The Fake Heart (Time Alchemist Series) (23 page)

I stood in the middle of the room and extended my hands. Dove took a hesitant step forward and grasped mine in her soft hands. I felt a strange, comforting energy coming from her, seeping into my skin. After a while, Leon also
approached, diffidently, like a cautious stray dog ready to jump away from the warm hand that feeds it until his own hand grasped mine in a tight clench
. There was a cooler energy of sort from him also that came into me.

For the first time in a
long time since I came to St. Mary’s, I felt content.

And safe, knowing that I have two allies on my side.

CHAPTER 20

After our pact, I laid down the
Official Emery Miller L
aw: the first and most important
was there would be
absolutely
No Fighting Whatsoever.
This was very important because Leon certainly had the advantage, as Dove had no alchemy, not to mention how many other people could get involved accidentally because of their “bickering”.

The second
, obviously,
is that we would all work to find the Elixir together (this was obvious).
Teamwork makes a dream work, right?
Dove would focus on
the
journal and Leon would scout the grounds around St. Mary’s and Savannah for clues (being a helper of the groundskeeper, he was sent out a lot on errands to pick up things). I focused on my schoolwork and the precious times I had with Jack. Every other chance I got alone, I would practice my alchemy.

I could now get to nearly ten
seconds of slowing down time. I couldn’t, however, figure out a way to stop time like I had before, or speed it up. But I’ll take what I get, one step at a time.

I could tell Dove was not happy with the arrangements, but she respected them anyway. Although I couldn’t blame her, considering her brother’s sword was aimed at her, but instead hit me. She must have felt guilty.
Leon also felt it. He knew what he did was wrong and he was trying to
o
hard to fix it. Even talking with Dove, who would give him the cold shoulder or a snide remark occasionally, but he never ventured t
oo far in. He felt immensely
guilty at my almost-death.

The thing is, they both felt guilty for the same reasons, but they couldn’t see it. Dove was angry at Leon, Leon was upset at Dove. A lose/lose situation. It was l
ike treading on broken glass
whenever those two where in the same room (and it was normally my dorm room).

This continued for the rest of Nove
mber, and through the start
of December. Dove had said she was almost finished with translating the journal pages (they must have been a lot harder than I thought, considerin
g she spent practically three and
a half weeks working on them!), and even Leon boasted about some of the places in Savanna
h that he remembered Guinevere
mentioned long ago, although he could never shake the pain in his eyes. Dove was the same. When she finished translating the papers, her eyes were misty as she gave them to me. “It’s only fair,” she had said, “That you’re
just as much a part of this as
we are.”

We knew we were one step closer to finding the Elixir. The real question was, would we all hold out until then?

◊◊◊◊◊

During a lazy Tuesday afternoon after classes, I headed towards the library to do two very important things: look over the sections of Guinevere’s journal that Dove had roughly translated to see if I could help. It was a long shot—we both knew that—but it was the only thing I could offer to help with.

And of course, the second most important thing was my little “study” date with Jack. I had already informed Dove I would be working in the library (excluding who I was with) and told her to behave if Leon happened to show up. My feet couldn’t move fast enough as I crossed the grounds to the large library.  The brown, frosted grass crunched beneath my boots as the wind stung my cheeks. I was excited to see what kind of things an old and powerful immortal alchemist would write about, but it overpowered my bubbling feelings to be in Jack’s arms.
Selfish, yes, but it was the truth.

Ever since I was attacked in the
woods, there was a small knot
of fear inside me whenever I s
tepped outside. I never took that
pathway again, and
I
would either walk with a few girls from my class to the next buildings or run like hell. I didn’t want to take any chances, because who knew when the ice alchemist would get impatient when trying to find the Elixir. What if other students got hurt because of that?

Call me crazy, but if I had to choose between getting caught in a war of alchemy or go mushy and gushy for a boy, at this moment, he won.
Hands down.
Maybe it’s because we’ve hardly had any time together since he came back from Thanksgiving break. He was always busy with
his meets
and it seems like he had a lot of studying to do for the finals. Juniors had it especially rough here in St. Mary’s, kind of like at most high schools were it was all studying and filling out college applications. Seniors pretty much got to take it easy and party and have fun most of the year.
But I guess if you were a true-
bred St. Mary’s student, starting from their nursery program all the way through high school you were entitled to that sort of freedom.

Which really made an outsider like me stick out.

And it made me a little bit…selfish, I guess. I knew he was busy but I still got a little upset every time he had to postpone a date or lunch together. But then again, how many times had I had to call it in early because my stupid fake heart was on the verge of exploding from sheer happiness, or I was literally too busy to go anywhere babysitting the
alchemy duo and my own studies?

So I guess we were even.
A
lthough
,
it would help if Mallory
wasn’t being so snide about it
.
If I had to hear about her bragging in the lounge
one more time
about how all the j
uniors get to go on a
deluxe cruise to the Caribbean
’s during Winter Break to celebrate finals I was going to rip her hair out, strand by strand.

I slammed the door to the library open, enveloped in warmth. My bag was unusually heavy on my shoulder from the brisk walk, and I couldn’t wait to bounce up the stairs and into Jack’s arms and just relax. I
waved to one of the librarian’s
working the front and pounded up the stairs
all the way
to the
third story. I reached it in ten seconds flat
, out of breath, but was grateful that it was
mostly
empty, save for a few study groups in the corners and one guys snoring away in the middle of the bookshelves.

I spotted Jack near the right corner
—our usual place and the same corner that we studied together the very first week of classes (how romantic, right?)
and he waved. My heart did a flip flop at his smile as I walked over, trying to mentally tell myself to chill. My silver bracelet shifted against my flushed skin, as he embraced me, giving me a lingering kiss on my lips.

He pulled away, my lips still tingling, and tugging me onto the couch, “Ready to start?”

“Oh yes, definitely!” I didn’t even try to contain the huge, goofy grin on my face as we cuddled together, doing e
verything but studying that whole
hour.

◊◊◊◊◊

The naked branches outside the window swayed in the crazy breeze, and dark gray clouds swirled in the sky like shady cotton candy. But inside the library and resting snug against Jack’s radiating body, I felt at peace. For that one moment I let myself forget alchemy, and the dangers of it, and the Elixir and Dove and Leon’s fight. Right now, it was just Emery and Jack….Emery and Jack….Emery and Jack—

A loud beep rang from Jack’s back pocket, and he grinned sheepishly, digging it out. I pushed myself away from his chest to give
him
room, instantly wanting to snuggle back into the warm
th
and breathe in his heavy cologne. His smile disappeared when his
faded charcoal
colored eyes scanned the message on his phone, and he cursed under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, placing a hand on his knee. He shook his head, covering my hand with his large calloused ones.

“It’s someone from track,” he said, a hint of irritation in his voice, “Coach wants us all to meet up at the gym and
talk about next semesters season. What for? We have three whole months to prepare; plus all of this studying.
Why now all of a sudden,
dammit
?”

“Maybe he just wants y
ou all to be ready for next semester
,” I tried, but I couldn’t help but feel agitated at the unfairness. What kind of coach does that? I guess a seriously dedicated one, but still. Jack had a personal life, and I was so busy with my studying and training, I hardly got to spend any time with him. After their last marathon
the previous
Saturday, the school’s track season was officially done, and wouldn’t resume until March. Now he was being ripped away from my arms. “You should go.”

“I don’t want to, but I…geez, this sucks! I hardly get to see you,” he said, kissing my forehead, “I thought with the semester coming to an end, all we’d have to worry about is finals, but now this?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said before pressing my lips against his again, “We have all the time in the world.”
I hope.

He nodded solemnly. “I guess. Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm before I head out?”

I declined his offer as he gathered his things, feeling the balloon of dread expand in my gut. This sucks. This really, really sucks. It was like God was against me today.
Or the past month.
Scratch that, the past four months.

Well
, I thought bitterly as he kissed my forehead with those soft lips of his,
a
t least it wasn’t Mallory texting
him for some stupid party invitation.
It was moments like these that made me realize just how beyond sad it was that I was practically the only girl on campus who lacked a phone.

“Wait! I almost forgot!”

“You?
Forget something?” I teased. He grinned, ruffling my hair like a child, something he always does when I make fun of his old fashioned, gentlemen ways. Jack fidgeted with the strap of his bag before taking my hand in his. “Emery Miller, will you go to the Winter Formal with me?”

The floor seemed to tilt as his deep, dark eyes locked onto mine.

The Winter Formal had been talked about through the school since November. There were hundreds of blue and white posters all over campus about the biggest event of St. Mary’s. It was like prom, except St. Mary’s didn’t have proms. They had formals, events, gatherings
, etc
. According to the gossip, the Winter Formal was St. Mary’s biggest event of the year.

But the only downside of it—only seniors and juniors attended, and whoever they invited as their guest. I don’t know why they called it the biggest event of St. Mary’s if over half of the student population couldn’t go, but I guess it’s a tradition that screams money and heritage.

I honestly hadn’t given the Winter Formal a thought—actually, I never even thought I would still be alive to even attend the Ball, but here I am. With all the attacks and training, and studying and playing self appointed family therapist, the Winter Formal had just completely blown my mind.

And here Jack was, inviting me as his date.

“Uh…
Em
?”

“Yes!
Yes
I will go! Yes!” I squeaked, embracing him in a bone crushing hug. But then I realized:
where the hell was I supposed to get a dress?
Shoes?
Make up and jewelry?
I couldn’t afford that! But I pushed th
ose thoughts away as we kissed.

Who cared what kind of dress or shoes I wore? Certainly Mallory and her snobby snitch sidekicks would, but Jack…Jack wouldn’t care. I know he wouldn’t, even if I arrived in a black plastic trash bag.

Okay, not like I was going in a black bag, but still!

We parted ways, and I watched him from the window
. He turned, and I saw the glints of the sun rays hit him like an angel, as he blew a kiss, and then turned to
run through the December cold
air
towards the gym. After he disappeared, I leaned against the leather couch and si
ghed
in happiness. Things were
really
looking up.