AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. His bed.
“After you threatened to bleed yourself dry, your mother backed off. For now, at least. She vanished before we could ask any questions.”
“That seems… unlike her.”
Alek shrugged. “We were able to get you out of there. You’ve been here recovering ever since. You did a number on your arm.”
I replayed the jumbled memories in my mind. Theia had just let us leave? Let them leave with me? That didn’t make any sense.
And if we were at Alek’s house… “Your father—”
“He’s agreed to let you heal before we discuss anything further.”
I began pushing the covers off my body. “No, he’ll use me, Alek. He’ll force me to open the veil and—”
“He won’t force you to do anything. Not while I’m around.” His voice was firm, but I couldn’t be too sure. Alek’s father had forced him into much worse.
Killing my father, for one.
I was sure I should have felt some sort of pain or grief, but I had really never known my father. Any memories of his existence had been washed away by the trauma of my life.
Alek reached out and grabbed my wrist, turning my bandaged arm over so he could look at it. “You’re a fucking idiot for this, Lyra, you know that?” His voice cracked.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I whispered. “It was the only way to get Theia to leave us alone.”
He pulled my hand to his lap. “Don’t do that again,” he said. When his eyes met mine, any lingering joke had vanished. Dark, desperate seriousness dripped from his features in a way that wiped the smile from my face. “Ever.”
This time, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I remembered what Alek had said as I sliced that blade—his blade—through the delicate skin on my forearm.
I love you.
My heart twisted. “I don’t… I don’t know how to live like this, Alek. Twenty-two years and I’ve never had a plan. I’ve never had a way out.”
He wiped a tear away with his thumb, but his hand lingered gently on my neck. I leaned into the warmth of his touch. “You have a way out now. I won’t let you go back to her.”
I took a shaking breath. “Why?” I asked; it was the question I had been holding onto longer than I had realized. Ever since the lake house, when he jumped into that freezing water to pull me out. “Why do you care? I mean, my presence in your life hasn’t exactly been beneficial.”
Alek brought his other hand to my neck too, putting the slightest amount of pressure under my chin that made me lift my head up. “I meant what I said yesterday, Lyra,” he whispered. Alek’s forehead pressed gently against mine. “This isn’t temporary for me. It may have started that way, it may have started as a simple ploy to get my father what he wanted. But not anymore. You’re part of me now in a way that I can’t even explain. I can’t go a single fucking minute without thinking about you.”
My tears fell harder.
“I love you, Lyra,” he said. “I love you, and I’m not going to let another greedy, power-hungry bastard lay their hands on you again. Got it?”
I nodded against him.Love.It had been a foreign concept to me for so long, I was starting to think it never even existed. But now? I was starting to believe. That small, expanding feeling of hope fluttered in my chest.
“Your father won’t be happy about this,” I reminded him. “The whole reason you’re even close to me is so you can expose my secret.”
Alek pulled away, just enough that he could look in my eyes as he answered, “I’ve been tired of my father’s orders for a while now. I’m not the only one. Change is on the horizon; I can feel it.”
“What does that mean?” I whispered as if his father could hear us. “You’d defy your father’s orders?”
He laughed and kissed my forehead gently. “I’ve been doing that for years, Lyra. This doesn’t seem like a particularly great time to stop.”
I laughed with him. An odd, warm feeling spread through my chest. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how my entire life would have felt if I wasn’t locked away in Theia’s basement.
“Get some rest,” he said softly. “I’ll come find you in a few hours.”
“Alek?” I questioned, pulling on his hand before he could let go. “Will you stay with me?”
