Page 73 of Autumn Secrets
“You mean how long have they been together? Forever, really.” He shrugged.
It was like his words physically punched me in my gut, and I felt a wave of nausea roll over me. Adrian had lied to me. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. This was some kind of sick game to him, and for reasons I would probably never understand, he’d played me. He had Evangeline. I’d been a fool to think that he would have any true feelings for me.
Bitter tears stung my eyes, and I had to try to not let them pour out in front of Luca. I still didn’t trust him, even though he had just saved me.
“Hey, sorry. Did I say something to upset you?” Luca watched me with concern.
I shook my head and tried to choke back a sob. I couldn’t answer.
“Aurora, I’m sorry. I thought he explained things to you. Oh shit.” He stepped closer and put his hand on my shoulder awkwardly. “Let’s go for a little walk, maybe some fresh air—”
I shook my head again. “You go back inside to Lexi; I’m going to head home.”
“Are you serious? How are you getting home?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call my neighbours.”
He shook his head. “Come on,” he said and grabbed my arm.
“I told you, I don’t want to go—”
“I’m taking you home,” he interrupted and led me towards his car. Who would have thought that Luca of all people would be the one to come to my rescue? We normally didn’t get along that well, but I wasn’t so stupid that I was going to turn down his offer at this point. I just wanted to get out of here.
“Thanks.”
I jumped in the passenger seat and buckled myself in. “Thanks again for doing this,” I said awkwardly, my attention turned outside the window, watching the school disappear behind us. “I know I haven’t been that nice to you, but I really appreciate this. I can see why Lexi likes you.”
He chuckled. “Aurora, is that an apology I’m detecting?”
I turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, maybe…a little one…for now, anyway.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to let you walk around in the dark by yourself. Besides, I think it’s good that we’re bonding.” He winked and gave me a quick grin. I couldn’t help but grin back.
“Yeah, maybe that is a good thing.” I decided to give him a chance. This was a new side of him, and I liked it.
We continued chatting through Angel Falls and when we turned off to get to the main road, I noticed him go the opposite way from my house.
“Oh, sorry, Luca, you turned the wrong way.” When he ignored me, I turned to stare at him. “Did you hear me? You’re going the wrong way.”
He didn’t look at me. “Sorry, princess, but I have other plans for you.”
My blood turned to ice. “What do you mean other plans? Where are we going? Luca, honestly—”
Luca chuckled. “Wow, for the next guardian of light, I must admit you’re quite slow.”
My eyes flew up, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.He knew.I clenched my purse in my lap. How was I supposed to get out of this?
“Y-you know who I am?”
He threw me a glance. “Of course I know who you are.”
How? I tried to remember everything that I’d recently learned, and Luca didn’t really fit into the picture. Mr and Mrs Peters said that there had been no activity from the dark side in almost twenty years. So, did that mean Luca was on our side then? It didn’t feel like he was at the moment, but maybe I was mistaken?Please, let me be mistaken,I silently begged.
But somewhere deep down, I knew better. It all started to fall into place now. This was exactly why I hadn’t liked him from the beginning. That’s why I’d been so protective over Lexi. He was evil, and dark, and here was me only moments ago, apologising to him for my poor behaviour. It made me sick.
My eyes narrowed. “Who are you?Whatare you?”
“Aurora, princess. I’m surprised you haven’t figured it all out yet.”