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“I’d rather die out there with you than live for nothing inside of this prison withher.”
His nostrils flared as he stared down at me. He was only inches away now. Every ounce of my being responded to being so close to me. He was a magnetic force, calling every part of my soul closer to him.
Closer to the thrill, closer to the danger, closer tolife.
I waited for him to give in. I waited for him to tell me that he was sorry, that he was wrong. I wanted him to take me with him back into his world of danger and adrenaline. I wanted to feel something again, and I wanted him to be the one to show me how.
But Alek didn’t say any of those things. Instead, he tucked a loose piece of red hair behind my ear and leaned down, just slightly, as he whispered, “Then you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”
He left through the window.
I locked it shut behind him before I let the first tear fall.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Alek texted me first the next day.
My heart sped up the second my phone buzzed. I definitely didn’t expect to hear anything from him after what happened yesterday, and I hated the way I scrambled to read the message as soon as I saw his name pop up.
Especially since it wasn’t even an apology.
“Show time,”it said.“I’ll pick you up tonight. Be ready.”
I fought the urge to chuck my phone across the room. He had quite the audacity to text me with a meeting time right after telling me he was cutting me out of his life.
Apparently, the demon life wasn’t so dangerous, after all. That, or his father was going to be here. Either way, I was getting out of my apartment today. And that was something.
I ignored the ball of excitement that built in my stomach as I walked to my closet and began searching for an outfit.
Had he changed his mind? Was last night completely out of character for him, or did he suddenly get over how he felt?
I brushed it off. It didn’t matter what the reasoning was for Alek’s whiplash behavior. If he wanted me there, I had no choice.
I was dressed in black jeans and a matching hoodie when he pulled up outside.
“You’re looking more and more like a Night Raven,” he chirped as I slid into the passenger seat.
“Yeah, well, I guess I better start acting like one if I’m going to survive around here, right?” I asked, referencing last night.
It was a challenge, but Alek only nodded. “Right,” he agreed.
We drove in eerie silence. Until Alek finally cleared his throat ten minutes later. “There’s right and there’s wrong, Lyra,” he said. I waited for more, but none came.
“And?”
He licked his lips and took a shaking breath. He almost seemed… nervous. “And in life, we have to choose. What is right? What is wrong? Sometimes it’s not that simple.”
His knuckles grew white as he gripped the steering wheel. A rush of caution flushed through my body, as if my instincts were warning me. Alek was a predator. He was inhuman, dangerous, and deadly. And here we were, speeding in his car while he clearly lost his temper.
“What are you getting at?” I asked, my voice as calm as possible.
“I’ve had to do things in life that most people would rank as bad. Very bad.” He glanced at me from the driver's seat. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Lyra?”
It was my turn to take a shaking breath. “Are you talking about how you killed that demon?”
Alek laughed, but it was a cruel laughter. One that made me shiver. “That’s one of them, yes.”
I straightened in my seat. “You mean you’ve killed… others? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
