𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘- a labyrinth sequel

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑. Or in her case, a car. Donnelly's car, actually. They hadn't moved yet, but she could feel the stare of both boys, and she nervously twisted a ring around her finger, waiting for the inevitable questioning to begin. It was Xander who sighed and spoke up first.

"What the hell was that, Lia?" He demanded, and she winced at the tone he'd taken with her. "You need to tell me whatever it is that you've been up to. Now," he emphasized. He didn't take much seriously, so to see him frowning at her instead of cracking his usual jokes was enough to have her insides turning inside out.

"I can't tell you," she'd replied quietly. It was bad enough that The Society knew she was looking into them. If she were to bring either of them into this mess, then she wasn't sure if they'd go after them, too. Either way, it wasn't a risk she was willing to take. Besides, Donnelly's father was a member of the society, and she had no idea what he was capable of. She'd gotten a bad vibe from him the first time she'd been introduced to him, and whilst she trusted Nicolas, she knew that he would never turn on his father. Even if his father wasn't guilty of anything, he had to have known what really went on in the society, didn't he?

"You know, I'm getting really sick and tired of hearing that," he snapped, and it was the first time in a while that she'd seen him really angry with her. "Is this about Liam again? Does it have something to do with her?"

"No, nothing like that," Aurelia shook her head. "It's has nothing to do with either of them."

"Then what?" Xander demanded again. "Because I'm starting to wonder if your mother would be interested in knowing who you've been pen pals with for the last few weeks." Her stomach dropped at the threat, and Aurelia narrowed her eyes at her cousin. He'd resorted to blackmailing her now?

"You don't know how to let anything go!" She shouted back, well aware of the fact that Donnelly had wide eyes, staring between the two of them, unsure of how to react. "I am asking you, Xander, to forget all about this. But you just keep pushing and pushing."

"This is beyond you just asking me to cover for you!" Xander pointed out, waving his hands frantically. "Someone deliberately came to your house and left that message knowing you'd see it. Do you not realize how serious that is?"

She did realize how serious it was, but she also knew that by keeping him in the dark, she was protecting Xander. Right there, right in that moment, Aurelia Clairmont-Reid made a vow to herself that she was done. No more digging into the society, and it's stupid sponsors, and stupid parties. For someone to come after her, she must have been close to finding something that they didn't want her knowing. And after the threat had been made, she no longer had any interest in finding out.

"Ease up on her," Donnelly said quietly, keeping his eyes pinned on hers, noticing the tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Whatever it is, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"Right," Xander laughed bitterly. "Because chatting up a known murderer and her crazy nephew is something that a smart person would do. You never know when to stop, Aurelia." Her full name. Lia winced as if he'd struck her.

"Don't talk to her like that," Donnelly chimed in, noticing the expression of complete and utter hurt on her face. Xander blinked, like he'd realized the magnitude of what he'd just said, but it didn't look like he had any intention of apologizing. At least not right now.

"He's not crazy," was the first thing she'd opted to say. "And if you say anything about this, Xander, I will never forgive you. I mean it," she'd spat the words out, the venom practically dripping from her tone. "If you say a word to anyone, about Isabelle, about Liam, or about any thing else, then we're done." Xander flinched, and Aurelia regretted the words the second they slipped past her lips.