Sapphire Princess

VIII

ALEXANDER

"Park over there. It's the tallest building in town," Elijah directs at me as we drive into a small downtown area. The town is quaint and I wonder how humans can live in such a boring place. There's a coffee shop at the corner and the image of Hope sitting at a table, enjoying her favorite drink plays in my mind. Quickly, I push it out. Now is not the time.

I park the car in front of what seems to be a library. Leave it to Elijah to pick the most boring place to spend our day.

We make light conversion as we enter the building. Mostly, we cover the same things discussed in the journey here. Elijah tries to get the truth from me, I avoid it, and I admit that I have no idea what I want the outcome of this adventure to be.

When we reach the top of the stairs, I pause in my steps. Elijah stops next to me, looking at me in confusion. Glancing at my arms, the presence of goosebumps surprises me. Never in my life have I felt this sensation before. Yet again, the human world surprises me. It must be the dirty air in this building. Shaking my head in dismissal, I continue to walk.

"Do you know what you'll say yet?" Elijah questions me. Internally, I sigh at his incessant need to know my thoughts.

"No. I'm hoping it'll come to me when we see her," I respond with a heavy heart. If only I knew the things I would say to my fiance. What could I possibly tell her that would fix this?

"You have to know she didn't cheat on you," my brother points out. I do my best not to glare at him, but it's challenging. I really wish he would keep to his own business.

"I want to believe that, Elijah. I just can't. Until I can get the full truth, I can't make up my mind," I tell him honestly. My whole heart yearns to believe that Hope would never betray me like that. However, my head won't let me fall for it.

"You have to trust her," he states. He's right. Trust would have helped in avoiding this whole situation. Again, though, my inability to let people in ruined something perfect.

I don't answer my brother. After all, what could I even say? I'm too broken to admit my mistakes? I'm terrified she'll never want be back?

A small gasp comes from my right side. I freeze for a moment before snapping my head towards that direction. Narrowing my eyes, I glance down the isle of books. No one is there, but there is no mistaking what I heard. Perhaps some humans are getting frisky in the books. Strange creatures.

"What is it?" Elijah asks, following my gaze. I shake my head, but stare down the isle still.

"I thought I heard something," I mutter, finally breaking my gaze, "I'm just stressed, it's nothing," I dismiss, shaking my head. Elijah narrows his eyes at me, but doesn't push me further. He understands the amount of pressure I'm under.

"Over here," he says, leading me towards two rather uncomfortable looking wooden chairs. They're placed in front of a large window that overlooks the entirety of the downtown area.

As we take our seats, I can't seem to shake the feeling that someone is watching me. It's eerie but comforting at the same time. What a strange sensation.

"What would she be doing in a place like this?" I wonder out lout, not necessarily directed at my brother.

"I'm not sure. I would have thought she'd head home," Elijah answers anyways. I have already thought of that, though. If I were Hope, it would be the first place I would have thought to go. Which is exactly why I don't think she'll be returning there. However, I have still taken precautions.

"I have a small group of guards stationed there in case she goes back. They haven't seen anything yet. I'm not sure if I want them to," I tell him, drifting into my thoughts again.