Page 55 of Twisted Fate

My whole body tenses. “I couldn’t make that call.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. I told you—I will protect my people.”

My eyes widen, and heat rises in my cheeks. “If your blood activated some weird magic inside of me, why didn’t the fae poison she tried to kill me with do anything like that?” I’m almost pissed at myself for not thinking about it sooner, but in my defense, I’ve been doing my best to try to forget that night.

He presses his lips together. “You remember the black veins under your skin? From what I found out, those appeared as your body tried to fight the poison off, but because you’re human, it didn’t work.”

I sigh. “This is so messed up. Do you think the light fae are going to come after me again?”

“I’m handling this.” He lowers his voice. “I’m not going to let you get hurt.” His fiery gaze burns into me, making my pulse race as his words terrify me and bring me comfort at the same time. Nothing makes sense right now.

“I told Skylar I would work on the charity gala with her and Max,” I say, looking away. “I should get back to work.” I drop my gaze to his arm, and he lets it fall to his side. Then I hurry out of the room before he can say anything else.

I’ve been staying on campus since spending the night at Tristan’s when I was poisoned, and Allison has been looking out for me. She hasn’t mentioned seeing Evan since Danielle tried to kill me, and I haven’t asked. If she thinks seeing him in secret is safe, I have to trust her. I need my best friend.

I use the rest of the day to work on readings and get started on a couple of assignments. I’m stuffing my face with cold pizza when someone knocks on the door. I holler at them to come in, but when the door doesn’t open, I get up and open it myself. On the other side stands a tall guy with sharp green eyes and cropped dark brown hair. He’s dressed casually in T-shirt with a black leather jacket and jeans.

“Uh, can I help you?” I ask, holding onto the door.

The guy wrinkles his nose as his eyes flicker across my face. “Is Allison around?”

I offer a smile. “You must be Evan,” I say in lieu of an answer.

He nods, pulling his hand out of his pocket and sticking it out to me. “You’re the roommate, right?”

I glance at it, then shake it gingerly. “Aurora,” I say. “Allison isn’t here.”

“That’s too bad.” He lets his hand fall back to his side. “Maybe I could come in and wait for her?”

I grip the door a little tighter. “I don’t think so. I’ll let her know you stopped by. I’m sure she’ll call you.” Unease slithers its way up my spine, and considering the last interaction I had with a light fae, it’s not unwarranted. My mind goes to the bottom drawer of my desk where the iron stakes I’d picked up weeks ago are hidden. Maybe I should have one on me all the time now.

He glances at where my knuckles have turned white. “Relax, I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“Forgive me for not trusting you. The last light fae I knew tried to kill me.”

He frowns. “I wasn’t aware. I’m sorry.”

I blink at him. “Allison’s in class,” I say, ignoring his apology. I start to close the door, but he raises his hand.

“Can I come in?” His eyes flick between mine. “Please?”

My pulse kicks up. “No,” I say in a firm, unwavering voice.

“Look, I need to talk to you. There are things you need to know, and I can’t talk about them in the hallway.”

I glare at him for a moment and then exhale harshly. “Fine.” I step back, opening the door so he can come in. Once he’s inside, I leave the door ajar.

I turn to face him. “Speak.”

“I care about Allison. A lot. Not all of us want to be involved in the war, Aurora.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “She is going to get in a lot more trouble if whatever the two of you are doing continues. Does that not matter to you?”

His eyes narrow. “Of course it matters.” He shakes his head. “What am I supposed to do? Walk away from her?”

“That would help.”

“No. It would hurt her.”

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