Isaac grabbed me just before we went on stage. “Lucian is here with her?”
“What?” My stomach flipped.
Isaac laughed. “They are in disguise. I called you over. Why didn’t you come?”
“Are you sure it was Lucian?”
“Dead fucking sure. He flipped me off when we left.”
“What did she look like?”
“She was in disguise, Blake. So not blonde hair and green eyes.”
“The brown head?” I remembered scanning over them when Tabitha spoke to me.
He nodded.
“Fuck.” I pulled my hands through my hair.
“Hey, calm down.”
“He could’ve told me he was bringing her. That fucker has an agenda.”
“Lucian?”
I nodded. “I think he is in love with her.”
“Dude, come on. Even if that is true, Lucian won’t do that to you.”
“Love does crazy things to a guy, Isaac.” I walked onto the stage and everyone cheered. Fuck if that was Elena. My mind went blank to the things that left my mouth. What did she hear?
He could’ve told me.
I picked up the mike and started singing my heart out again. Knowing that Elena was here put me on a completely different level. The audience loved it.
I couldn’t wait for the concert to end.
Around twelve, we said goodnight, and I rushed up the steps.
I stormed into the VIP section, but the spot where the guy sat was empty. I looked around, skidding over all the people. They were nowhere to be seen. My gut turned. He left because he knew Isaac was onto him. What the fuck was he playing at?
I took out my Cammy and spoke his name. He didn’t pick up, but I left him a message. “You could’ve told me, Lu? Thanks, blood brother.”
I ended the call and plopped onto the couch as my muscles pumped. We were going to speak about this and he would listen until I was done talking.
I left after; I didn’t even want to party anymore.
The fucking asshole spoiled everything. What did she hear? I knew what I didn’t say; I didn’t speak about her once as it hurt too much and we played tonight to just forget about everything.
I flew straight to Dragonia and slept until twelve the next morning.
I couldn’t wait for the wanker to come back.
He was in love with her and I didn’t trust what was leaving his mouth anymore. He could’ve told me she was coming. Why didn’t he?
Around six, while I played games, Lucian walked in. He didn’t say hello. I switched off my game and chucked my console on the cough.
“Hey, Marcus, enjoyed the show last night.”
Lucian sighed.
“You understand now why I fucking said those things to you, Lu. You know how badly I wanted to see her and you could’ve told me you would be there.”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Blake. I thought you would’ve been able to smell her, but you clearly were high.”
“I wasn’t high.”
“Oh, yeah, why didn’t you pick up her scent then?”
“I smoked one or two joints, that was it.”
“I told you not to fuck up, Blake!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” We were speaking in harsh tones. I could fucking strangle him.
“I wanted it to be a surprise, okay? When she saw you, she clarified she didn’t want to be there.”
“Why did you do this, Lu? What the fuck are you playing at, because you are fucking up the little I have with her?”
“I wanted her to pick up you are the Rubicon, okay.”
“What?”
“I get a feeling she doesn’t know you are the Rubicon.”
“Why would you think that? Of course she knows I’m the Rubicon.”
“You told her?”
“No, but I think her professors would’ve by now when she learns everything about me.”
He shook his head.
“Why do you think that?”
“She shuts the conversations off when I mention you, and then she switches right over to the Rubicon. If she knew, she wouldn’t even want to speak about him either.”
I froze. “No, she has to know.”
“I’m telling you she doesn’t. There are two months left. She is not nearly ready yet, Blake.”
“Mia is with her at the moment.”
“Yeah, well, she refuses to go into the simulator. She is fucking scared to face you, both your forms.”
He tugged his bag open and grabbed his clothes. “What was Tabitha even doing there?”
“She is just a friend.”
“With benefits?”
“No, I will not do that to her. I told you it’s over between us. Why didn’t you call me back on Saturday?”
“Because I know you would’ve been furious. Stop smoking pot. You act like a dick when you are high.”
“Fuck!” I glared at the ceiling.
“Stop messing this up, Blake. You are your own worst enemy.”
“I just wanted to let loose a bit.”
“You could do that without the weed. If you didn’t smoke it, you would’ve known that she was there.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
I nodded. I was not fixing anything. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He sighed. “I don’t know, okay?” He shrugged. “I guess a part of me wanted you to pick it up that she was there, to make her feel special. I didn’t bargain on you being high.”
I closed my eyes. “Are you in love with her?”
He chuckled. “I want to say no badly, but I can’t lie to you. And with that, I still wouldn’t do this to you. You are my blood brother. That means a lot to me, so stop thinking that I have a hidden agenda.”
“Just tell me next time.”
“Yeah, I doubt there is going to be a next time as she lost a bit of trust in me too.”
“Meaning?” I frowned.
“Meaning that she is pissed off with me, Blake, for taking her there last night. She will never go with me to any place now. So we both fucked up last night.”
He took a pair of slacks and a shirt and walked into the bathroom.
Lucian was right. Weed fucked up all my senses and I shouldn’t have smoked that two rizlas That he thought she didn’t know I was the Rubicon was alarming. No, Dad would’ve mentioned something already to her, Jako would. Why did he get that feeling then?
Mia came back, and I was desperate to speak to her. After Art of War I got a chance.
“Hey, Blake. Did you miss me?”
I smiled. “She getting any better?”
“She is. She is a fast learner. Look at the beautiful departing gift she gave me?”
I looked at the symbol on the brooch below her shoulder. It was a gracious gesture. “Can we speak for a minute?”
“I have time. What do you want to know?” We walked over to the bleachers and I sat down with a sigh.
“Speak to me. What is on your mind?”
“Does she know I’m the Rubicon?”
Mia stared at me and smiled. “Her dad asked me not to mention it yet as she struggles with dragons and he didn’t want to mess that up for you, whatever that means. But I got a feeling she doesn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, she speaks about you as if you are two entities.”
“She spoke about me?”
“The Rubicon most of the time, calling him a beasty.” She raised her eyebrows.
I laughed. It sounded so wrong.
“She refuses to go into the simulator, no matter how hard I negotiated. She’ll rather train for three hours than face you in a virtual world for an hour.”
I nodded.
“Why do you ask?”
“Lucian got the same feeling that she doesn’t know.”
“Then ask him to tell her.”
“No, Herbert might have a point. She needs to discover this one herself.”
“If you guys think it’s for the best. She reminds me a lot about her father. She had his demeanor too, but when she is serious, oh, man, it’s Catharine Squires through and through.”
“Please don’t say that?”
Mia laughed. “She is not her mother, Blake. She is light. I can see why you are so crazy about this girl. I’ll keep my eye on the Prince if I were you.”
“Yeah, he told me.”
She raised her eyebrow. “He owned up to it to you?”
I nodded. “But he said he would never do that to me.”
“He wouldn’t. Elena is a bit upset with him about some place he took her to during the weekend.”
“Yeah, to come see the Shifters play and I fucked that up too.”
“Stop fucking things up. You are your worst enemy, Blake.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I heard that one, too. Be careful what you say, I’m still a student at Dragonia.”
“Oh, whatever. You are like my little brother. Anything else?”
“Nope, thanks.”
“Anytime.” She gave me a hug, and I left as the next class entered.
It was still a hard pill to swallow to think that she did not know that I was the Rubicon.
