Julian is in deep thought. Suddenly, he looks up at me as if a light bulb has gone off in his head.
“Marcus, you have to make her worst fear come to life.”
“Which is?”
“You and Ameana.”
“What?”
“You have to get back with your ex. It’s the only thing you can do to secure Emmy’s future.”
I can actually feel the happiness being drained from me. My getting back with Ameana would crush Emmy, but it’s also the best way to convince evil that Emmy no longer means anything to me.
“Julian, I can’t…”
He tells me how sorry he is that things have to be that way. I can barely make out what he’s saying. My only focus now is the beautiful girl in the window waiting for me.
Julian walks off and leaves me standing in the same spot: Across the street from the only girl I love. I should have been at her door half an hour ago. It’s only a matter of time before she calls me and asks why I’m late.
I think maybe I should chance it. Maybe Lucy won’t come after her. In that moment, I am blissful. In that moment, I run across the street and hold her. We spend a night sharing our passions, secrets and dreams. She runs her fingers through my wings and her touch brings with it a state of pleasure so pure, it moves the heavens.
Then I think: what if Lucy does go after her? Lucy has lost the map in other Cycles but this is the first one where the clue is a human. Julian’s right; it’s not in the nature of evil to forgive. There’s no telling what she would do to Emmy. To make matters worse, I keep hearing Julian’s voice in my head:
“What happens when you’re gone?”
That question is the reason why I don’t run over to see her. That question is the reason why I don’t pick up my cell when it rings, and the reason I’m about to cruelly push away everything I’ve ever wanted.
***********************
“Are you busy?” I ask awkwardly, standing in the doorway of her room. She turns and faces me.
“What is it?”
“I was wondering if we could talk.”
“I guess.”
I enter Ameana’s room and close the door behind me.
“What ever he’s about to ask, it’s really important to him so make him suffer,” Rio shouts from his room.
“Stop reading my Wave and mind your business,” I shout back. Ameana smiles despite herself.
“Could I get rich off this favor you’re about to ask? If so, we may have to stop off in Paris before we go back to the Light.”
“You can’t take these clothes with you. You’d only wear them for a few days.”
“A few minutes in couture will satisfy a girl for a lifetime,” she informs me.
I laugh at her. She smiles back at me. She hasn’t done that in months. For a few moments I replay what we were like in the beginning. Ameana and I were opposites that complemented each other. Then over time we just became…opposites.
Still, there is nothing on earth or in the Light more radiant than Ameana Jones. Her smile illuminates every room she enters. I always wished she’d smile more. But even stone cold serious, there’s an effortless grace in the way she does just about everything.
“I need to ask you for a favor,” I hear the words coming out of my mouth yet I still can’t believe what I’m about to ask.
“What’s the favor?”
“I realized even without the Triplex, evil will always be on the hunt for Emmy.”
“Well, evil has never been good at losing so…yeah.”
“The only way I can guarantee that evil doesn’t come after her is to make everyone believe she no longer matters to me. That way they won’t hurt her in retaliation.”
“Okay…” she says, not sure where the conversation is headed.
“In order to do that, we have to break up.” The words are so heavy they drop to the center of the room.
“What does this have to do with me?” she asks.
“Knowing Emmy, she’d see past whatever it is I say. She’d know that I was breaking up with her to protect her. At this point my words wouldn’t be enough. She would need to see proof that I no longer love her.”
“Marcus, what are you asking?”
“I need you to pretend to get back together with me.”
“Unbelievable,” she says, clearly pissed.
“I know it’s crazy, but it’s the only way Emmy will buy that I suddenly don’t want her anymore. We’re only here for a few more days. It’s not like I could fall in love with another girl in that time. The only thing she’d buy is that I went back to you.”
“That’s crazy.”