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“You don’t have to thank me,” he replied without looking at me. “I put your life in danger by bringing you here. I won’t be that stupid again.”
“They really don’t like you,” I said. “You should rethink who you allow into your legion.”
Alek looked at me for the first time since helping me into the water. “You were dead a few minutes ago, and now you’re cracking jokes?” His voice was stern, but a smile betrayed him. “You continue to surprise me.”
I sank deeper into the water until my chin was nearly underneath. “That fire… the chanting…”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Alek interrupted.
“But I am worried,” I whispered. “Because the veil’s not supposed to have an opening.”
“It’s not an opening. You have to think of it as more of a window. We can see them, and they can see us. But there’s no passing through.”
I was already shaking my head. “It’s dangerous.”
“Yes. It is. My legion’s been doing it for decades now, ever since the veil was created.”
I turned my attention back to the warm water, sliding down in the bathtub and letting the water cover the tops of my shoulders. He was getting too close. He knew too much.
If he could access a window in the veil, what else could he do?
What was he up to?
“You’re safe with me, Lyra,” he said. He walked over and knelt next to the bath. “I meant it when I said that. I shouldn’t have left your side today, and I never will again. I want you to trust me. I want you to feel safe with me.”
I turned to face him, only to find his eyes inches from mine. “You saved my life today,” I whispered. “I… I can never repay you for that.”
I half-expected to see some sort of relief on his face from my words, but his green irises only hardened.
Alek looked away first. “I put your life in danger,” he muttered. He placed a hand on the center of his chest, clawing at something deeper. “I could feel your fear, Lyra. I could feel your pain like it was my own. I can’t even…” He turned his head even further so I couldn’t read his expression. “You shouldn’t forgive me for that.”
I didn’t expect the words to sting.
But they did.
Alek left the room, giving me privacy to warm my limbs back to their original temperatures.
ChapterTwenty
“Where have you been?” Natalie exclaimed as I climbed back through my window the next morning.
I shut the cold glass behind me and watched as Alek’s car disappeared in the distance. “You wouldn’t even believe me if I told you,” I said.
Natalie wore a pink hoodie and sweatpants, and she swirled an iced coffee in her hand as she looked up at me from the couch.
“Have you been waiting here for me?” I asked her as I took in her tired appearance.
She sputtered, “Hell yes, I have! I need all the details! Was Alek as good in bed as he looks?”
I plopped next to her on the couch. “I don’t know, nothing happened,” I said. I tried not to sound disappointed.
“What do you mean ‘nothing happened’? You spent the night at his lake house!”
Chills erupted over my arms at the memory of the cold water. “Well, things happened. But none of them were good. His pack of demons made sure of that.”
“Shit, Lyra. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. But I’m starting to feel like this isn’t a good idea. Too much is happening.”
