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But all too soon, Alek slowed down.
He returned the motorcycle to a normal speed while I caught my breath, controlling my racing heart.
“See?” he yelled over his shoulder. “There are joys in this life, Lyra. Always. We just have to look a bit harder to see them at times.”
I rested my helmet on his sculpted shoulder, feeling the way his back moved against me. Alek had been twisted and manipulative when I first met him, but now I could see him for who he really was.
He wasn’t the bad guy he wanted everyone to see him as. He was strong, yes, and he would protect the people he loved at all costs.
But Alek was joy. He was light.
And I held onto him like he was my last dying breath.
CHAPTER 2
Lyra
The lake house was nothing like I remembered. Visually, it was the same, sure. It had the same cascading stairs in the back, the same glittering water only a few feet from the bottom. Large glass doors led to the interior, which somehow looked perfectly cleaned and arranged even though Alek hadn’t been here in weeks.
The energy, however, remained forever altered.
Memories rushed back to me; memories of Blade and Kyler throwing me in the water. Memories of Alek saving me, of him showing me the photos of his family. Of him telling me he had killed his brother.
The air of the lake house was still heavy, weighed down by truths and secrets.
Alek shut the door behind me as we made our way to the edge of the water. He secured his black leather jacket tighter around my shoulders when I shivered.
“Aren’t you cold?” I said, furrowing my brows.
Alek smiled, and I barely saw the flash of his perfect white teeth in the glittering reflection of the moonlight. “Demon blood, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. “If I have half of this alleged demon blood, I shouldn’t be so cold all the time. I’m starting to think Asmond isn’t my real father after all.”
Alek and I walked to the edge of the water. I could feel him holding back all of the sudden, like he knew something he wasn’t telling me. I could feel it like the winter chill on my skin.
“What? What is it?”
Alek shrugged without looking at me, his bright green eyes peering at the waves ahead. The sound of the water lapped and lapped, so different from the busy sounds of the city.
Here, we could actually think.
“I don’t trust him, that’s all.”
“My father? Why didn’t you say something earlier?” I stared up at him, searching his face that stared straight ahead.
“For all he knows, we’re accepting his help. He’ll let his guard down if he believes we’re all on the same side.”
I considered Alek’s words. “What do you think he wants with us?”
“Us,” Alek repeated, “or you?”
No. I didn’t run from Theia and drop the veil just to have my father come back and use me the same way she did.
“Do you think he’s after my blood?” I whispered.
Alek’s mouth tightened into a thin line. “I think it would be unwise to take anything off the table this early. It’s been two weeks since we dropped the veil, and he suddenly shows up out of nowhere?”
I let the truth sink in, dread pooling in my gut. “Maybe my mother knows.”
