Page 54 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

Three Years Ago — Lux’s Sophomore Year of High School

In the past year, something’s changed between me and Theo. I can’t put my finger on it, but we’re different. Something is, anyway. I’ve been doing okay at making friends. Thomas Finley sits next to me on the bench. We’re waiting for the lacrosse game to start.

He was paired with me because I’ve given up doing the write-ups. I’m hopeless when it comes to the play-by-plays the athletic students are after, the ones the parents will frame for their refrigerators.

This is football, Lion’s Head vs Emery-Rose Elite. September. The air is crisp, the stadium lights are on, and the game should be a low-key one… in theory, anyway. This is one of the first games of the season, which usually means the teams are still figuring their shit out. Getting plays memorized, synchronizing their movements.

Within the first few minutes, though, I realize it won’t be that sort of game.

Both teams are restless, out for blood. The hits are hard, verging on unnecessary. The Lion’s Head coach is going out of his mind. I turn my camera on him, catching him mid-yell.

Finally, the teams break away for the end of the first half. Thomas stands, offering his hand to me.

“Popcorn?” he asks.

I grin and let him help me up, and we’re swept up in a crowd of Lion’s Head students and parents heading for the concessions. We get halfway there before someone yanks me backward. The grip on my arm is strong, and I go too easily. My back hits their front.

I crane my head back, meeting Theo’s burning gaze.

This is what’s different.

He’s angry, growing more upset by the moment.

Thomas notices I’m not with him and searches for me, finally spotting us. “Lucy?”

“Leave her,” Theo says.

We’re in our own little bubble. The crowd goes around us, never touching him. A perk of being him, I guess. Even people affiliated with Lion’s Head know who Theo Alistair is, and they know better than to knock into him.

Thomas takes one look at him, then me, and rushes away.

“See how easy, little monster?” Theo asks in my ear. His breath is hot.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Did you have fun in my car?”

You knew you were going to get caught. “Oh, did you find that?”

He grunts. “It was clever.”

Yesterday, my grandma dropped me off at Emery-Rose Elite to see Amelie. And Theo’s car just… called to me. Call it stupidity, since I had taken Dad’s car a few weeks earlier and crashed it through their garage, but it woke me up.

And I needed an excuse for Theo to talk to me.

His anger ignites me. I can relate to it. Over the past few months, he’s tried to scare me off with just how terrifying he can be. But it doesn’t work.

“Let me guess,” I say, pulling my arm free. “You’d prefer I never spoke to another boy again. We had this discussion already, Theo. I can’t be in a cone of silence my whole life.”

He scowls. “You can try.”

I will not try. “I barely talk to anyone as it is.”

“So it shouldn’t be so difficult for you.” He appraises me. “You know what? I can handle it for you.”

I tilt my head, but he’s already striding away.

A sense of foreboding washes over me.

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