RISK✵ lrh

5 | Treachery

Mia had spent the past few days avoiding relentless and determined texts from Luke about Aeternum and when she'll 'do good on her word' by helping him and Michael out. She hated his useless persistence and wished his future employer luck, considering the blond acted like a dog who barked and barked and barked at all hours of the night.

The girl realized she couldn't ignore him any longer because if she did, Mia feared that he'd start showing up at her place of work – or worse, the coffee shop where she indulges in pricey matcha lattes – Mia wouldn't put it past him, as it seemed Luke and Michael enjoyed living in their fantasy land of faux investigations and insanity.

On the topic of insanity, the girl had to convince Helen and Amaya that Luke wasn't insane. Despite the many challenges that proved themselves, Mia told them that the blond knew about Aeternum and wanted to join – in exchange for a settled internship. Helen was more agreeable to the idea than Amaya – who prided herself in being a legacy and keeping a centuries-old society secret from 'outsiders' – and, of course, that spiralled into an argument between the three girls.

Eventually, Mia ensured that neither Helen nor Amaya would tell anyone or give any reason for other members – such as Calum or the ridiculous designated council – to be suspicious or untrusting of Luke and Michael.

So, Mia told Luke she'd stop by his and Michael's house after her seminar – which she mentioned ended at six in the evening, much to Luke's (mainly Michael's) dismay and complaints, and pleaded for her to skip it. She didn't, obviously.

Luckily, they were a twenty-minute walk from her college, allowing Mia enough time to decide whether she genuinely needed that promised internship and if it was worth taking hours of her day and spending it on Luke – who, in the past, had continuously proved to be an annoyance with unwanted comments, which were only amusing sometimes when at the expense of people who weren't her.

But she'd never tell him that.

She stood outside the house and looked around the empty street. It was unbelievably dark for 6:30, the kind of dark that made her think she shouldn't be outside—despite it not even being dinner time for some families. Mia glanced at her phone and then released a breath, which clouded the air before she rang the bell.

Was it too late for her to turn around? What had Mia gotten herself into? Encouraging and enabling two delusional twenty-year-old men was not part of the many schedules and plans she'd prepared since arriving at university– unless she could market this venture as a community service, titling it a testament to her generosity and interpersonal skills.

No, she sighed; unfortunately, there was no way to phrase the 'treachery of Aeternum' for her resume. Not that she would have if she could; she was simply trying to amuse herself.

"She's here!" A loud yet muffled voice sounded from behind the front door, and Mia let herself smile at that. That was undoubtedly Michael, as there wasn't a universe where Luke would ever be that ecstatic to have her outside his door – though that doesn't mean she hadn't ever thought about it.

But that was a dangerous thought she'd never let herself linger on based on how much it unsettled her – Mia tended to stay away from the hidden vaults of her mind, especially the ones from the age of seventeen.

The front door unlocked then opened, and leaning against it was none other than a smug-looking blond whose face she wanted to paint an overdue black eye on. She'd never do it, obviously; Mia could never hate Luke that much for her to resort to petty violence over a few unnecessary comments about her being an 'obsessive control freak who studied more than breathed.'

"Happy to see you too, Corcoran," Luke hummed. Whatever trace of a smile or amusement she had vanished and masked itself into a simple indifference – borderline annoyance – at the sight of his face. He moved to the side, allowing her entrance, "Come on in, we've been expecting you."