James moved closer to me, and my mind flooded with his essence. He turned me toward him, breaking my connection with Victor. His hands drifted down my arms, coming to rest in my own.

“Come back with me, Leath. It will be just like we always planned.”

He was offering what I’d been waiting for since I first learned about Judaculla. I wanted it so bad I could taste it.

But something wasn’t right.

I studied James’s face, thinking of the kisses we’d shared just minutes before. His intensity was more desperation than a desire to be a part of me. James was in a hurry. He’d kissed me so passionately because he’d wanted to speed up our departure. In those moments, he’d worked hard to convince me to go with him. Yet, there was something else. When he held me, I noticed he’d regained all the weight he’d lost. I wondered how that had been possible while living on the Fringe where meals were never guaranteed.

“What happened that caused you to come for me tonight?” I asked.

“Nothing,” James said. “I just got tired of waiting for you to come back.”

He’s lying.

James hadn’t been waiting for me to return. He didn’t even know for sure I’d made it out of Judaculla. James was waiting for Knox to report back on how and where I was. He had also promised to stay in Judaculla until Knox returned.

A strong sense of déjà vu overwhelmed me as I remembered confronting James about another lie. When we’d first met, he’d lied about being on a relay team, something Victor had proved was impossible. In fact, everything James had told me in the beginning had been a lie. I already knew all of this, so why was it bothering me now?

Because last time, James had confessed on his own. He’d gone against his obligation to his world to tell me the truth.

It will be just like we’d always planned.

James had never planned for me to be in Judaculla. He’d left me in Woodvine because he loved me too much to take me to his world. When we were together on the Fringe, he’d planned to send me away. The James I knew would never ask me to go back with him, much less try to trick me or force me into going.

Just like the first lie, Victor had been the one to find him out. I stared into Victor’s eyes. His gaze was intense and pleading. There was an unselfish love in his expression. Victor wasn’t asking me to stay here just to be with him. He was asking me not to go with James because he knew something was wrong. He was trying to protect me.