A University of Betrayal (The Blairville Legacies #2)

Chapter 1

Julian

My Kind of Illusion

Jay Varton

“Graham, please, you have to leave this weekend. Gloria found out what happened this morning through the Councils’ private informants. She wants everything that is not under the control of the Circle that could be a thorn in the Ruisangors’ side removed from this part of town.”

I had just gotten up, and those were the first words I heard from downstairs as I entered the corridor bare-chested. So, I turned on my heel and grabbed one of the dark T-shirts scattered on the floor, determined to see which hostile Quatura wanted to drive us out of this area of town today.

Our father had warned us about this last night, and I, an idiot, had almost laughed. Of course, I hadn’t laughed, but had just nodded silently out of shock at all the drama about Bayla and watched the wild activity in the Adams’ house from the kitchen window.

Five times, the thunder had been so ear-splitting that I had flinched. Five times, I had thought that Bayla Adams was dead for good – until three hours ago, when Amara Blair had told us that Bay had made it. It had calmed me down, and I had finally gotten two hours of sleep.

When I’d woken up, I’d heard her heartbeat. I had stared at the ceiling for a good five minutes, listening to that strange rhythmic sound as if it were the melody of a song. It was beating slower than usual, but it was beating, which had to mean she was alive. Bayla Adams had survived a fatal Ruisangor bite.

“Gloria can go fuck herself,” I said dryly when I reached the hallway.

Dad looked at me, and I realized immediately that he had slept just as little as I had.

“Julian, please!” he snapped at me. “Please check on Mia,” he continued, and I gave the mayor in the doorway one last suspicious look before disappearing back up the stairs.

I hadn’t trusted anyone since last night. Amara Blair, Alarik, Diana, and this Bastien DeLoughrey had been talking to each other in such a strangely familiar way that doubts had arisen in my mind. I didn’t know what it was, but something wasn’t right.

This Bastien had finally disappeared from the Adams’ house after some time, not without constantly eyeing Diana. Almost as if he urgently wanted to say something, or as if Bayla’s mother was the next victim.

If there was anyone I trusted the least right now, it was the Ruisangors. Next time I saw Adrian, he would pay for this mess.

I stopped in front of Mia’s room.

That was the moment when I remembered that our father had been called out on duty three hours ago. This kind of thing often happened in the middle of the night or early in the morning when some high school kids had messed things up, but this time had been different. Lola, the little old owner of the popular town diner, had called. An animal attack. Ezra Campbell.

It had even distracted me from Bayla for a moment, but in retrospect, I didn’t know what was worse: that Bayla and her friend had been attacked by a Ruisangor or that Ezra Campbell was no longer alive.

I’d first met him when I’d moved to this neighborhood, but apart from a few words we’d exchanged, we’d had little to do with each other. He had been one of those hard-working students you saw in the library all day and who nodded to you every other week with a smile while mowing the lawn.

And then there was Mady, the girl I’d known since junior high. The Sunshine Girl who had lost her parents... and now her brother.

When I had found out about it, my remorse had been immense. She had simply taken Mia to a club, and I had intended to talk to her today about her silly decision, but now was not the time for such a conversation.

To put everything that had happened out of my mind, I knocked gently on my sister’s door.

Numb3rs

Jay Varton

“Hey. Mia Mouse, are you awake?”

“Don’t call me that...” I heard an annoyed hiss from inside and then opened the door. Mia was sitting on her bed, leaning against the bedframe and staring out of the window into the old neighbors’ storm-ravaged garden.

“I want to go over to Mady and tell her that everything is going to be okay…”

The subject had caught up with me again.

Sighing, I walked to her window and stared out into the dense forest as if something was still lurking out there, ready to claim its next victim.

Three girls had disappeared last night, including Bayla’s crazy human friend.

“Mady was there for me when our grandmother died,” Mia said tonelessly.

Dad had forbidden her to leave the house because things were particularly tense at the moment. She had called, but Mady hadn’t answered.

“You’ll see each other again soon.”

Mia laughed bitterly. “We both know that’s a lie.”

I turned to face her, and when our eyes met, I saw it. Her eyes glowed yellowish, as they increasingly did for months now.

“I don’t want to join the pack, Julian.”

Overwhelmed, I strode over to her bed to sit next to her and put an arm around her, sighing. Then I pulled her close.

“No matter where you go. I’m here for you, even if I’m not going to be right there.”

I’d been thinking all night about what it would be like to live with the pack again, at least until Dad had his old house back. And the thought had weighed me down with increasing fatigue. It had worn me down inside. And I had made up my mind.

We had nothing to do with that shit last night, and yet the Quatura wanted to kick us out. How much I hated this town once again.

“So, you’re really going to leave me alone at the Copelands?” Mia looked at me insistently. “Wow, Julian, you’re such a responsible family member.”

I raised both brows.

“Easy there, sis. You can’t have a black-and-white view of everything. Besides, I thought you were old enough, and I wouldn’t have to babysit you anymore.” She turned her annoyed gaze from me back to the window as if she needed to savor the view one last time. As if we lived in the Council District, where the most expensive houses in town were located, inhabited by Air Quatura.

If all that hadn’t happened last night, I’d probably be very angry with Mia now. I would have talked to her about the club visit, but right now, she was in a bad mood.

“You don’t know what it’s like, Julian. I can’t do anything about it. Dad will listen to the Alpha and take me to them.”

“You can try to keep as much distance as possible.”

Mia looked at me with raised brows. “Do you know how angry I am right now?”

I wanted to tell her how angry I was, but I refrained.

“You don’t have to turn...” I said instead in a firm voice. “And if it does happen at some point, I’ll be there to make sure nothing happens to you.”

The anger disappeared from her gaze, and I could see a glimmer of fear, so I gently placed my hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, Mia. It’s the first transformation. You’ll be able to suppress the rest. I’ll talk to Alarik. He’ll give you wolfsbane.”

My words didn’t seem to reassure her.

“What if I transform like you, if I do something I don’t want to or even hurt someone?”

Tears filled her eyes.

My heart tightened because I couldn’t bear the thought of her beating herself up like that. It was all my fault. I was the reason Mia was so afraid of it. Hatred for myself rose up in my throat, but I swallowed it down. What other choice did you have than to simply block out the daily pain when life gave you no other way to deal with it? I hated it, but that was my fate. The price I paid for my mother’s death.

“What if the same thing happens to me as it did to you, and I...”

“Mia,” I pressed out with all my strength. I wanted her to stop reminding me of that time. It would tear me apart from the inside.

Mia was sobbing now, and I hugged her tighter.

God, what a bad influence I was on my family. They all led such unhappy lives, and it was because of me. It was time for something to change. I hadn’t thought about it at all, but Mia’s teenage behavior might not have been so unjustified. She also tried to repress what had happened back then. And now she was completely confronted with it.

Mia started to shake; her sobs became more violent. I didn’t know what else to do but stroke her back. “Hey, Mia Mouse.”

“Don’t call me that!” she continued to sob, and I had to smile, which she automatically replied to.

Once again, I looked her firmly in the eye. “You’re strong, stronger than me. That’s why you’re going to grit your teeth, pack up the most important things, and go there.” Her expression remained unchangingly desperate. “You have my number, and you know I’ll be on campus if anything should happen. In the afternoons, you just leave to hang out with your friends.” Mia looked out the window. “It’s important to me that you have chances to get out of there.”

Mia nodded with a tear-stained face. There were dark marks around her eyes, which must have been due to the make-up she wore last night. The glitter stones on her eyes had slipped and were almost coming loose. It was strange to see my little sister with make-up on. She looked much older and somehow reminded me of Mum.

Before another painful wave of panic could rise up inside me, I got up from the bed and went to the door, not without a glance to make sure Mia was feeling better. She was just staring into the forest, lost in thought, which proved how good I was at lifting other people’s spirits.

“One more thing...” I began. “I want you to think about your circle of friends. Not Mady, but your classmates.” I turned to her in the doorway. “Not all the people who seem good for you at first glance turn out to be good for you in the end.”

When she didn’t respond, I turned to the door to leave.

I had already spoken to her about the strange connection between Ems, Bay, and me, and she had had to assure me that she would keep it to herself. However, I had needed to explain it to her, because after the scene in the parking lot yesterday, she hadn’t stopped asking questions.

Locked In A Cage

Brick + Mortar

When I arrived in my room, I closed the door and let everything out. I kicked the dresser and brought down all the picture frames from our family. A mountain of unwashed laundry kept the glass from shattering.

I was so incredibly angry again that the Quatura had so much power over us, angry at the Senseque and the pack that wouldn’t leave me alone. Now, they were taking my family away from me, too. But I was most angry at the Ruisangors. They had done so much damage. And they had almost taken the life of Bayla Adams, a human or Quatura who didn’t deserve any of this.

I rushed to the window, listening. There it was again, her heartbeat. I had never heard anything so peaceful and calming.

Slowly, I let myself slide down the wall near my grand piano by the window and lay my head back against the wall with my eyes closed. I let the gentle pounding get as close to me as possible because it changed my own heartbeat, regulated my breathing, and calmed me down inside.

I wondered how it could beat so slowly. I wondered if it was because she was asleep or because she had almost died.

I should have been at that damn party, keeping an eye on Mia and Bayla. Instead, I’d been here, playing one song after another. What a fool I was... If I’d been there with Bayla, she wouldn’t have had to leave the party alone. And if I had been here, I could have intervened in time... but I had been in my car. No matter how I turned it around, the result was the same: the unchangeable fact was that I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head toward Bayla’s window. And right then, I just wished she would pull the curtain away and get annoyed with me.

I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t help but think back to the day we’d been at the lighthouse. It had just been an idea to go there and show her the place where I could relax. Where I could get away from the town without actually leaving it. I had never taken anyone there before, but with her, I had felt that she needed the place just as much as I did.

And then there had been that moment when I had almost kissed her. Her eyes, the turquoise and the blue one, had shone playfully, and even after the storm clouds had covered her face with shadows, my head hadn’t considered it necessary to push the thought away. I had almost kissed Bayla Adams. But all that was left in the end was a bizarrely beautiful memory of a moment that would never come again.

She had shown me that she thought I was annoying, and had even pointed out that Emely might be interested in much more than our old friendship. She had made it clear that she didn’t want anything from me, and I had decided to just be there when this strange connection between us cried out for me because that had probably been the reason for my sudden emotional chaos. She had simply been in my head too often, against my will, and perhaps in a moment of weakness, I had allowed myself to sense something that had never been there.

So, I banished that memory to the back of my mind before getting up and pulling out my travel bag. It was time to pack up and say goodbye to this place. Where I would go now, I didn’t know.