hadn't had this much sleep before—it was like one of her hunting nights—
but that didn't mean that it didn't have any effect on her.
There was another small pause as the woman considered this.
"Right, well, this is Miss Song's six o'clock wake up call." she finally said.
"I'll be sure to tell her. Thank you, ma'am." With that Lucas hung up the phone and kneeled down next to the bed, gently stroking Emerald's cheek.
She opened her eyes again and looked at him.
"Time to wake up sleepy head." he said brushing some hair back behind her ear.
Emerald slowly sat up and tried to clear the fog in her brain. Functioning at 100% today was going to be a task. Especially with school and then work right after.
"You look tired." Lucas commented, sitting down on the bed opposite.
"You don't." Emerald shot back.
"Should I?"
"I'm surprised you're still here. With learning about… what I am, and all." she explained quietly.
"I'm still processing it all." Lucas told her slowly. "But—" He broke off and looked away broodingly for a moment. Then he stood and walked up to her. "But I love you, and what you
are isn't going to change that. I mean, it is a shock and I'm not quite sure about how I feel about… this whole situation, but I do know that I love you, Emerald. A lot."
Emerald couldn't help but smile at this sweet proclamation.
"You're too good to me." she whispered.
Lucas leaned down and planted a slow, sweet kiss on her lips.
"I know." he said when they'd pulled back.
Emerald rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him. Then she remembered she had school so with a tired sigh, she threw the covers back and slipped off the bed to get ready.
That night Lucas approached Emerald in the kitchen of the restaurant about something he'd heard from the manager.
"I can't believe t
hat you're going to do this." Lucas asked.
Emerald rolled her eyes. "It's only one night. And I need to do it for community service." She told him, filling up table twenty's cups.
"But you get paid to do this job." he pointed out helpfully.
"It doesn't count if I get paid."
"I know that," Lucas said following her out of the kitchen with his own tray of food. "It just seems unnecessary for you to do a job you already get paid for. Why not just find a
different thing you could do for community service?"
"Hold that thought." Emerald muttered, heading off to deliver the drinks to the table, also giving Lucas a chance to get his food to his table.
"Because it's just easier this way. I don't have to go searching. And I know the manager." Emerald explained when they met up at the kitchen doors again.
"This isn't over." Lucas warned quietly and quickly before dashing off to go seat a customer.
Emerald rolled her eyes and headed back into the kitchen.
After work they met outside at the entrance like they usually did after they'd started officially dating.
"You're making a big deal out of this, Lucas." she told him as they headed toward the Marriott. "I don't see the problem. And I think that you should respect my decision."
"I know." he said momentarily shocking Emerald because of his insistence on the topic earlier in the night. "I thought about it and realized how stubborn I was being over something
as small as that."
"Oh, okay, then. Good."
"So what exactly is this whole thing about anyway?"
"Half of it's a ball and half of it's an event, where you just kind of hang out. I think a couple of local author's are holding it to celebrate a book of poems they're publishing together
that's coming out soon." Emerald shrugged, not sure how to explain it any further. "They're holding it at the Marriot. Shouldn't you know this already? We work in the same place."
Lucas shrugged. "I don't read the memos."
"Well, I won't be free this Saturday. We'll have to raincheck our movie night. Sorry."
"It's not a problem." Lucas grinned giving Emerald a feeling there was more to his thought process than he was letting on. His eyes were also a little distant. Emerald was about to
ask him what he was thinking but just then they arrived at the Marriott, and Lucas turned toward her. "Well, I will see you later, then?"
Emerald smiled. "Of course."
Lucas leaned down and they exchanged a brief kiss.
"Goodnight, Lucas." Emerald said her voice a little tight. She always worried about something happening to Lucas when he walked home alone at night. Especially because their
dating had become pretty serious now. She was actually surprised someone hadn't kidnapped him. Grateful but surprised.
"I'll be fine." he assured her. "You have a goodnight too, Emerald."
She watched him go until she could no longer see him and hesitantly headed inside. At least he'd agreed to call when he got home. That put Emerald's mind at ease just a little more than if he didn't call.
The next day was the day of the event. So, much to Emerald's disappointment instead of having a break off from work and school and hunting (though that was her choice) she's be
spending her day helping set up in the ballroom for the Marriott and then spend her night catering.
Setting up wasn't that bad, it was just tedious, and after working hard all week, Emerald really had wanted to just sit down and do nothing and not think. But thankfully, mercifully
the time passed quickly and it was night already. Now she was in uniform—white blouse, black slacks, apron and flats—and getting ready for the flow of people to come in. She was
going to be the person who held the tray with hors d'oeuvres and walked around offering the guests the food.
The room filled up pretty fast in the first fifteen minutes and Emerald was quite busy, walking slowly around letting the guests slowly pick off the tray as the evening continued.
About thirty or so minutes into it, though, someone called Emerald's name, making her jump and almost spill her newly filled tray onto the floor. She turned to where she'd heard
her name being called to see Carter and Sky. Making sure there wasn't anyone taking anything from the tray she swiftly walked over to them.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked quietly, a little embarrassed. It's not like they didn't know about her work or that she was working tonight, it was just a little awkward
to have your friends show up at the place you worked while you were working. They were dressed for the occasion—formal—while Emerald was in uniform and holding a tray for
strangers. It kind of made Emerald suddenly feel out of place.
"We decided to come and see you, hang out." Sky answered.
"Thought maybe you'd like some company." Carter added.
"I'm going to be working all night, though. I don't know when I'll be able to really hang out with you guys." Emerald told them in that same quiet voice.
"Actually, I talked to the manager," A different voice came from behind Carter and Sky. Emerald looked and Lucas stepped out from behind Sky and Carter, to stand next to Sky.
How Emerald hadn't seen him before was weird, though. "She said that you'd only have to work for the event portion of the evening. You were free to do whatever you wanted after
that."
"Lucas—" Emerald started before breaking off on account of seeing two people she really didn't want to be seeing right now. "Oh my God." she muttered before frantically darting
away from Sky, Carter and Lucas and disappearing into the crowd, leaving the three to look for what she'd spotted that'd spooked her so much.
It wasn't long before they found it: Storm and Valerie had just strolled in.
Emerald stayed as far away from them as possible as the night wore on, letting the others take care of their hors d'oeuvre needs. It wasn't hard with a big room such as this one
and all the people at the event, either, but it was frustrating and annoying how much they seemed to follow Emerald around, like stalkers: At the movies, at her workplace, here.
Okay, so Storm lived at the Marriott too and must've heard some staff talking about or something, but still! This couldn't have been a coincidence. Three times at the exact time and
place Emerald happened to be at the exact same time? They were doing this on purpose. Why? She wasn't sure, yet.
Thankfully, though, she managed to dodge them quite nicely. And before Emerald knew it, Lucas was approaching her for the nth time tonight with a grin on his face.
"Okay, time's up. You're officially off duty." he said, loud enough for anyone around them to hear, before reaching over and grabbing the tray from her hand.
"Lucas!" she hissed trying to grab the tray back, but he was already halfway to the kitchen. Besides, he was six feet; even if he had been stationary she wouldn't be able to reach
the tray without making a mess. Either way, she followed him, ignoring the stares from the people around her. "What are you doing?" she asked feeling humiliation wash over her
from his public display.
"Hold that thought, please." he said turning around and facing her, while also backing up and pushing through the door. It swung back and forth twice before Lucas came back out
with no tray in hand.
"I simply would like to spend a little time with my girlfriend, tonight, in place for our movie." He held his hand out. "Apron: Hand it over." She threw it at him, but he caught it
easily and disappeared back into the kitchen for another second. When he exited he walked straight up to her. "Come on, don't tell me you enjoy holding a tray of food up for people
all night?"
Emerald rolled her eyes but a smile was creeping onto her face.
Lucas leaned down to whisper in her ear: "Dance with me." He pulled back, but not by very much, waiting for her response.
"Okay,
but just one dance—" she started, but broke off when Lucas grabbed her hand eagerly and pulled her out onto the dance floor, near where Sky and Carter were. Sky had his
arms around Carter's waist, with Carter's back pressed up against his chest, with her hand resting on top of his. They were swaying gently to the beat of the music, and smiled
when Emerald and Lucas came up.
Emerald had a chance to smile back at them before she was turned and pulled into Lucas's arms.
"They've been like that all night." Lucas commented, speaking about Sky and Carter. "Can't get them to split apart even an inch."
Emerald smiled, looking over her shoulder at them again, swaying happily in their little bubble.
"I wish it were as easy as that." Emerald sighed wistfully, turning her head back to face Lucas again.
"Am I… difficult?" he asked, looking a little hurt, their dance faltering.
"No, no I didn't mean that." Emerald said quickly, a little loudly. She lowered her voice. "It's just… it seems like my relationships are just a lot more complicated than… than theirs.
I mean—It's not like I don't love you. I'm just speaking of… of, well…" She trailed off afraid she'd hurt his feelings if she spoke of Storm.
"You're past relationship." Lucas finished for her in a low voice, looking over Emerald's shoulder, some dislike leaking through, into Lucas's bluegreen eyes. Their dance slowed
even more and he stiffened.
Emerald stopped dancing altogether and turned her torso to look where Lucas was to see Storm and Valerie dancing quite close to where Emerald, Lucas, Sky and Carter were. She
quickly spun back around and tightened her grip on Lucas.
Lucas looked down at her with sad eyes and her heart squeezed.
She took his head in both of her hands.
"Hey," she said grabbing his attention. "I love you. We've broken up. He's nothing but an ex."
Lucas smiled, but his eyes were still sad. However, this sadness was different than the previous. It wasn't out of hurt, it was out of concern. But concern for what, Emerald wasn't
sure.
He reached up and stroked her cheek with her thumb before leaning down for a short, gentle, very sweet kiss.
As they pulled apart the song that'd been playing came to an end and the emcee came on the mic all of a sudden.
