𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘- a labyrinth sequel

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒. Lia stared at Donnelly sitting across from her, and she had about a million questions racing through her mind all at once. She sighed and shook her head, breathing quietly, "How did you know?"

"I figured it out," he shrugged like it was no big deal. "Right after you asked about my dad's ring, I knew something was up." That had been ages ago, practically right when they'd first met, before Aurelia could even fully stand being around him. He'd known all this time, and he hadn't asked her about it, hadn't pushed, or forced her to open up about it. "It didn't take much longer after that to connect the dots."

"What did you find out?"

"That my father's business trips have also coincidentally lined up with a bunch of murders in the last six months. Maybe even longer. I would usually dismiss it, but, well, you know my father and what he could be capable of." Aurelia felt the all too familiar pit in her stomach, and she realized that she was in far deeper shit than she realized. He had mentioned that he'd had his speculations about the manner in which his mother had died, but to hear this only made that fear much more real. She knew that Donnelly's dad was dangerous, but she'd never expected him to be this dangerous. "Whatever you're thinking, Lia, you have to be careful," he warned. "He already knows something's up."

"What do you mean?" Aurelia questioned, frowning at him. Donnelly instantly widened his eyes, like he wasn't supposed to say that. "He knows something?" She questioned further, watching the way he averted his gaze from hers. Interesting.

"He knows that you know something," he replied vaguely, but the answer didn't give her nearly as much comfort as he'd intended. She blinked slowly, cocking her head to the side, "You're not telling me something." Aurelia knew that much. Her father was a profiler, so of course she'd learned the basics of human behaviour over the years. "Out with it, Donnelly," she prodded.

Nicolas sighed, shaking his head, "He asked me a few times, if you'd asked about him, what kinds of questions you were asking." For a moment, Aurelia didn't understand why he'd been reluctant to tell her that, until the realization hit her, and her face went completely slack. "He tried to warn me to stay away from you, told me that it would be in my best interest to keep my distance."

"But you didn't listen," Aurelia whispered back. She thought back to all those times she'd noticed him injured. The black eye, the occasional limp, the wincing when she'd playfully poke him in the ribs. Aurelia couldn't help but think about how many of those times he'd gotten hurt because of her. Because he'd refused to stay away from her. "And he made you pay for it."

"It's not your fault," he whispered. "It's his fault," Nicolas replied, more harsh this time. "If it wasn't because of you, then he would have found another reason. He always found some kind of reason." She'd thought that she had heard the worst of all already, but hearing that he'd taken those beatings because of her hurt more than any of the other stories he'd told her.

"You can't go back there," Aurelia told him, shaking her head. The thought of him being in that house for a second longer than he had to be absolutely terrified her, especially if he was right, and his father had been the one committing these murders. If he had no problem killing all of those people and beating his son black and blue, she didn't want to think about what he might do if he knew that the two of them were on to him. "I know you're set on staying until you graduate, but the thought of you in that house with him-"

"I don't have anywhere else to go, Lia," he replied dryly. "Besides, it's better not to let him think we're up to something. Me leaving will make him suspicious, and I'm not entirely sure what lines he'd be willing to cross. I'm worried about what he'll do to you if he finds out."