Page 56 of Twisted Fate

“Temporarily.” I sigh heavily. “The last thing I want is for my best friend to get hurt, but I’d rather she be heartbroken for a little while than have to spend god knows how long in prison for sleeping with the enemy.”

“I’m not the enemy!” He glances to the door and frowns briefly. “I’m sorry, but I’m no threat to you, her, or Tristan.”

“Okay, fine. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“You can get Tristan to meet with me,” he offers.

I scowl. “Do you think I’m his secretary or something?”

“No, but I know you have influence over him.”

I press my lips together to keep from bursting into laughter. “Um, we are talking about the same fae leader here, right?”

He arches a brow. “He’ll listen to you.”

What has Allison told him about me? About Tristan?

I lean against the side of my desk. “Say I could get him to agree to meet with you. Why should he want to? So you can plead your case to stay with Allison?”

“Would that be enough for you to agree to try?” he asks.

“If it’ll make my best friend happy, I’ll do it. But that’s me. I doubt it’ll be enough for Tristan to listen to you.”

“But there’s a chance, so I have to try.”

“Look, maybe the two of you should just take some time away from each other. At least until things get—”

“Better?” he cuts in with a sharp laugh. “We’re close to war, Aurora. Things are going to get a hell of a lot worse before there’s even a chance of them getting better.”

“What happens if Tristan says no? Are you going to stop seeing Allison, or are you going to take the chance of her getting punished?” It occurs to me that I don’t know whether Evan would get punished by Jules, or whether the light leader even cares that he’s with one of the dark fae.

“Then we’ll figure something else out.” He meets my gaze. “Tell me you’ll try. Please.”

I inhale slowly through my nose, and let the air out through my mouth. “I’ll try.”

He nods. “Thank you.”

I drop my gaze. “You should go.”

He steps back, heading for the door. “It was lovely to meet you, Aurora. Your reputation precedes you, and I must say, it’s remarkably accurate.” His lips curve upward. “I’ll see you around,” he says and leaves.

I stare at the back of the door, my mind reeling with what Evan said, and what I agreed to do.

I make a point never to be late for class. I consider it practice for the real world. If I’m late for work, that says I’m not dedicated to my job. This morning would be no different except I sleep through all three of my alarms. I’ve been in a state of exhaustion since being poisoned. I don’t know whether it’s remnants of fae magic running through my veins that makes it difficult to keep my eyes open all day, but I’m sleeping more often and longer than usual.

When I do wake up, I grab my phone to check the time. My loud groan fills the empty room. Allison didn’t wake me before she left; that’sifshe slept here last night.

Throwing my comforter off, I force myself out of bed. I pull a comb through my tangled waves and brush my teeth while trying to throw together a presentable outfit. I’m out the door with a breakfast bar and my bag in less than fifteen minutes and all but sprint across campus. I’m still half an hour late. Of course, today’s class is held in the largest lecture hall, and my professor has a guest speaker scheduled.

As I approach the double doors, I pray for an open seat along the back row that I can sneak into without interrupting. I silence my phone and slip it into my bag before I hold my breath and open the door. I tiptoe in and scan the room. A couple of heads turn when the door shuts. I hurry to an empty seat, three rows from the front of the room, which means everyone watches as I make my way to it.

Once I’m seated and have my laptop on the small fold-out desk in front of me, I let out a slow breath.

“Glad you could join us, Aurora,” Richard, my business finance professor says.

“I’m so—” Words stop forming the moment my eyes shift to the guest speaker.Fuck. “Sorry.”

Tristan stands at the podium, front and center, grinning like a cat in his usual business attire. “As I was saying...”

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