Page 74 of Demons and Darlings


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“I don’t know,” I explained. “He came up to me out of nowhere. I have no idea who he was.”

“This is why you shouldn’t have come!” Alek yelled.

“Relax, dude,” Zac said. He grabbed Alek’s arm, but Alek quickly shoved him off.

“It’s true! You being here causes problems, Lyra. Not just for me, but for my legion.”

Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. “How was I supposed to know one of your freak demon enemies was going to chase me through the crowd? How are you possibly blaming this on me?”

Natalie slid her hand into mine, but it did little to comfort me now.

“I told you it’s better if you stay away from me,” Alek said. “It’s not safe. If this doesn’t prove that, then I don’t know what the hell does.”

Natalie was already pulling me. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, “before any other fights break out.”

I waited for Alek to say something. To object. But he did nothing. He stood there, frozen, as Natalie pulled away from the crowd. Away from the demons. Away from the carnival.

And away from him.

* * *

I had triedand failed to get Alek off my mind and slip into some sort of sleep when my phone buzzed.

My stomach dropped when I saw another text from Theia.

“Work is keeping me a few extra days. I’ll stop by when I get home. I hope you’re being good. - T “

ChapterTwenty-Six

“Let me make sure I heard that right,” Natalie said, eyeing me with caution. “You are asking me to come out with you tonight, and you want to go back to Night Raven?”

“That’s right. Theia will be home soon. We might as well go out while we still can.”

I wasn’t going to tell her the real reason I wanted to go to Night Raven. Alek hadn’t texted or called me at all; I hadn’t heard a single peep since the carnival. It had been three days. Three days of silence. I wasn’t sure why I expected an apology, or even a lame explanation.

I just expected something. Anything.

Natalie placed both hands on my shoulders. “Are you feeling okay, Lyra? Are you sure you’re not sick? Because I never in my life would have thought you would ask me to go back there.”

I shrugged and brushed her hands off my shoulders. “Salem invited us,” I explained. “She’s really nice, and it would be rude to blow her off. That’s the only reason I want to go.”

“Mmhm,” she replied. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with your fake boyfriend who will most likely be there.”

I tried to act natural. Alek had proven that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.This didn’t have anything to do with him,I told myself. Although even in my own mind, I knew I was lying.

I wanted to see him again, even if that meant putting my pride aside and showing up at Night Raven.

“No! He won’t even be there, and even if he were, I wouldn’t care.”

“Then why is your face red?” she teased.

“Oh, shut up.” I walked to my closet and began looking around. “Salem said a really great band is playing tonight. It could be fun!”

“You don’t have to convince me, hun. I’m in! I don’t know what they put in those drinks, but I had the time of my life at Night Raven.”

“Yeah,” I groaned. “That makes one of us.”

I had been keeping my explanations to Natalie vague. Not because I didn’t want to tell her about Alek, but because a small part of me liked that it was hidden. I had never acted so wild in my entire life.

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