Page 23 of Cerulean Truth (Sapere #1)

NINE

EMMA

It had been three days and two nights of deafening silence from both James and Stephen. They dropped a life-altering bombshell on me and then they vanished without a trace.

When you tell someone they might be a magician, potentially requiring them to sever all ties with their existing world and life, common courtesy dictates you darn well follow up!

My frustration grew with each passing day, and I found myself tempted to recite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to them, reminding them, even in their mysterious magi world, torture should not be allowed.

It made me wonder if they had a Universal Declaration of Magi Rights but considering their complete silence toward me, I didn't even have the chance to ask.

The text message I had sent to James had also gone unanswered.

Finally, late on Wednesday afternoon, James managed to carve out a small window in his busy schedule to call me.

I was sitting back at my desk at the firm, slogging through another one of my last internship days.

My enthusiasm for the legal profession had waned significantly since learning about my potential connection to the magi world, but I still put in the work, hopeful James might find a way to bridge both worlds, as he had hinted.

When his name appeared on my screen a little after seven p.m., my heart leaped. And to be honest, my nervousness wasn't solely due to the news he was about to deliver.

I took a deep breath and answered the call.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi Emma, it’s James. I have some news," came the voice on the other end.

"Yes?" I responded, realizing he hadn't said "good news."

James took a deep breath before speaking.

"Look, I tried, but the political climate is as such that nobody wants to take a risk right now, and you mean risky business as it is.

I'm really sorry, but you've got about two weeks to cut all ties with your world, and we're counting on you to show up around the 20th of this month.

You can still stay in touch with your parents, but you can't visit them and you can’t spill the beans about where you're headed or anything magi related.

At least not for the first year. Maybe it will change down the line, but for now, the Council feels like they need to do some damage control, and you've gotta come in as soon as possible.

Two weeks is all I could wrangle out of them. "

I remained silent for a moment before James asked, "You still there?"

"Yeah," I muttered.

"Are you okay?" he inquired.

I let out a desperate laugh. "Are you kidding me? How could I be okay? How is any of this okay? You expect me to uproot my entire life, to break off from all my friends and family and I can’t even give them a proper explanation?

No, I’m not okay! And frankly, I’m not very likely to comply either," I said, growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of empathy in their ruling.

James sighed. "I understand, Emma, this has to be incredibly rough for you. But there's no other way around it, we're stuck with this. It's just the way it's got to be, for the time being. Tell everyone you're taking a year-long leave, and we'll figure it out next year."

"What are the odds of my situation changing so drastically that in a year I’ll be able to tell them otherwise?" I retorted.

"Maybe not your own situation but things here… are happening. Look, it’s difficult to explain, just get it done. If you need me, call me," James replied calmly, not sounding as impatient as I had expected.

My heart raced at his last sentence. "Okay…thank you…"

"Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. I’ll see you later.”

"Wait! Don’t I have to find an apartment or something? Where do I even have to go?" I panicked.

"Don’t worry about it, I’ll arrange everything for you on my side of things, you focus on your arrangements there," James assured me.

"Okay…thank you…again," I stammered.

"No problem. I'll call you back next week, take care," James said before ending the call.

I kept the phone in my hand after he hung up.

Even in delivering me bad news, he had managed to be kind of dreamy.

His voice had soothed me even in bringing me dreadful news.

I closed my eyes for a moment, lost in memories of James, his hand delicately brushing away strands of hair from my face.

The desire to experience the sensation of kissing him lingered in my thoughts.

"Geez, Emma, get a grip!" I groaned, shaking off the romantic reverie. I retrieved my notebook and began listing everything I needed to do to orchestrate a clean break from my current life. Where on earth should I even begin?

My first order of business was to terminate my internship, which instilled some hesitation on my part.

With all the required credits in my pocket, theoretically, I could bypass the remaining law school classes and have my degree sent over by mail. Terminating the internship, however, was a more definitive move—like a breakup—albeit one with fewer tears and more paperwork.

Last but certainly least, I had to figure out how to reveal my grand escape to friends and extended family.

I placed my trust in the parental unit to handle the surely exhilarating discussions with the extended clan, but I needed a game plan for my friends, or, in more accurate terms, my limited collection of social acquaintances.

My mind couldn't help but drift to dear Lisa, who I imagined would throw an Oscar-worthy fit. The rest of the gang were mostly her loyal subjects, not exactly my devoted fan club, so I doubted they'd lose any sleep over it.

Other than Lisa, the only person I've ever managed to forge a genuine, lasting friendship with was Martin. But it’d been so long since we crossed paths, we might’ve needed a history book to reminisce about our encounters.

I remembered Martin with great fondness though; the handsome African-American boy with big, expressive brown eyes.

During our primary school years, he had valiantly shielded me from the bullies when my female parts decided to grow a bit earlier than expected, for which I was eternally grateful.

For the shielding I mean, not for the early growths.

It saddened me to realize I had lost touch with him for so long, but on the bright side, it meant one less person I had to deceive about my “magical” departure.

A week after the phone call with James, I had done most of it.

Telling my parents I had an academic prospection which would take me a year abroad with a special professor, was, of course, a shining beacon of truth and honesty.

I explained I couldn't divulge many details because it was all part of a top-secret case, and they needed to respect my professional secrecy.

Not only did they not utter a single roar of indignation, they dared to commit the inexcusable crime of hugging me in response and expressing their pride. I felt like shit.

Still clinging to a glimmer of hope, even though deep down I knew better, I figured a year of training might suffice for me to return.

After all, all I needed to do was gain control over my powers, become non-threatening, and then, of course, the welcome mat would be rolled out for my triumphant return.

So, as planned, I concocted a bullshit story for Lisa’s disciples, explaining I was embarking on a year abroad. They were all very nice about it, but lying to Lisa was a whole different story.

She was pissed with a huge P for not letting her know sooner I planned to leave the country, and she didn’t believe me when I told her it was a recent development.

Thanks to my impeccable guilt display which Lisa's radar could detect from a mile away, she grew convinced I was lying and the whole thing blew up.

I didn’t want to leave on that note but she was stubborn and I was actually lying, so there wasn’t much I could do to fix it. I felt like shit. Again.

Then I had to actually pack up my life. I had no idea where I would live or how and what I had to bring. Did I only need clothes? Or did I have to properly move furniture with a moving van and everything?

So a few days before the actual move, I bravely put on my big girl pants and graced James with another call.

He answered the phone with a simple hello but his voice had my stomach somersaulting a few times.

"Um, hi James, it’s Emma… Emma Thompson, not the actress."

He snorted sarcastically. "Hi Emma, yeah, wasn’t really expecting a call from the other one."

"So yeah, sorry for bothering you but I was trying to pack and found myself wondering what to bring. And then I sort of realized I don’t even know where I am going to live, and I know you are arranging all of it, but I was hoping maybe you could give me some information?" Why was I rambling again?

"Emma, calm down. I found you a private furnished dorm at the Universitas. I figured, as you would probably spend most of your time there, it would be more practical to live there as well. You are of course allowed to change your living arrangements on arrival but?—"

I hurried my answers, as not to bother him too long. "No no, a furnished dorm is perfect. It means I don’t have to move a lot of stuff. Which is actually kind of great, thanks!"

"Okay, well, I will come pick you up next Tuesday morning."

I hesitated. "Um… you would come pick me up?"

He paused, then responded in an icier tone. "Yes, is that a problem?"

Taken aback by his sudden distant tone, I stuttered. "Um…well... I was sort of hoping Stephen could maybe pick me up?"

He snorted at me in contempt. "Stephen is an international hero, and one of our foremost Specialists, you think he will make the trip solely to come pick you up? You are lucky I even considered to come for you, usually we send a Defensive to go pick up the Humanborns."