Free Falling into the White (The Ancients Series) by Christine M. Butler Page B

“Sorry, I feel like I’m in a stress blender today.” Everyone was talking in a big cacophony of noise after that. I was tuning them all out successfully, while lost in my own thoughts, until someone grabbed my arm.
    “Jess!” Evan snapped, trying to get my attention back. “We need you to tell us what happened.”
    “She just said I had to choose a mate soon, and that one of you would destroy me, and one would help me, or some nonsense. Of course, she wouldn’t tell me which was which, so fat lot of good that conversation did.”
    Evan looked hurt, and I realized that may have been because I made it sound like there was a choice to be made now, instead of insisting that I would be with him. I hadn’t thought about it like that. Even though I had a good day with Mikael yesterday, I still didn’t see him as competition for Evan. I just saw him as something completely separate, while Evan and me had our problems we needed to work out. I was not going to get into that with Evan in front of everyone else though.
    “Was there anything else?” He finally asked.
    “Nope. She just faded off into the crowd and vanished.”
    Ashley looked at me like I had two heads again, but she didn’t dare say anything about the rest of it.
    “You’re sure?” Leanna asked. “That seems very obscure. Why would she come to tell you to choose soon, but not say why, or who, or anything else?”
    “Well, Leanna, maybe, just maybe, unlike everyone else around here, she values my ability to make a decision for myself instead of being forced into one.” Leanna looked taken aback, and actually got up to leave. Then I felt bad, because she hadn’t done anything wrong to me personally. “Sorry.” I added, “I’m extremely frustrated right now.”
    “Believe me when I say, I understand.” She said to me. I slouched down into the couch and buried my head in my hands ready to cry, scream, or just take a damn nap. Honestly, I didn’t care which at that point. “I have to be going. Jessica, call me if you need to talk. If you need someone just to listen, or if you could use some advice. I would be more than happy to help ease some of the burden you are having to carry.” I heard the clickity clackity sounds of her heels as she walked briskly to the back door and saw herself out.
    Ashley came over and patted me on the back, “I’m going to go up front and get you a drink, maybe a few of them, because I think you need it at this point. We are going to talk later though.” She walked away. “Asi, come with me, please.”
    Just like that, I was left alone with Evan. My head was still firmly hidden in my palms so I wasn’t sure exactly where he was until he sat down beside me, put his arm out, and pulled me to him. I let it happen, because I was too embarrassed, angry, confused, and whatever ugly mix of emotion you could throw in the blender along with those, to worry about anything else. “I’m sorry.” Evan whispered into my hair as my head tipped down onto his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Jess.” I didn’t say a word, just focused on what his voice sounded like as he spoke. His warm arm snaked around me, something I had grown so accustomed to before, and didn’t realize I had been missing.
    “How did everything turn upside down and then inside out so quickly?” I didn’t expect an answer from Evan, I was just thinking out loud.
    “I don’t know, Jess. I guess a lot of it is my fault. I…” He stopped for a minute, trying to collect himself or figure out what he was trying to say. I didn’t know, then he started again. “I went through this once before, and it made me crazy. I forget sometimes that you are the present, and not my past. It’s been difficult on all of us, but I’ve made it worse for you than it needed to be. I apologize.”
    I still didn’t say anything until after Ashley came back with the drinks. When she walked in the room and saw me leaning on Evan she looked disappointed. It was just a second, a