Chapter 28: Black Magic

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."