Free The BlackBurne Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 1) by Apryl Baker Page B

to say.
    “Come, Alexandria. Let’s get you home.” His hand takes my free one, and he starts leading me through the woods.
    I let him drag me through the trees for a good five minutes before I see the back of the apartment complex. Shock, maybe? My mind keeps reeling back to that moment when his hand became so tight around my neck, I couldn’t breathe for a second. I should be afraid of him, but I’m not. Which tells me I really am crazy.
    We stop right outside my door. He looks at me and sighs. The irritation is back on his face. He’s upset with me, but for the life of me, I don’t know why.
    “Stay inside today, Alexandria.”
    “Why?” That is a weird request.
    “Can you no just trust me?”
    My hand flits back to my throat. “No.”
    Regret swamps his eyes, but it’s there and gone so fast, I might have imagined it. His hand comes up and cups my cheek. “I know there are things you no understand, things that make you think you are leerky .”
    “ Leerky ?” I have to see if there some kind of Romani to English dictionary if we are going to be spending any kind of time together. Wait, what am I saying? The guy tried to strangle me, maybe? I honestly don’t know.
    “What is word?” He frowns, thinking. “Crazy?”
    “You think I’m crazy?” Anger begins to bubble under my skin, igniting a fire that races through me. I go from confused to enraged in a matter of seconds. Now I’m beginning to understand Jason’s snap temperament changes. People can piss you off in a heartbeat.
    “No, no,” he soothes. “I no mean you are leerky . I say you think you are, but you are no. Remember this, munya . No matter what happen, you are no leerky , crazy.”
    “Who are you?” The whispered question is torn from my lips. Why does it feel like he knows me, knows everything about me?
    His smile is full of sadness, a deep grief in his eyes. “Someone who must do what must be done. Stay inside. I mean this.”
    With that, he turns and jogs around the building, heading back toward the entrance and presumably back to town to collect his Explorer.
    I stand there, confused, alarmed, and some emotion I have no name for.
    Who the hell is he?

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Despite my own good sense, I stayed inside all day. There was a raw honesty in Luka’s voice that stayed with me, a warning I couldn’t ignore. It bugs me that I did exactly what he wanted me to, but I can’t explain this need I have to listen…no…to obey him. It rankles.
    I turn off the shower and dry off, before dragging on my brand new fuzzy penguin pajama bottoms. A blue tank top goes on instead of the long sleeved shirt that came with the bottoms. The cold never really bothers me, but I love the feel of the soft, fuzzy material of the bottoms. I’ll wear these even when it’s ninety outside, guaranteed.
    Jason has texted me at least twenty times today, worried. He’s on the college football team, and they had their first practice. He forgot to tell me last night. His last text asked if I wanted him to bring home something to eat. He was going to go grab a bite with the guys. I told him no. I’d order something.
    He’s trying so hard to let me do my own thing, and I appreciate it more than I can say. I just wish I weren’t sitting here terrified I’m going insane. Between the vivid dreams of the wolf I have every night, the voice in my head that pops in at random times, and my own paranoia, I might wind up right back at Compton sooner rather than later.
    My biggest fear is that I truly am insane. It’s something that’s haunted me, lived like a cancer in the back of my mind. Luka told me I wasn’t crazy, but he can’t have any idea of my past. He’s not even from the U.S., for cripe’s sake. He’s from Romania! The look in his eyes, though, and the surety of his voice, it makes me think he does know about me. And that terrifies me. What if he tells someone?
    All I want is to be normal, and if he tells