Blood of A Seeker

Blood of A Seeker -18-

“. . . to Sage? Helloo? Earth to Sage?”

I blinked, momentarily snapped out of my bewildered and shocked thoughts about Tucker. “Oh, hey Terrance,” I greeted flatly and forced a smile which came out as a grimace.

“What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

I pursed my lips and sighed, sagging my shoulders. “Nothing. Just personal stuff, I guess.”

“Try me.”

“No Terrance, this is a little too personal if you don’t mind,” I rejected hastily and ran a hand through my curls. “I just can’t wait till I get home.”

“And why is that?” Terrance asked conversationally and took a swig from his drink bottle.

“Rosemarie has some important . . . matters to discuss with me,” I told him truthfully.

“Well you sound very booked for the day,” he sighed, sounding disappointed.

I decided to make an effort to stop wallowing in my stressful thoughts. “What did you have in mind?” I shouldn’t have even asked – I wouldn’t do anything today except pry information out of my godmother and demand to see Tucker until my last breath.

“I thought we could just take a calm walk in Fairwyn Park,” he suggested in a lazy tone, warm chocolate eyes giving me a sincere, innocent look. “You know, something to get your mind off things and de-stress you.”

I couldn’t help the small smile creeping across my face. “Aw Terrance that’s really sweet of you but I think matters with Rosemarie will keep me occupied for a while.”

The disappointment flashing cross his innocent face was heartbreaking, though not as much compared to my situation with Tucker.

“I am so sorry, Terrance,” I apologised and wished I would have enough time to spend with Terrance.

Well I guess it wasn’t necessarily the end of the world and we could always reschedule another time. I mean, it’s not like we were dating or anything.

Then again we’d been on a date at the movies – well, sort of – he’d been my date at the Winter Dance and now we were spending a lot of time together, every lunchtime during school included.

“Maybe another time,” I suggested more positively.

It didn’t take long for my classes with the Keepers to pass by quickly. They hadn’t mentioned anything about the dungeons, leading me to assume they didn’t know I knew about the place. I couldn’t help the feeling of paranoia when I was around them, knowing they were possibly torturing him a hundred metres beneath the grounds of the library.

When Oliver had come to pick me up from the library, my mind was reeling from the new codes about how to cast a strong shield of gift against my opponents. Not only did I figure out Chroma were strong and powerful when it came to wars, but they knew a hefty lot of Latin commands that inflicted pain upon a victim. I wondered if the Keepers used these codes on Tucker. The very thought made me shudder.

Oliver didn’t question my unusual silence as he drove up to my house like usual. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he called out the window as I jumped out and threw the door shut.

I nodded curtly and forced a tight smile. “Thanks.” He seemed to get the alternative meaning behind my words.

A small smile lit up his features. “No problem! Just know Joss and I are here to talk when you need us.”

Jocelyn shook her head and smiled wryly at me from the front seat. “It’s just him.”

I flashed a genuine smile at her. “Thanks for the support.” It may have been sarcastic but it was quite true: Jocelyn hadn’t said a word about what I told them yesterday which meant a lot to me. For once she wasn’t trying to torment me with rude and snappy comebacks at whatever I did.