Evanescent by Carlyle Labuschagne Page A

make me so mad?”
    He beckoned me to him with a finger, slowly moving forward. “Come here, cutie.”
    I flushed, expecting a kiss, but he pulled my head to his strong chest instead of kissing me. Sensations rippled all over my body. I took in his scent, drowned in his embrace, listened to the familiar beat of his heart and used it to slow my own.
    “So?” he asked glumly.
    I pulled back. Our eyes met briefly, and we silently nodded to each other.
    He wanted to talk.
    “I know,” I said, and blew out the frustration with a heavy sigh.
    He crossed his arms over his chest and prompted by saying, “Tell me.” Like it was some kind of interrogation, because it was starting to feel like one. But all my mind was focusing on was the second his touch left me. I felt alone.
    “What would you like to know?”
    “Tell me what he has on you that I don’t.” He turned my chin so my eyes met his; he wanted me to see how hurt he was.
    “It’s not like that,” I said quickly, and all I could think about was the fact that he had killed our moment.
    I moved from his personal space, furious that he wanted to talk about it right then and there when we could have been kissing or whatever, instead of playing this back and forth game.
    “So, when would you like to talk about it?” he repeated, staring at me.
    “Stop reading my mind, Troy.”
    He frowned. “I wasn’t, it was written all over you face.”
    “Well, you kind of just ruined the moment.”
    “Wasn’t it good for you?” he asked bluntly, spinning the metal tip of his blade on the glass panel.
    “Yeah, but I wanted it to last longer. It’s always up and down with you!” I spat, like it wasn’t that obvious.
    “Yeah, well, we can’t get everything we want all the time.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?” Why was he being so mean to me?
    He looked away, but said, “Nothing.”
    “Say it. I can take it!” I said, stomping my foot.
    He turned, his face clearly showing a scowl. “I shouldn’t have to say it, Ava.” He sat back in his seat once again, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
    I had already hurt him. Why couldn’t I be honest with him anymore? What had changed between us? I used to love being honest with him. I didn’t understand why I felt the need to lie.
    “Tell me what I can do to fix it,” I said ashamed.
    “You know what you have to do.” He looked to me and when I didn’t answer, drew his eyes to his device, placing it in his ear.
    “Why can’t you ever give me a straight answer?” I blurted, now furious because I wasn’t sure what to say, I needed him to draw it from me.
    “Strap yourself in, we have a reply,” he stated, ignoring me.
    I huffed.
    “What about the tracker?” I wanted to stay a little longer, because I felt him slip from me a little bit more.
    “I think my scanner is broken, it’s not picking up anything. In fact, it’s gone haywire and is picking up signals where it shouldn’t.”
    I stared at my hand. I didn’t want the Council watching me anymore.

    On our decent back into the atmosphere, I had some time to mull things over in my head, things that threatened to throw the balance I was already trying so hard to obtain. What had happened to me to feel this ? The memories flooded back, one painful surge at a time – they could not be real, these things never happened! My chest was pulling tight again. I pressed my hands to my head, trying to push it away. I steadied my arms against my body. The betrayal, the brutal, careless attacks… I needed to control my emotions, get a hold of them, figure out what my instinct had in store for me, and how I could get a grasp on it before it took me. My disease was using my pain against me. I could feel the lingering of the blood-shift within me. Little did I know exactly what it was at the time, or what it meant. But somehow, the blood-shift was using my instinct as a trigger to release its poison. I didn’t want any part of it, but without it, I was weak. Its