Wicked Chase

♚ Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Alastair and I were seated in the Royal Library behind the history section. He had taken me to the library two days after we both had confronted Josiah and Randall telling me that he had promised me to find out more about my nightmares and it was a promise he hoped to fulfil. I had simply shrugged nonchalantly, pretending like I didn't care when I actually did. I was just so angry - at Josiah who had lied to me, at Alastair and Ronan who refused to tell me what exactly was going on. It was all confidential.

"Genevieve, will you talk to me?" Alastair blurted, twisting around in his chair that he was seated in along the long desk that aligned the book shelf. These past two days I had purposely given him the cold shoulder because when I asked about Randall and what some of his cryptic words meant Alastair shrugged claiming the he, himself, didn't know but I was there to witness the whole scene and I knew he knew. I just couldn't figure out what it was that was of high importance that he couldn't tell me.

I continued to ignore him, flipping through one of the history books that showed how some individuals used and harnessed their gifts. It had been a while since I had a nightmare and I dreaded the day when the actual nightmare, the nightmare that the medication Marcus had put me on would not be strong enough to push away.

"Genevieve," Alastair tried again and when his prodding failed, he reached out and touched my shoulder, his rough hand firm on my shoulder as he pulled at it to make me turn towards him.

Finally I snapped. "What?" I exclaimed, whizzing around in my chair and looking at Alastair with agitation, my ginger red hair flashing before my eyes as it swept over my shoulder.

His grey eyes widened by a fraction clearly taken aback by my reaction. Then his eyes softened and his lips tugged up into a small smile, the movement so small and genuine that I momentarily forgot why I was angry with him in the first place. "Genevieve, are you alright?"

I glared at him, my green eyes squinting as my eyebrows drew towards each other and I tried my best to look as menacing as I could but Alastair didn't cower from me and didn't take the hint that I was feeling rather moody and didn't want to talk to him because I was too busy trying to find reasons to be angry with him.

"No." The word slipped off my tongue before I could even stop it. I hadn't meant to say no, even though that was the truthful answer, but the way his grey eyes stared at me back, that silvery gaze defiant and challenging somehow broke the exterior I held up.

"Whats wrong?"

I looked down before I sighed and let the tension roll out from my shoulders before I looked at him steadily in the eye and said, "ever since that confrontation with Randall... It's had me a little worried. I know I shouldn't let his words get to me but they do. And I just keep thinking about Ronan and Thorin and Randall..."

"And Josiah?"

My gaze grew more steelier as I glared at him. "No, I won't think of him at all," I refused. "He played me and my emotions and he doesn't deserve to be thought about." My reply was sharp and snarky, my tone icy and yes, bitchy, but Josiah played with my emotions, he had led me to thinking that I could - no! I shook my head, telling myself no over and over again because he wasn't worth thinking about, before I said, "we have a lot of books to go through, Alastair. Let's just get on with it."

Alastair's hand shot up before I could turn around and latched itself onto my wrist, his hold firm and adamant and when I looked down to my wrist with raised eyebrows, silently enjoying the sinful pleasures it rippled through me, he didn't remove his hand but continued to look at me with a challenging expression, his slightly purple tinted lips opening up and moving in a fluid silvery motion as he asked, his concerned silky soft voice wrapping around me, "why are you giving me the cold shoulder?"