He watched them for a moment, a strange expression crossing his face. "Aidan, do you remember Chloe Woods?" he asked after a brief pause. Emerson frowned, tilting his head. "Ellis' mom? Yeah, of course I do." "She was insane," Paul said bluntly, raising an eyebrow. "Insane and obsessed with me. She and Ellis plotted how to kill your mother." Emerson blinked, obviously surprised at this. "Ellis was nine when the Invasion happened," he replied sharply. "There's no way he was plotting to kill Mum. She died during the Invasion anyway. She and Charlotte were poisoned by the Plaguers, right?" Paul shook his head heavily. "Poisoned by Ellis," he said. "He wasn't insane, not like his mother, but just in desperation to have the attention of the only father figure he'd ever known. Chloe convinced him that this would give him my sole attention. I doubt he knew what he was doing, but I know he was the one who put the poison in the drinks."
"I don't..." Emerson shook his head shakily. "I don't believe you. If that's the case, why didn't you come meet up with us? It doesn't make sense. You would let me stay with someone you thought killed my mother?" "He did it because he thought it would make him the only focus of me, Aidan. If I left you two by yourself, that desire would be gone. I thought..." He sighed, looking uncomfortable. "I didn't think I would be able to kill him, Aidan. I didn't think I could do it. So I left, so at least the two of you would be safe. I knew I had trained you enough." Emerson moved back jerkily, grabbing Rory's hand. "We're... we're going home," he said. "We're going home." "Please, Aidan. Let me come back with you."
"No, you're staying here," he said viciously, following Rory. "You're staying here." "Aidan, please. Listen to me. Let me take care of this." "No," he said, sounding a bit like he was going to snap. "Back off." They got to the car and Emerson stood by the passenger door, opening it for Rory hurriedly. Once she got in, he came around to get in the driver's seat and they zoomed away, speeding back towards the city.
He was driving quickly, answering the question earlier of his slothlike transportation. He was squeezing the wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. His eyes were wide and almost terrified looking and his mouth was slightly open, like he couldn't seem to catch a breath. He drove faster and faster.
He paused for a moment before taking his foot off the accelerator, slowing to a stop in the middle of the road. "*squee!*. *squee!*, Rory. What if... what if he's not lying? What if Ellis really did do all that?"
"Even if he did," she told him, "it was because he was manipulated. And we don't even know the truth. It could be a lie or maybe not. We don't know."
He took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling of the car. "Ellis told me he didn't remember the Invasion," he said flatly. "He said he didn't know what happened to his mother. Who doesn't remember what happens to their own mother?"
She frowned, brushing his hair back. "I'm not sure.." It seemed she didn't know what to say or think. She hardly knew Ellis, only certain that he and Blaise were together and was a member of Emerson's previous clan.
He sighed, starting the car again. "He can't stay," he said after a minute. "Ellis can't stay in the clan. Not right now."
“That’s why I say not right now. If he is a killer, he shouldn’t be allowed to stay. He’d be exiled.”
They arrived back at the camp just as Blaise and Ellis had returned from their camping trip. Aisling was speaking to Ellis quietly, probably informing him of Emerson's initial reaction. Lucy was also nearby, chatting to Jaz excitedly about a new invention.
