For A Star To Fall

Chapter 10: Sentimental Nonsense

Chapter 10

Jordan hesitated yet again. What was he supposed to tell her? Emyle had already implied that she had killed people before, and he was still not sure if he found that abominable or not, but for some reason, he could not bear to hurt her feelings. Her eyes were already so wide, staring out at him from under her long lashes. For a moment, Jordan paused to wonder what she would do if he said that he hated her because she had killed before. Emyle would be hurt, he decided, but she would mask it, like she did all of her emotions.

Emyle waited as Jordan seemed to be thinking hard. She had no time for this sentimental nonsense, but she felt strange, and something told her to wait for his answer. Perhaps she actually cared about what he would say? She almost frowned. The very idea of that was absurd. Emyle Graymark cared neither about Jordan nor his view of her. All she was concerned about was achieving her goals and making sure that Father was safe. Besides, she needed to know if Jordan was willing to help her or not. If he found her disgusting and cruel, then at least she would know that he would not work with her, and that she was on her own. Strangely, that particular thought sent a pang of something through her, lancing through her chest. What was this unfamiliar emotion? Was it sorrow? As far as Emyle knew, she had no reason to feel sorrow. Jordan Ripley was a tool for her use, nothing more and nothing less.

Finally, after a few moments of silent tension, Jordan spoke. “You’re a murderess.” It did not answer her question, but it was a statement, not another question. Perhaps he had already accepted that fact as a part of her.

Emyle nodded. There was no point in denying it anyway. She had killed before, on Father’s command. She had not questioned him, and there was no need to doubt his intentions now, not when he was still being kept captive. “Yes, I have killed before.”

“Who have you killed?” Jordan seemed morbidly interested in the details of her past as a killer.

“Security guards, night watchers,” she shrugged noncommittally. “Anyone that Father has told me to kill.”

“Will you kill me when I am done helping you?” Jordan asked. There was no fear in his eyes, only a burning curiosity. Maybe he had thought so much about his mother’s death that he no longer feared the concept of dying. It seemed that even Jordan knew he was only a tool, meant to be used and then discarded. But, the more Emyle thought about it, imagining shooting him or stabbing him, the more she found herself unable to bear the mere idea of hurting him. That emotion was in her chest again, spreading outwards as if attempting to trap her.

Sighing after a while, Emyle said, “No, I do not think that I will be able to dispose of you.”

A slow grin spread over Jordan’s handsome face, despite the dangerous circumstances and the fact that he was sitting next to an eighteen-year-old killer. His feelings on the murderess part of Emyle were still confused, but Jordan figured that he would always feel that way. However, Emyle had just told him that she could not kill him, and even though it was a rather weirdly morbid thing to say, it kind of made him happy, to know that he was at least a little safe with her. Cocking an eyebrow, he said, “My precious Emyle, you do surprise me. First I find out that you are worried about me, and now I discover that you really care. ‘Tis a sweet thing, really.”

She ignored him, as always. It was quite a refreshing reaction to his quips, since everyone else got frustrated with him. But with Emyle, it was as if he could utter sarcastic remarks and teasing comments all day long and she would not reply. Maybe he should try doing that someday, Jordan thought, just to see if she would handle it as well as he predicted she would.

Emyle was arguing with herself again. There was a strange unreasonable part of her mind that was attempting to convince the rest of her that she was truly worried about Jordan and concerned about his safety, that he was right in his observations. What a ridiculous idea, she told the voice, she was incapable of strong emotion. Perhaps a flicker of it now and then, but only when Father was involved, and never when it concerned someone else—a rather blond and blue-eyed someone else.