He didn’t move as he answered. “I thought the pie had swayed you.”
I considered for a moment. “It was good pie.”
“So you’re open to dating again?”
I snorted a laugh. “I’m still deciding whether I can handle dating you both.”
Emil sat up slowly. “You say you don’t want to date because you’re not ready to choose. I think you don’t want to date because you’re afraid of your feelings, and what you might find out.”
“I am not!” I said defensively. “I just don’t think it will work.”
“You haven’t even tried it yet.”
Well, there was that.
“Plus,” Emil went on, “it might help you have more flashbacks. That way, you’ll be able to see what happened for yourself instead of having to trust us and our memories.”
He made an excellent point. Emil would be a good lawyer. I had no doubt many Daevos members probably were. They’re all masters of manipulation. “Do you and Alex really think you can refrain from killing each other if we do this?”
Emil stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as we walked across campus. “At this point, anything is better than the tension we all constantly feel. Plus, you’re going to have to choose eventually. You should make an informed decision. Alex and I both agree on that.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s very diplomatic of you two.”
He grinned. “Just trying to make your life a little easier.”
“Maybe I don’t have to choose. I can just ride things out until I die, then I won’t remember this stuff in my next life and won’t have to worry about choosing between you.”
Emil pressed his lips together. “You’ll have to choose eventually, Evie. At some point, in one of your lives, you’ll have to choose. Given what’s happened in this life with your powers, I wouldn’t count on dying as a way to get out of this situation. I think there’s a good chance from here on out, you’ll know exactly who Alex and I are.”
I frowned. Other than the flashbacks and my powers, I hadn’t considered any additional potential complications. Even if there was a slight chance I’d remember this all in my next life, I might as well use the time wisely and try to learn more about Alex and Emil. Hopefully it really would help me when I had to make my decision. They were right. I needed to do this. “So, how did you two decide who I’d be dating first?”
“We flipped for it. Alex gets you for Valentine’s Day,” he frowned, then continued his explanation, “so I get you first. This weekend.”
My mouth dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding?”
“Nope.”
I narrowed my eyes. He grinned.
“We’re just trying to make this work, Evie. The situation isn’t intended to make you mad.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
He opened the College Center door for me. “I’ll pick you up at three o’clock on Saturday.”
I spent the afternoon in the garage with my Mustang. It was the first time I’d had a chance to work on it since the snow bank sliding incident. I checked the bumper. It was hitched up slightly from the impact, but I was able to use a rubber mallet to pound it back into place.
I detailed the leather with Pledge Lemon spray. It sounds strange, but it’s the best thing for cleaning and conditioning car leather. I used a Q-tip to clean between the air vents, and a toothpick to get the mud out of the slats in the gas and brake pedal. I vacuumed, sanitized, and took it to the car wash. I snapped a photo and texted it to my dad. He texted back with a smiley face and a reminder to check the brake fluid. I smiled, missing my parents. I hadn’t seen them since Christmas, and probably wouldn’t see them again for a while. Montana was a long way from Gunnison. I brought my car home and finished the detail work as the sun set. I took a deep breath, watching the sun fall behind the mountains, highlighting the sky with bright pinks and purples, and my soulmark warmed as I started to fall.
The sky was a stunning rainbow of pastels as the sun went down. Light hit the cotton patterned clouds like it was coloring a dream. I took a deep breath, truly happy. Muscled arms wrapped around my waist and I exhaled a sigh.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I said.
I felt his head in the nook between my ear and shoulder. Light kisses trailed slowly down my neck. My breath quickened, my chest rising rapidly. His voice was muffled as he answered, “Nothing is as gorgeous as you.”
“I never thought it could be like this,” I said, rubbing my hands over his on my waist.
“I never doubted it.”
His large hand slid into mine, his voice husky, “Let me show you how good it will always be.”
My breath hitched and my heart raced at his suggestion. He made me feel alive in every way. I took one last look at the beauty before me, and let myself be pulled back through the door.
“Evie?” Someone was holding my hand and rubbing my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked up.
“Emil?”
His eyes were wide with concern and a hint of anger. “Did someone do this to you?”
“No,” I waved my hand as I sat up. “I was clumsy and fell.”
He looked me up and down for any other signs of injury. “You look a little flushed. It’s winter though; maybe you’re coming down with the flu like everyone else.”
Nope. I had flashbacks. Not the flu. But he didn’t need to know that. “Maybe.”
I followed him into the house, thinking about the flashback. I’d felt how happy Cassandra was in that moment, but I didn’t get much information beyond that. It was also shorter than most flashbacks I’d had. I wondered if Emil had somehow pulled me out of it by trying to wake me up? If so, I was super pissed. Judging by how I was feeling in the flashback, I was pretty sure I’d been about to get some action. And I didn’t even know who it had been with! Alex or Emil? I assumed Emil, since I didn’t think Alex and I had ever had a relationship, but really, I couldn’t be sure. I never turned to look at the guy in the flashback, and when he spoke, he was so busy sucking on the side of my neck that his voice was muffled and I couldn’t really discern it. I was not happy.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Emil pursed his lips. “Alex is here too. We need to talk to you.”
I knocked the snow off my feet before opening the back door. “What do you need to talk to me about?”
I stepped inside, bending down to unlace my boots and Alex answered, “Trackers have started to go missing again.”
I sat bolt upright. “Since when?”
Alex leaned forward, his arms resting on his legs. “It started happening a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks?” I stared at them both with wide eyes. “And you didn’t think I should know about it before now?”
“We didn’t want to worry you until we knew there was a real threat. We’ve had things like this happen before. If a Tracker knows what they’re doing, they can slip their Protector…at least for a while.”
My brow crinkled in surprise. “I’d like to learn that trick.”
Alex gave me a disapproving look. “We weren’t sure if that was the case in these instances, but the number of Trackers missing has been steadily increasing. The pattern seems similar to what happened last year, before you were taken by Caleb.”
“The Amaranthine don’t know who’s doing it?”
Alex shook his head. “They’re investigating, but no leads so far.”
Unable to sit still, I stood, pacing between the couch and the wall by the stairs. I noted Alex and Emil were watching me closely. And speaking of Emil, he’d been pretty quiet. “What about the Daevos,” I asked him. “Have you heard anything about missing Trackers from them?”
Emil crossed his ankle over his knee, resting one hand on his foot. “They’re aware it’s happening, but if they know who’s doing it, no one is talking.”
Alex snorted. “If they know? Of course they do. Who else would it be?”
Emil tilted his head to the side. “W
e were the ones who figured out Caleb had been taking Trackers. The Amaranthine and Daevos didn’t have a clue who was doing it. They didn’t know then, so there’s a good chance they don’t know now.”
“Or a good chance the Daevos are using the new information they somehow learned from Caleb, and collecting their own set of Trackers in an attempt to get more power like Caleb did,” Alex scoffed.
Emil shook his head. “We’re the only people who knew what Caleb was doing.” It was clear Alex and Emil had had this discussion before, many times. “Other than you telling the Amaranthine an edited version of what happened, we’ve kept it a secret.”
Alex had said he’d been careful about the information he’d given the Amaranthine, and not told them a lot about my powers, or the fact that Caleb’s Clan had been able to penetrate his mind and take him down. I was surprised by that since it sometimes felt like Alex was more loyal to the Amaranthine than he was to me. Still, I wasn’t sure telling the Amaranthine even an edited version of the truth had been a good idea. Before Caleb died, he’d mentioned there were traitors among the Amaranthine who had given him information. I didn’t know if Alex had told the Amaranthine leaders that little fact. It seemed like there was a good possibility someone within the Amaranthine Society was still spreading their secrets around.
Alex brought up a different point, though. “We’re the only ones aware of everything that actually happened in the cave, but before we took their souls, Caleb could have told anyone about his experiments using Trackers to enhance his Clan’s powers. Maybe Caleb had a contingency plan in case something happened to him. He could have left instructions for other Clans for all we know.”
I watched the argument play out. Emil didn’t seem to believe that had happened, but he didn’t discount it either. That’s how Emil was, though. He generally thought things through and reacted calmly, unlike me and Alex, who bowed to the whims of our immediate emotions.
“So,” I said, “Trackers are missing again, no one knows why or where they are, and we’re in the same position we were four months ago—minus Caleb using me to break into Alex’s brain.” My eyes went from Emil to Alex. “I’m sure you’ve devised a plan, so let’s hear it.”
Alex and Emil looked at each other in a way I could only describe as cautious. “I’m fine. Just tell me.”
“Given everything that’s already happened,” Alex gestured from Emil to himself, “we’re not comfortable leaving you without some extra measure of protection.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “How is that different from any other day? You two never really leave me alone.”
“You’re overstating. You go to class, work, karate, and stay at the house by yourself all the time,” Alex said.
I snorted. “Whatever. You two are probably hanging out, eating popcorn and having Evie-ring-theater any time we’re apart.”
Emil stifled a smile as Alex rolled his eyes. “We only want to make sure you’re safe.”
I understood that. I just didn’t know how it changed anything. “So, what’s different about your new “save Evie” plan?”
Alex glanced at my wrist. “Your bracelet doesn’t just mask our bond,” he said. He’d given it to me after I’d been abducted and saved from Caleb’s Clan. He’d said it was a way to hide our soul mate bond so a Tracker couldn’t find it, and Daevos Clan members couldn’t sense it.
“Okkkaaay,” I answered, slowly. “So, what other special magic does it do?”
He sat taller, watching me. “It lets you contact me immediately if something’s wrong. It’s like an SOS signal. If you’re in danger, I can be there instantly.”
“So it’s the jewelry equivalent of a cell phone. I already have one of those. And you’re on speed dial. I can call you.”
“Cell phones can die, get lost, be taken, or you could be in a place where the phone has no service. The bracelet doesn’t have those limitations.”
“It can be taken off.”
Alex sliced his head to the left and pulled his lips in, licking them slowly. He held my gaze as he answered, “Not without my permission it can’t.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I didn’t know that.”
“I guess you’ve never tried to take it off.”
“Now I kind of want to.”
He shrugged like he was saying ‘too bad.’
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “This seems a little unnecessary. You already watch me with your ring, so you know if something’s wrong.”
“Yes, but I can’t watch you all the time. This way, you can alert me, and I can be there immediately.”
I stared at the pretty pink and white orchid that now seemed to be strangling my hand. It kind of felt like a bomb ticking down to the final Evie’s-lost-all-her-freedom moment, but at the same time, if it could help keep me alive, I should probably learn more. “How does it work?”
“Once I activate it, you put the index finger of your left hand on the middle of the orchid and hold it for five seconds.” He walked over to me, and reached for my wrist. He held the bracelet in his hand, muttered something in a language I’d never heard before, and seconds later, the bracelet started to chill. The feeling wasn’t unpleasant at first, but as the temperature dropped, it sent cold streams through my whole body. I started to shiver uncontrollably, and looked at Alex, concern in my eyes.
His eyes were reassuring as he held my hand and the bracelet. “It’s okay, the cold is normal. Give it a few more seconds.”
I inhaled a rattled breath, trying to calm myself and make the cold subside. Slowly, the bracelet started to warm back up, and within a few minutes, it was back to my normal body temperature like nothing had ever happened.
I glared at Alex, before glancing back at the bracelet. It looked exactly the same as before. “Some warning about that would have been nice.”
He ignored the comment. “It’s activated. That will help the situation, for now.”
I lifted my head, widening my eyes. “For now? What does that mean?” How many more magical experiments was I going to be subjected to?
“It means we’re worried, but not enough to take more intrusive steps yet.”
I laughed out loud. “More intrusive?” I waved my hand over the bracelet and then gestured to my back. “You can both already find me through our soul mate bonds—”
“—Provided no one has severed it like a few months ago,” Alex said, cutting me off. “The bracelet makes you safer.”
I shifted my weight to my other leg so I could see Emil better. I usually had an easier time reasoning with him. He trusted me to take care of myself, and gave me more leeway. It might have something to do with him watching me control Caleb’s Daevos Clan. The same Clan that had tried to take me, and kill Alex and Emil. Alex had been knocked out at the time, so he wasn’t nearly as impressed by powers he hadn’t witnessed. I’d saved Emil’s life though, so he seemed to think I was a bit more self-sufficient than Alex did. Or it could be that Emil was still working for the Daevos and wanted me to end up in a dangerous situation. That was always an option—one Alex seemed to believe some of the time—but considering the things Emil had told me and the flashbacks I’d had, I didn’t think Emil was evil.
Emil had been rather quiet throughout the discussion. “You’re okay with this?” I asked.
He licked his lips, dragging the bottom lip back with his tongue and biting it slightly as he nodded once.
I threw my arms in the air. “You’re usually the sane one!”
Emil’s mouth quirked.
“So you’re fine with my emergency bracelet contact going straight to Alex?”
Emil watched me steadily. “This is better than the other options he came up with.”
I eyed Emil warily, purposely ignoring Alex. “What other options?”
“Locking you in your bedroom and never letting you out again.”
My eyes flashed to Alex in time to see him roll his eyes. “You’re making it sound like I want her in jail.”
Sheesh. It’s a good thing I had Emil on my side. If locking me in my room was the first option Alex had wanted to take, I didn’t want to know what the steps after that would have been.
Emil shifted in his chair. “We don’t know who’s aware of your powers, Evie. That’s dangerous.”
I agreed with Emil, and was worried about leaks within the Amaranthine, but considering Alex was ready to go all Silence of the Lambs on me, I decided I needed to make a case for why the next dangerous situation shouldn’t get me locked in a pit—or bedroom. “Alex only told the Amaranthine leaders, and even that was an edited version,” I said, looking at Alex. His face remained impassive, but I thought I saw a slight tic at his temple. “No one else knows.”
Emil ran a hand through his hair, taking my attention off Alex. “We don’t know who was leaking information to Caleb within the Amaranthine. There are too many unanswered questions to be sure about that,” he said. “Neither one of us is willing to take the risk of something happening to you again.”
I laughed. “Maybe your memory is screwy, but I was the one who saved both of you from Caleb and his Clan, not the other way around. Clearly, I’m not the one in need of protection.”
Alex shook his head. “We don’t know enough about your powers to count on them working again like they did in the cave with Caleb. Have you used them since?”
No. Truthfully, I was a bit scared to try. If they did work, I probably had more power than anyone ever should, and no idea what my limitations were, or what the ramifications of using the power would be. I knew my powers weren’t normal. That was enough of a deterrent in and of itself, but what the powers could mean, and the additional danger they could cause me and those around me didn’t make me enthusiastic about exploring them.
Alex took my silence as the answer that he’d been right. “This isn’t negotiable, Evie. And it’s less protection than I wanted. We’re taking small steps here. If the danger increases, we’ll have to reevaluate.”
Eternal Echoes, Emblem of Eternity Trilogy Book 2 Page 4
