The Emerald Talisman Read Online Free PDF

was he doing in
the woods at this time of night? And what happened to the person he
fought on the trail?
    It seemed odd for him to be at the right
place at the right time to save me from my demise. That kind of
stuff only happened in movies. I felt the urge to ask him my
questions until I caught a whiff of his scent. I knew it wasn’t
cologne, but his natural masculine smell that made me secretly
swoon. I buried my nose close to his collar and inhaled. With my
eyes closed and my mind in pure bliss, I almost fell off when he
spoke.
    “What were you doing wandering around the
woods alone at night?” he asked.
    My eyes flew open and I froze for a minute,
trying to be inconspicuous when turning my face away from his
neck.
    “I was just going to ask you the same thing,”
I blurted out.
    “I asked first,” he said with a smile in his
voice.
    “I ran out of gas and I was sorta taking a
short cut home.”
    When I uttered the words, I felt like a
complete moron.
    “I see,” he said softly.
    I could tell he wasn’t impressed and I wanted
to crawl into a hole. I desperately tried to think of something
clever to say, but nothing came to mind.
    “And you?”
    “I heard you calling for help, so I
came.”
    “Do you live near by?”
    “No… not really.”
    Tension slinked into the air and I felt my
questions weren’t welcome – like he didn’t want to tell me why he
was in the woods. This time my curiosity got the better of me and I
couldn’t let it go.
    “So what were you doing?” I asked, gauging
the atmosphere carefully.
    Ever so slightly, he exuded a twinge of
panic, followed by frustration. “Like I said, I was in the area,
heard you scream and then call for help. Did you not want me to
help you?”
    “Well, yes… of course.” I bit my lip. “I
heard a lot of noises before you were able to get to me. What were
you doing?”
    He chuckled and I felt unnerved, thinking I
asked a stupid question.
    “ It put up a fight. I almost didn’t
get to you in time.”
    I hesitated before asking him what I really
wanted to know. If he insisted my attacker to be an animal, then
I’d sense his deception. And if he chose to lie to me, then no
matter how much I enjoyed his company, this would be our final
meeting. I didn’t make friends with liars, especially compulsive
ones.
    “I was going to ask you about that…you said
it was an animal?”
    I felt his disdain and then his
curiosity.
    “Didn’t you see it?”
    “No…. actually, I didn’t.”
    My mind raced as the tables turned. He was
very happy about the fact I didn’t see anything and I hoped he
wouldn’t ask anymore details. If I had to make up a story on the
spot about why I ran, I would surely botch it up. Without revealing
my insight, it would be hard to explain how I could know to run
from an unknown, unseen predator and then I’d be the liar.
    He exuded a huge sense of relief.
    “Well, it’s gone now. So you don’t need to
worry about it anymore.”
    I clamped my lips closed to stop my gasp. I
knew for a fact he fought a person because my powers didn’t cross
over to animals. But why couldn’t I sense he was lying?
    “I need to warn my neighbors,” I blurted
out.
    “You do?” he said in alarm. “Why?”
    “Because that dangerous animal is still out
there.”
    He stopped, slid me off his back and turned
to face me, his hands holding my shoulders. I suddenly felt
self-conscience not knowing if mascara or dirt covered my face,
electrified by his touch. I peered into his emerald eyes. My breath
caught in my throat. He squinted and looked deeply into mine.
    “I promise it’s nothing to worry about, okay?
I’d rather no one knew about it.”
    My throat constricted in anger. I was tired
of this charade and frustrated my powers couldn’t reveal the lies
he told. And now, he wanted me to cover it up too? I actually
didn’t want my dad to know anything about the stalker part of my
evening, but I needed to know what actually happened first.
    “You