Page 68 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

“Now you’re getting it,” he says softly. He approaches and stops just short of touching me.

I wish he would.

I hold out my hand, desperate for that connection, and he steps back.

“I can’t.” His voice grates. “Not yet.”

“Now you can’t even touch me.” I cast my gaze anywhere else. To the row of desks, or—

Theo sighs. “I—”

“Don’t,” I whisper. The pain in my chest isn’t all that noticeable at first. It’s the sort of thing you think is just your body—and then it gets worse. But for now, I can breathe through it. “I stole his car, okay? Before yours, just to serve him right. I left it in better shape than yours, left the keys in it so he could just call AAA or use a spare. And after I parked yours, I saw Ruby in the woods when she should’ve been at the movies with Sebastian—”

“You need to leave them alone.”

I rear back. “Excuse me?”

He grimaces. “I know saying that is going to make you want to dig deeper, but please don’t. It’s not just them when you’re trying to pry apart that society. It isn’t just this school—”

“What?” I stride forward and grip his biceps. “You know more than you let on. What is it called? Who—”

“Lucy,” he snaps.

I wince.

His hands come up and cup my elbows, keeping me close. We’re only our forearms distance away, but it still seems like miles.

“Here’s what I know.” I tip my head back and meet his storm-blue eyes. “There’s a secret society, and somehow, LBU West is where they put the prospective students—and ones who are already in it. They recruit, somehow. I think Ruby got recruited, or she’s already in it… I don’t know. She’s a sophomore, so…”

“They only take sophomores,” Theo fills in. “And you’re correct about the campus.”

I lift my chin. “Did you know when you found out where I was living?”

“It’s rare for them to go after a freshman, but they do have some living on the West Campus for appearances. Most are oblivious.”

He tugs me closer still, and I try not to think about how just a moment ago he refused to touch me. This could be why: once he has me, it will be impossible for him to let go. A rogue longing creeps up. It’s the urge to be close to him, even climb inside his skin. And that impossibility—of being close to Theo Alistair, the king of keeping me at bay—hurts worse than his earlier rejection.

“Just avoid Sebastian,” he says quietly. “Just until tomorrow, at least—”

“What’s tomorrow?”

He presses his lips together, a promise of silence.

Ah, well. I don’t push the issue, and instead unlock my fingers from his arm. He does the same. Muscle by muscle, we unglue ourselves from each other and separate.

“I like it better when you’re cruel,” I inform him. I slip by, unlocking the door. “It’s easier to keep everything compartmentalized.”

“Maybe it’s crueler of me to be nice.”

I flinch and yank the door open. I step out into the empty hallway and hurry toward the stairs. His words chase me, lodge in my ears. They’ll replay later, when I’m trying not to think about it.

He’s always been cruel—it’s how we’ve survived each other. Because I’ve been cruel, too.

But this might be an exquisite new form of torture… one I don’t have a defense against.

21

Lux

---