Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5)(53)
“Wait,” the One interrupted, his voice still that lazy drawl as he actually deigned to speak. I slowly peered back to his nose, waiting, and saw him take his fingers from in front of his mouth. Although, he still sat languidly on his chair, and his thumbs started tapping on the arm of it. His question was slow in coming, frying my nerves further. “Ms Jules, why didn’t you ask me about the marking on my neck?”
I blinked very gradually. That was the second mistake I had made. Because I had already known he had gotten the tattoo less than five years ago. Yet the answer of his hair had been twelve. Quickly thinking on my feet, I murmured, “When I was at the temple, I also saw you in the halls one day. You didn’t have it then, so I already knew the rough time range.”
“How old are you, Ms Jules?” he asked casually.
“Twenty-three.”
“Then you were here between four and twelve years ago.” His thumbs were still tapping. “Which means you left without receiving my protection over you.”
And that had been mistake number three, but there was no turning back from it. “Yes.”
“How did you leave the temple without my protection? No spirit would have carried you over, for the simple fact of the very position you’re in right now. No spirit Elemental is to ever be one of the Rulers—for your own protection. And by your expression right now, you fully know this.” He waited a moment, but when I didn’t speak instantly, he asked, “I will ask again. How did you leave the temple without my protection?”
I kept my inhale shallow, no believable excuse coming to mind. I rubbed a hand over my mouth, glancing down to my pad of paper. I had to tell the truth on this. There was no way to maneuver around it. “Five years ago, I was in your room. We were talking when Lissa came to the door. Before you came back inside from coddling her, I was gone.”
Ticks of silence passed by.
I swallowed hard, eventually peering up to stare at his nose. His frame had frozen completely. I explained, “You wouldn’t have let me leave, but it was supposed to be my choice. I had to take matters into my own hands. I found a way home outside of your rule.”
Mrs Damon leaned against the table again. “I don’t understand, dear. How did she get home from your room?”
The One blinked slowly, his body relaxing in gradual increments. He flicked an absent-minded hand at his mom. “That’s unimportant.” My nostrils flared with the understanding he wasn’t going to out me. His thumbs drummed on the arms of the chair again. “What is important is that she’s lying to us.”
Slow words on my part. “Excuse me?”
“Your recount of the Walkers.” More thumb bopping. “You, Ms Jules, are a terrible liar.” I heard Roselle grunt in agreement before he continued. “If you wish to know what my dad has to say, I suggest you tell us the truth.”
Chapter Twenty
I shoved away from the table, bumping Tristan’s snoozing head in the process, unable to play it cool any longer. I ran a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth, tripping over Tristan a few times. I muttered at him to move, shoving at his enormous bulk. That only earned me more rubbing on his part, his antics just as sweet as what I remembered five years ago. I stopped before he made me fall, my head dropping back.
Go figure, Tristan sat motionless next to me then.
I spoke to the ceiling in the completely still room, “Fine, it’s mortifying on my part, but I want that name. I plan to kill the bastard when I find him.” I scrubbed at my face before peering off to the side. My voice was a blistering breeze of demise. “I was the target although I refuse to believe it’s because I’m the weakest link in the chain—and I know I’m missing something in the equation.
“Anyway, Leric targeted me specifically. He played the perfect role. Somehow he knew I was the girl in the One’s bedroom five years ago, and he played off that from the very beginning. We…” I gagged, grabbing at my throat before pounding on my chest, choking to keep the bile down. “Sex…we had sex.”
I shook my head and started pacing again. My words were breathless. “Although not really. I later found out that penetration didn’t occur because he couldn’t physically get it up. He had to f*cking mind-spell me into thinking it had happened. He played my emotions, played my attraction to him…he just flat out played me.”
I sucked in a heavy breath as I continued pacing, not caring I was tripping over Tristan. I just needed to keep moving. “And I swear, no one had better say a word on how big a fool I was on that one, because I already know.” I halted, physically locking my muscles. “That’s it. My f*cking nightmare in a nutshell, truth fully unloaded.”
My chest heaved from actually having to say that all aloud. Knowing my gaze was as haunted as I f*cking felt, I turned my attention directly to Mr Damon’s shocked features. I didn’t gaze anywhere else but at him. “I want that f*cking name now.”
He inhaled heavily, his lids hooding his penetrating eyes. He glanced toward the One only for the barest moment before coming back to me, and he stated in a soothing voice, “That experience could be traumatic for anyone. Why don’t you sit down and give yourself a moment to relax, Ms Jules?”
My nostrils flared wide, and I whispered on a harsh breath, “I just wanted to come and tell you about the Walkers. You deserve to know. And I need help finding the bastard who did this. Find out why the f*ck he targeted me and give him the most painful death I can imagine. But I cannot…” I sucked in a sharp lungful of air. “I cannot sit here in the same room with,” my hand shot toward the One, “him and pretend everything is fine, when it is so clearly not.”