Page 51 of Demons and Darlings


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I gaped at him. “You were actually friends with them?”

Alek smiled, flashing those perfect white teeth again. “It’s hard to believe, I know. They all used to look at me differently. Besides Zac, anyway. We were all on the same team. We were all in this together.”

“Then what changed?”

He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Everything, I guess. One day I’m just a regular member of the pack. The next day, I’m named as my father’s official heir and second in command. That changes things.”

I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them for warmth. I liked to pretend I could actually relate to what Alek was saying. I, too, had a parent that distanced me from my friends. That made others look at me in a different light.

But Alek actually had friends that he lost because of it. That was the biggest difference between the two of us. Alek had something to lose.

I had nothing.

“I’m sure you can relate to that,” he said after a few seconds.

“What?”

“With your mother working with gods and goddesses? I’m sure you’ve felt similar. Is that why you’re such a loner?”

Right. I had told him Theia only worked with gods and goddesses, not that she actually was one herself.

“A loner?” I repeated, pretending I was shocked that he would even suggest that. “Wow, thanks.”

“Come on, Lyra,” he said. He finally turned to face me with that same, mischievous look on his face. The same look that was starting to grow on me. “We both know you’re not a socialite. There’s a reason we’ve all been living in the same town and nobody knows who you are.”

More than you know,I thought.

“Fine,” I admitted. “I guess my mother has had some influence on that.”

Alek huffed. “We don’t get to pick who our parents are, Lyra,” he started. “But we do get to pick how our lives play out. We get to decide our futures, whether they want to believe that or not.”

He held my gaze, unblinking. I wanted to tell him. I wanted someone to finally understand how untrue that was for me.

But what would that help? Alek wouldn’t feel sorry for me. He didn’t actually care. Watching the sunset with him in the back of a massive lake house made me forget that, but it was true. This was all part of Alek’s master plan, and when he was done with me, I would never hear from him again.

I would be back in my cage, back in my own personal hell to live my life at the mercy of my mother.

And that thought terrified me more than anything.

ChapterSixteen

“There’s something odd about you.” Kylar’s voice from behind me made me jump.

Alek had walked me back into the kitchen before he promised to be right back and left me alone.

It didn’t take more than a minute for Kylar and Blade to find me. It was almost as if they had been waiting, lurking in the lake house until I was alone.

“What’s that?” I said as casually as I could. I cracked the lid to another beer and took a sip.

Kylar approached slowly with his arms crossed, Blade a shadow behind him. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “But I have a feeling we’ll be finding out soon.”

I turned back around on the tall kitchen stool. “Is that so? What exactly do you plan on finding out about me?”

Kylar laughed, and the sound of it sent a chill down my spine. “That’s what we’re here to learn. Tell us what you really want, Lyra.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell us what you really want from Alek. Why are you here? Why are you pretending to be part of the legion?”

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