The magic fizzled and died, snuffed out of my hands with a whisper of thought. If he wanted to harm me, he'd had a dozen chances by now.
"What do you want, Alec?" I grumbled.
It was almost prophetic how I'd just been thinking about him, and he'd popped up like a jack in the box. Before he could answer, I fired another question at him.
"And where did you come from anyway?"
What I didn't ask was how long he'd been standing there and how much he had overheard. I didn't want to know for fear I'd curl up and die from embarrassment.
Alec pointed to a rarely used door in the corner of the gym. I'd seen Rory use it a few times, but no one else. I had no idea where it led, but whoever was greasing the hinges was doing a great job, because Alec snuck up on me like a specter.
"Marie is right, you know."
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm aware."
His lips quirked up in an odd half smile. "Most of us were born here, Aspen. We never had to learn how to make friends."