Page 24 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
“That explains why I don’t remember.”
Harlow swiped a quick kiss on top of Larkin’s dark head. “His parents didn’t like that we were close. They wanted him to have more Illuminated friends, so we could only socialize at school or at events where all four Orders gathered. And even then, they made it clear that they disapproved.”
Larkin scoffed. “And now they think one of us should marry him.”
“Yeah. A bit hypocritical.”
“What else is new?” Her sister sounded almost as jaded as she did. Larkin poked her side. “Finish the story.”
“By the time we were in secondary school, right before uni, we both knew we were in love, that maybe we’d always been in love, but we knew we couldn’t be together. His parents wouldn’t allow it and they’re the McKays. They always get their way.”
Larkin nodded and looped her arm through Harlow’s, holding her hand. Harlow smiled. Larkin was so sensitive. She knew the awful part of the story was coming.
“Anyway, one night Finn took me to see an exhibit. He loved to draw and one of his favorite artists was showing at a gallery downtown. So we went, just the two of us.”
“Where was Enzo?”
Harlow hugged her littlest sister. “On a date of his own.”
“So, you went to the art exhibit. What happened after?”
Harlow blushed. “We drove around for a while, and then… We stopped, and… Things went too far, I guess.”
“You had sex?” Larkin sounded surprised.
“Yes, it had been building between us for a while. We’d kissed a few times and never talked about it. And that night things went further. It was my first time.”
“Was it really bad? You look like you’re going to cry again.”
“No, it was wonderful. One of the best nights of my life.”
Larkin wiped tears from Harlow’s face. “What went wrong?”
“I don’t know. But the next day he was different. Cold. Within a month he was downright mean to both me and Enzo. He cut us both out. Do you know Alaric’s cousin Petra?”
Larkin nodded.
“He started hanging around her and her crowd.”
“Was Alaric friends with them?”
“Not really. He’s Thea’s age, a year older, actually. He had his own friends and eventually Finn ran around with them instead.”
“With the uni kids?”
“Yes, and that was better. When he was friends with Petra, they were really hard on me and Enzo. Well, she was anyway, and he did nothing to stop it. He didn’t participate, but he just stood there whenever she bullied me and Enzo. Me especially.”
“I remember that part. You coming home every day, broken looking and exhausted. I remember hearing the maters saying they thought they’d have to send you away, but then things got better. Was that when he became friends with Alaric?”
Harlow wasn’t sure if Larkin actually remembered that, or if the twins had told her about it enough times that she thought she did. “Yeah, I guess so. Alaric is a good person. Maybe he was a better influence on Finn. I don’t know. When we all went to university, I tried to leave it behind, let it go, but it ate me up inside for years. I made a lot of mistakes at uni because I couldn’t let it go.”
“Then you met Mark.”
“Well, I saw a lot of other people in between, but yeah, Mark was the first person I really loved after Finn.”
Larkin grimaced, as though she thought Mark was a bad follow-up. “And now Finn’s back and everyone wants you to pair.”
“I guess.” Harlow felt as though the breath had been knocked out of her as she sunk down into the pillows of Larkin’s bed.
