Part 23 (1/2)
”Yep. I capture them on canvas.”
He had paintings of me? Now I was intrigued. ”You paint?”
”Beautifully.”
”Yeah. Right.”
”I have it from a reliable source that I'm a brilliant artist.” He grinned as though enjoying a private joke. ”So, you'll come?”
”No. I have guards with me all the time, you know.” That sounded like I wanted to meet him. ”And I can't meet with someone whose name I don't know.”
He shrugged. ”You do a good job of ditching your guards all the time, and Green Eyes is a perfect name for me.”
How did he know? ”You listened to my thoughts?”
He rocked on his heels and made the bubble wiggle. ”Nope. I've heard you use it.”
”I've never mentioned that name to anyone.” I wanted to cross my arms and lean against the bubble, but I was sure I'd fall into the water. I didn't believe I was controlling the water. He was. He had to be. If I got inside his head and listened to his thoughts, I could get my answers.
”You don't want to do that, Lil,” he warned.
I pointed at him. ”Ha. Gotcha. You just read my thoughts.”
”No, I didn't. The gleam in your eyes said you were thinking naughty thoughts and I was the subject.”
”You wish.”
Grinning, he closed the gap between us. I didn't feel threatened or scared, but for some reason I stopped breathing, which was really stupid. I could feel his warmth. It was strangely comforting, yet exciting. He reached up and twirled a lock of my wet hair.
”Dreams aside, do you think about me at all, Lil?”
”All the time,” I said.
He chuckled and lowered his head. I knew he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to. I'd thought of us making out and always dismissed my thoughts and feelings accompanying them as impractical. I was the princess and he was a minion.
”Not the way you're thinking,” I lied. ”You knew me before the battle with the Archangels and I don't remember anything. Will you tell me about how we met?” And why I keep dreaming about you, I wanted to add. Every time I looked into his eyes, heard his voice, even thought about him, I heard echoes of my lost memories. Like all I had to do was focus hard and I'd remember. Except I never did. Some days the feelings were strong, but other times, they were hardly there.
”I can't.” He stepped away from me. ”You should head back to the sh.o.r.e.”
I didn't want to leave yet. ”Why can't you tell me?”
”Because you are on a journey, and anything I say will interfere with it.”
”What journey?”
He shook his head.
Getting frustrated, I asked, ”Did we meet when I was on the road with the old man?”
He frowned. ”Old man?”
”Master Kenta told me I was raised by an old man, a Cardinal Psi Guardian. Is that how we met?”
His eyes narrowed. ”When did he tell you this?”
”Does it matter?”
”What else did he tell you?”
I gave him an overview of what I'd learned about my life with the Guardians. He didn't interrupt, but his eyes flashed. I didn't have to be an empath to know he was furious. For the first time since we had sunk to the bottom of the sea, I was scared. Not of him, but of what he might do.
”I, uh, think you're right. I should teleport back to the beach,” I said.
”Don't believe everything that b.a.s.t.a.r.d tells you,” he ground out.
”Then tell me the truth. Why don't you like him?”
He opened his mouth as though to speak, then clammed up and glared into s.p.a.ce.
”I don't get it,” I said. ”You know about my past but you won't tell me. You warn me about people but don't explain why. You encourage me to do things, then you disappear. You talk about my journey, and then you won't explain. What's going on?”
He glowered without responding.
”Seraph's mother said you always bring them supplies and then disappear. She said you did the same thing on Coronis Isle. Where do you go? Where do you live?”
”The lowest sublevel, where little princesses are too scared to visit. Have you ever visited the sublevels below the warehouses?”
His att.i.tude was p.i.s.sing me off. ”Don't make this about me just because you don't want me to know your secrets.”
He angled his head and smiled as though my anger amused him. ”They're doing a psi sweep. Go. Teleport to the beach before they find you down here.”
”No. Let them find us.”
He wiggled his fingers in a goodbye. ”See you at the library tonight. I'll bring the paintings.”
I thought he was going to teleport. Instead, the bubble rose, leaving him behind. The water swirled around him. He still stood on the ocean floor, confirming what I'd suspected all along. He was the one manipulating the water.
I teleported to the sh.o.r.e and appeared beside the minion elders, startling them. Guards and minions appeared around me, their concerns impossible to escape.
”I'm okay,” I rea.s.sured them. ”Sorry for scaring everyone.”
”Scare? Let's talk about full-blown panic,” Katia scolded. ”I was about to telepath Lady Nemea. I don't care if you can control water, air, land, and everything in between. You don't just disappear like that. We thought the Guardians-”
I hugged her. ”I'm here and I'm fine.” I stepped back, my eyes volleying between Katia and Lottius. ”I got carried away. It was so beautiful down there.” Except for the last few moments.
”We both tried to contact you, but it was as though you were gone,” Katia said.