Page 84 of Inception

“I wasn’t lying. I just forgot…that…I…didn’t…know…that piece of information. There’s a difference, you know.”

Smooth, Jemma. Talk about a face-palm moment.

Julian and Gabriel both stared at me like I had three eyes.

“What? Thereisa difference,” I insisted. It was too late to quit now.

Gabriel looked like he was going to say something, maybe impart some more wisdom on me, but decided against it. “I think we’re about done for the night. Get some rest. We’ll continue this tomorrow evening.”

“Actually, I can’t tomorrow,” I said following him over to the back bench while Julian gathered his things. “I’m busy.”

“You’re not scheduled to work. I already checked.” He didn’t look up at me as put on his shoes.

“It’s not that. I’m going to the carnival tomorrow. I promised my friends.”

He straightened out and faced me. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea. You’re not ready.”

“I’m not ready for the carnival?”

“You’re not ready to be exposed to potential danger.”

I swallowed the sudden ball of nerves that had formed in the back of my throat. “And when you say potential danger,” I began, lowering my voice so that Julian couldn’t hear us. “You mean Dominic, right? Are you saying he’s going to be there?”

“It’s always a possibility.”

“Great. So how much longer am I supposed to hide away from the rest of the world?”

“You shouldn’t look at it that way,” he said as he started for the door. “You need to train. That should come first.”

I sighed and followed him out into the corridor, leaving Julian to lock up behind us. The truth was, I was really looking forward to this day off, to getting a break from work and training and vampires, and well, reality. And I promised Taylor I would be there. I didn’t want to let her down. Notagain. There had to be a way to make this work.

“Couldn’t we start training earlier tomorrow, like at sundown? That way we could finish early and I’d have enough time to do both.” It seemed like a fair compromise.

“I suppose we could do that though I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you going to the carnival by yourself.”

“I wouldn’t be,” I piped up quickly. “I’ll be with friends.”

He didn’t seem comforted by this.

“Of course, you could always come with me,” I added with an innocent smile. “And then you wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.” Not that that was very likely. Gabriel didn’t have an off switch and was always worrying about one thing or another.

He arched his brow as if to express the same sentiment.

“So?” I pushed, drunk on the fumes of my own exhaustion. “What do you say? Is it a date?”

He gave me another disapproving look and then finally conceded with a nod. That was all the response I needed.

It was on like Donkey Kong.

24. THE CARNIVAL

The scent of buttered popcorn and cotton candy mingled in the air like a childhood relic, filling me with a heavy dose of nostalgia. It made me long for a simpler time. A time when I was expected to be nothing more than my father’s daughter. When I was still allowed to bejusta kid. Looking back on it now, it seemed like such a long time ago—a lifetime ago.

I buttoned up my jean jacket as Gabriel and I headed towards Starry Beach to meet up with Taylor. The boardwalk was breathing life, lit up with game booths and fair rides as far as the eye could see. Gabriel’s eyes scanned the grounds like a soldier doing reconnaissance, wary of everyone and everything around us. I told him to relax (twice already since we’d arrived) though it was like trying to tell a bird not to fly.

It didn’t take us long to find Taylor and the others huddled together in a messy circle over by the Ring Toss game. Everyone was accounted for, including Nikki who had her arm twisted around Trace’s bicep.

The sight of them together like that sickened me; mostly because of the strange urge it incited in me that made me want to run over there and rip her away from him like a bad dream.

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