Page 142 of Until We Burn
“Luke, you’ve been here for hours,” I protest. “You can’t help anyone if you’re drained. You need to get some rest.”
“I am staying.”His eyes tear away from Wallace to glare at me. “When my mom died and you and Rowan left to go to DHU in first year, Wallace was there for me. He didn’t even know me, but he kept the rink open late every night when I was tired of crying about losing my mom. He’s the reason why I left Surrey and went back to university. He’s the reason why I didn’t quit everything altogether. You guys?—”
Luke’s voice breaks off. His lips tremble, his nostrils flare as he tries to hold himself together.
“You guys helped me keep going, but it was Wallace who helped me get up in the first place. So,no.”Fury flashes on Luke’s face. “I’mnotgoing anywhere, and you can’t make me.”
I look to Rowan, quietly pleading with him, urging him to try and change Luke’s mind. But he only shuts his eyes in surrender.
“I’ll stay here with Luke. We can take turns checking up on Wallace.” He nods at me. “You should be the one going home. I know this isn’t the only problem you’re dealing with.”
I huff. “But?—”
“I’m not talking to you as your friend. I’m talking to you as your captain,” Rowan commands. “We need you at your best for the game this week. Go home and rest, Kai.”
CHAPTER 56
DIANA
The aftermathof the welcome dinner makes my stomach twist, as I brace for what’s about to happen the second everyone has left, and the façades fall away.
Before she leaves, Stella squeezes my hand and looks back at me. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
I muster a simple, assuring smile. “I’ll be okay.”
Stella tugs me close. Her fingers pretend to adjust the collar of my dress, yet her voice is pointed.
“Keep your guard up,” she whispers. “Just because the boys are knocked down doesn’t mean they won’t use their distance to an advantage.”
Her warning lingers in my head long after she leaves with the rest of my family. It heightens in warning when bàba shuts the door behind the last guest.
He regards me and Sophia with a nonchalance that’s too unsettling to be genuine.
“I want you girls in my study in five minutes. Agong and I wish to speak with you.” He snaps his fingers at the maids standing by. “Fetch Jonathan and Gregory, too.”
The maids nod and scurry away.
Sophia and I cast apprehensive looks at each other as bàba leaves for his study.
Sophia snatches my hand the second he’s gone, and marches me into the war room. She pushes me inside. The door shuts behind her before she whirls on me.
“Diana, what have you done?” she panics. “Why isn’t my name being dragged with Gregory and Jonathan?”
My hands grow clammy, as I try to string my words together properly. “Look, after we argued that night, I wanted to give you a better chance at securing the life you want. Bàba hasn’t been fair with you, and I know your actions are a response to that.” I swallow convulsively. “That’s why I erased all evidence of you plotting with Jonathan and Gregory.”
“How did you even—” Sophia pales.“The Halloween party.”
“It was the only way I could get your phone,” I explain. “I know someone on the student council who told me you were going.”
Confusion mars her face. Her eyes dart back and forth, trying to piece everything together.
A small, hopeful smile touches my lips. “I also wanted to thank you for defending me against that Viper.”
Sophia softens. Her cold, guarded mask falls away, making her glow with a vulnerability I haven’t seen in so long. Then she hardens again. Her walls surge up, flinty and aloof as her voice. “So, all the evidence that I’ve been scheming with Jonathan and Gregory is gone?”
I feel a heavy dread in my heart, as I nod. “Yes.”
“Oh my god.” Sophia’s fingers tremble as she braces her temple, and paces back and forth.
