Page 54 of Tear of Destiny

“Tess, I want to be with you, and I’m sure we can find a way. But first there’s something you should know. And if you choose this, it could make everything much easier for us. I realize the position I’m putting you in, and it won’t be easy for you. I’ve already offered this before, but things were different then.”

I frown. I don’t understand what he’s trying to say. But then I get a sneaking suspicion. My heart has only just begun to cautiously open up, and now it snaps shut again in fright. He’s still holding me and giving me this imploring look that cuts me to the quick.

“When I first started following and watching you, I quickly realized you were special. And I soon had a hunch that you may have a gift. But I also saw that I was too late. You became a Tempes and felt like you belonged. You were fascinated by that new world. Not the best prerequisite for what I was planning. Especially as Ayden was there too. You would never have cut yourself off from him.”

“Noah, what is this?” I whisper as the fear inside me continues to rise.

“I wanted to at least try, and I decided to become part of your life. I wanted to gain your trust, no matter how far-fetched that may have seemed at the time. I was sure I could find a way into your heart.”

I slowly step back from him and shake my head in dismay. “No,stop it.”

Noah steps forward and grasps my arm to stop me from retreating. He puts his hands on my face.

“Teresa, I know how this must sound. But please consider it. Join the Noctu. Leave the Tempes. We’ll take good care of you, and you’d have so much freedom. I’m sure you’d be better off if you joined us.”

“You mean because the Noctu wouldn’t try to exploit my power?! Or because I wouldn’t be constantly attacked by your people? Why? Tell why it would be better?”

I glare at him, deeply hurt. So that was his plan. He wanted to earn my trust and then persuade me to become a Noctu. And now that he’s finally succeeded in getting closer to me, he’s trying to persuade me. After all, I depend on him – I’ve even told him so. The perfect time to let his mask fall and try to twist my arm.

“You’ve had to endure so much with the Tempes, so much pain. You couldn’t count on any of them to help you. That wouldn’t happen with us. I’d be on your side, and the Noctu wouldn’t use you the way the Tempes plan to.”

“Is that so?” I ask. “What do you know about the Tempes’ plans? At least they didn’t lie to me. Unlike you.” I turn around and hiss at him, “Take me back. I want to go home.”

“Teresa, please. I don’t want anything to come between us. That’s the reason I told you about my original intentions.”

“And that’s still what you want. You just told me so. How am I supposed to know what else you’ve been faking with me to convince me to join the Noctu?”

I glare at him with contempt, pain, and anger. How could he do this to me? Especially when he knows how many times people have tried to use and manipulate me.

“Is that really what you think?” he breathes. “You should know me better than that. I’d never fake my emotions with you. I wasalways honest.”

“Yeah,” I spit. “You just kept certain things from me. But that doesn’t make it any better. Take me home now.”

He nods without saying another word and summons the door, which I charge through. Without turning back, I stomp to where Yoru is waiting for me and then head home. I actually believed I could risk starting something new. But once again, the past came back and wrecked everything.

Chapter 23

Iglance at my phone, but there are no new messages. I guess Noah’s given up. For a few days after our disagreement, he kept trying to call me and sent several messages, which I barely glanced at. I’m still angry, and I feel used and betrayed.

Noah knew how much it hurt me the way Ayden toyed with my emotions when I first met him. He just wanted to probe and test me to see if I met the Tempes standards. And now I find out that Noah was doing something similar. All this time, he was trying to win my trust only to steer me toward the Noctu.

I shake my head and angrily strike out the last sentence on my writing pad. I’m in English class, but I’m not really paying attention. I’ll just be happy if I can stay seated and not storm out of the room. I feel an urge to move around and clear my head.

How could Noah seriously think I would ever become a Noctu? He knows what I think of their activities – how much I despise the fact that they steal people’s dying breaths. The Tempes also do things I can’t stand. But I’d never defect to the other side. Why does he think he can convince me to stab my people in the back? Just because it hurts every time I see Ayden and it would soothe my soul to be able to avoid him altogether? Because Ifeel something for Noah and can imagine a future with him? Or because he knows I’m afraid the Tempes might exploit my gift and force me to do things I don’t want to do?

I prop my head on my hand and don’t know what to think or feel. All I have is this hole in my heart incessantly screaming the truth at me: that things between me and Noah were never the way I thought. He was just using me.

Kate keeps giving anxious sidelong glances. I told her what happened between me and Noah. She was just as horrified as I was that he would do something like that. She can’t understand it either.

On the way to the cafeteria, she asks. “Has he contacted you again?”

I shake my head. “It’s better that way.”

“Don’t you figure you should talk to him again at some point? Sure, it was a shock to hear that, but he obviously cares about you. It can’t have been all lies.”

“That’s not the point,” I reply. “He tried to manipulate me to gain my trust. He told me several times that he had plans for me. But he never told me what they were. At some point, he said they weren’t important anymore. That’s when he should have had the guts to tell me what they were – if not before. But he didn’t. And I’m sick of being lied to and used.” I feel my throat tighten as the sorrow threatens to overwhelm me. “I thought I had finally found someone who sees me for me. Not for my gift or my powerful key spirit.”

“Tess,” Kate says quietly, putting a comforting arm around me.

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