The Emerald Talisman Read Online Free PDF Page B

can tell me,” I pleaded.
    He let out a large sigh while he stood there,
lips pursed, still looking directly at me with an expression that
conveyed the message I should just trust him. But I wanted to know,
no, needed to know. The thing he defended me from stalked me after all. I held his gaze determined not back down.
    “Fine, if you must know,” he said coolly. “It
was a small mountain lion and I had to kill it before it hurt
you.”
    This time I felt it for sure. Something in
his story was not true – his feelings definitely betrayed him. My
powers weren’t broken after all. Problem was I didn’t know which
parts were the lies.
    He said it was an animal earlier and I sensed
that to be true. But now, when he said it was a mountain lion, he
lied? Or maybe he didn’t actually kill it, but scared it away. I
had no clue and the story was getting more and more convoluted with
each clarification.
    Were my powers shorting out, or worse –
crossing over into the animal kingdom? I never saw anyone, so I
couldn’t know for sure. It would explain a lot if a blood thirsty
animal stalked me. I couldn’t imagine anyone who’d have feelings
like it did – totally unnatural and animalistic, but even
still, I couldn’t confront him without revealing my secret.
    “Okay,” I said, giving up.
    I looked away. Lying or not, his eyes were
the most exquisite green imaginable and I couldn’t handle them
looking into the depths of my soul any longer. I felt powerless
against them.
    Then we had an awkward pause. I stood there,
with all my weight on one foot, not sure of what to say. Luckily,
he broke the silence.
    “Do you want me to continue carrying you?” he
asked.
    I looked up. He smiled and his eyes were kind
again. It made it hard to stay frustrated with him.
    “Yes,” I murmured, annoyed he wouldn’t trust
me.
    Again, he helped me onto his back and slowly
walked down the road carrying me. I noticed the soothing warmth
return again – something about being close to him, made all the
confusion drift away. I fought to stay centered, still remembering
I needed to figure out a way to get him to honestly answer my
questions when a vision of a bloodied dead cat came to focus.
    “Someone’s going to find it.”
    “Find what?” he said, sounding confused.
    “The dead mountain lion?”
    “I said I’d take care of it,” he said in an
irritated tone.
    “When?” I bit my lip, purposely pressing my
luck.
    “Julia, please. Just let me worry about it,”
he snapped.
    Julia? My heart skipped a beat.
    “How do you know my name?”
    He tensed his back.
    “I know your name because we’ve met
before.”
    This caught me off guard.
    “We have? When?”
    “It was a while back.”
    I searched through my memories looking for
his face and came up blank. Yet his eyes, they seemed so familiar.
There was something that sparked inside me every time he looked at
me, but I couldn’t place what it was exactly.
    “Well, I feel bad. I don’t remember meeting
you—or your name.”
    “Nicholas.”
    Nicholas . I sighed. As I repeated his
name in my mind, it instantly became the most beautiful word in the
English language.
    “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, again .”
    I was happy he couldn’t see me blushing but
then I chastised myself. What in the heck was I doing? I couldn’t
let myself get emotionally attached when he wasn’t being completely
honest with me. Where was my better judgment?
    It probably flew out the window the same time
you decided to trek through the forest.
    My desire for him showed plainly on my face,
so I was thankful he couldn’t see me. I’d never understood the
attraction some girls felt for ‘bad boys’ and prided myself in
staying away from them. Of course my gift usually tipped me off.
But Nicholas was different.
    I never felt so drawn to someone before. His
pull felt almost magnetic and every moment we stayed close to each
other, the connection drew stronger. It frightened and electrified
me at the