Page 86 of Cerulean Truth (Sapere #1)

As I walked downstairs, my eyes were drawn to the body on the couch, completely covered by a white blanket. Dale. My heart lurched in my throat. I barely knew the guy, but he had gone down fighting for my life. I owed him everything. He was dead and I hadn’t even thanked him.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay,” a small voice uttered to my right.

My jaw clenched, and my fists tightened at my sides as I turned toward my best friend and betrayer.

“What the actual fuck, Julian?” I snarled, using his Eldername. There would be no more Martin for me.

“You’re cursing now? James is rubbing off on you.” He smiled sadly.

“You think this is funny? You left us in the middle of a fight!” I was yelling. I hadn’t intended to, but with all the emotions coursing through me, yelling was all I had. “Why? Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because there was only one way for us to get out of Alliance alive, and I had to go procure it!” He didn’t yell back, but his voice was raised.

“Procure? What?”

“You need to ask James to lift the bubble on this cabin,” he interrupted me.

My eyebrow shot up. “And am I graced with any explanation as to why?”

“Because the United Chiefs are standing outside, after having eliminated the rest of the Board.”

I stilled. “What? The United Chiefs are here?”

He nodded. “They are on our side. They’ve just finished rounding up the remaining Board members and forced them to lift the bubble. But they can’t get into this cabin; James has to lift his bubble.”

“James is…” I swallowed. The words stuck in my throat, making it hard to breathe. “Hurt.”

Julian blinked. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” a voice snarled behind us. I pivoted quickly, finding James clutching Maurice as they approached us. “I’ll be even better after I’ve strangled you to death with your own dick. You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face here again.”

I hurried over to him, supporting him before his body could give out.

“Why didn’t you keep him in bed?” I sneered at Maurice, my voice filled with worry.

“You want to try keeping him there? Be my guest.”

My eyes found James’s. “Just let it go for now. We’ll talk about this later,” I pleaded.

James’s gaze hardened. “Let it go? Let it go ? What, like I’m some godsdamn Disney character from Frozen? He left us in the middle of battle !”

I had no idea where his voice got that kind of strength because he looked like he was about to drop dead any second. I growled, taking a page from James. “Will you calm down and go back upstairs before you fucking die on me?”

James’s eyes widened at my curse. Maurice gasped a little, and I rolled my eyes at their exaggerated response. “Oh come on, it’s not like I’ve been Princess Proper until now.”

James’s rebuttal was lost when his legs gave out. I nearly screamed.

“James, lift the godsdamn bubble so we can portal you home!” Maurice yelled, still supporting James’s entire weight while I feverishly checked his side. The bandages holding his wound were darkening quickly with an almost cardinal color.

“James!” I whimpered pleadingly. “Please!”

James’s eyes were closing, but he took a deep breath and conjured up his beautiful cerulean haze.

The next few minutes happened so quickly, I could barely catch my breath. Maurice portaled out with Maria and James, yelling at Julian to portal me out.

The United Chiefs barged in, and I quickly explained Dale’s death, asking them to delay the rest of our conversation until after James and Maria recovered. They granted my request and took Dale’s body with them.

Julian grabbed my arm and portaled us to Cyclos, arriving two steps from my dorm.

As soon as my feet landed on firm ground, I wrestled my arm free from his grip and shot him a glare, unwilling to release my anger just yet.

“Take me to James. Now!” I demanded.

Julian shook his head. “Maurice has taken James and Maria to the Basilica. He'll let us know when they're ready for us. But before then, I need to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you,” I hissed, my frustration bubbling over.

“Please, Emma. I can’t stand you being this angry with me. Just let me explain…?”

I shook my head stubbornly.

“Hear me out. If you're still angry after, I promise I'll leave you alone.”

I sighed deeply, my exhaustion beginning to outweigh my stubbornness. “Fine, you have five minutes,” I grumbled, opening the door to my dorm.

Motioning for him to follow, I stepped inside and closed the door behind us, shooting Julian a pointed look, silently urging him to make his explanation quick.

Julian took a deep breath, wasting no time.

“When the Board uttered their reasons for wanting you there, I realized there was no way we would get out of Alliance alive. Even if we won the battle at the Main Cave, which I was fairly certain you would even without me, there was no way we’d ever get off the blasted island.

The Board was about to bubble us in; I had mere seconds to decide.

So I portaled out before the bubble and got in touch with the United Chiefs. ”

He paused, and I motioned for him reluctantly to continue.

Julian sat down on my bed. “Being the Elder has its perks. I found them near the Asian border, still tracking down the Radicals responsible for using the Amplifier. When I interpellated them, they listened to what I had to say, believing me without a doubt when I told them about the intentions of the Board. They followed me into Alliance.”

I sat down next to him. “How did you portal back in?”

Julian shook his head. “We didn’t. We couldn’t because of the bubble, so we portaled into France and came by human transportation. That’s why it took us until morning to get there.”

I wanted to stay angry at him, but his explanation was starting to make sense. Darn it.

“So they followed you into Alliance, gathered the Board, and what? Just killed them all off?”

Julian shrugged. “I wasn’t too invested into the details of their approach. All I know is, by the time I got to the cabin on foot, the Board’s bubble was lifted.”

I sighed deeply. “So you actually saved us?”

“I tried to. I know I shouldn’t have left you during battle, but?”

“If you hadn’t, we’d still be stuck on that island, probably watching James and Maria die from their injuries,” I finished for him.

Julian nodded, his eyes still filled with guilt.

I rolled my eyes and nudged his ribs with my elbow. “Fine,” I conceded gruffly, “You’re forgiven. Maybe next time, clue us in on your plan?”

Julian grinned. “I promise. Can I hug you now? I’m so relieved you’re okay!”

I shook my head, hiding my smirk, then opened my arms, and he hugged me, his relief palpable.

Just then, my door was flung open with a rough and loud movement.

James stood in the doorway, his eyes so dark that I almost buckled under his intense glare. Any relief I felt about his miraculous healing was quickly overshadowed as he stared down Julian, clearly assessing the best way to murder him on the spot.

“James,” I whispered, “it isn’t what we thought.”

“Not what we thought? He left us there to die !” James’s voice was strained, his breaths coming in hard.

His eyes narrowed, now fixed on me as he spoke. “He left you …”

“He found a way to get us out,” I hissed, “to get you out. Just in time, I might add!”

James’s hard stare bored into my face, the realization of my words hitting him like a physical blow. “You’ve forgiven him?” he snarled, his voice dripping with shocked disbelief, his beautiful features now etched with raw emotion.

I nodded softly, the weight of my forgiveness heavy in the air. “Just hear him out, James. It sounds like he had a good reason to leave. And he did get us out…”

James blinked, his eyes reflecting a tumult of emotions, his expression contorting as if my words were a knife to his heart.

Without another word, James drew a portal with one swift motion. Less than a second later, he had vanished from my dorm as Julian and I were left in stunned silence on the bed, a sense of doom lingering in the room that his sudden departure was but the calm preceding unavoidable chaos.