Chapter 42
Bayla
Julian had told me on the way to my accommodation about a game on campus that everyone seemed to be talking about right now and which had secured Miles DeLoughrey and Emely Copeland extra votes for the election nomination.
Unfortunately, I had missed it because I had been sitting in the library, lost in the dystopian section, and borrowing the entire Embers of Humanity series by bestselling author Celeste Victoria.
There was no harm in trying out new genres. But since I had been plagued by curiosity about the newly discovered diary pages all day, I couldn’t wait to get to the accommodation and go through Alice’s letters with the others.
Holding Pattern
Angus MacRae
Beloved Mum,
Today I finally found my – and I quote her words – “totally involved” sister. Amara had looked so fed up with her life that I simply took her to a local coffee shop. Against her will, but just as you had always suggested I should. She’s in Moenia so often, and I’d like to change that, take the weight off her shoulders, but you know how she is: far too responsible.
I asked her about the species issue anyway, and she reacted with concern. She asked me how I could come up with such “delusions” and that I should come to the temple duty more often, and also that Margot was going off the rails. I left the species subject alone for the time being and promised her that I would be in Moenia this weekend. She was right. Family is more important than my – and I quote her again – “wild ideas”.
Oh, one more thing before I forget. Remember that young man who had given me his suit jacket? I had taken a closer look at it at home and noticed that it had a little golden embroidery on the collar with the words DeLoughrey.
I should have realized right away that he was one of them. Cold hands, light porcelain complexion and that aura they all have that we Quatura can sense. He’s a Ruisangor. And the biggest problem is, I can’t stop thinking about him.
Beloved Mum,
Margot has done her ceremony, and I’ll give you three guesses. She actually received the gift of Air. I think I remain alone with my fate. I realize more and more that I am needed in Moenia, that I am special with the power of Fire. Yes... Especially useful for Gloria.
I hardly use my powers anymore, simply because I want a normal life. I’m so glad I wouldn’t even be considered for your position. I don’t think either of us would want that.
Beloved Mum,
I hadn’t had another chance to talk to the Senseque from the literature lecture because the lecture gets canceled so often, at least until today...
It feels so wrong to be interested in the species and their political history, especially after we were so strictly forbidden to do so from an early age in Moenia. But – I have to admit – I was really looking forward to the moment when I could talk more about these things with Alarik Copeland.
He had been sitting there, and this time I had been the one who dared to sit right next to him. I had immediately started talking, telling him that there were some books in Moenia, but that they only contained something about supposed combat defenses against the Senseque or Ruisangors. He just laughed and told me that I would never find anything more profound in our families’ book collections, and that I would have to write it myself or look for clues in forgotten places.
I also found out that he studies history and English, loves literature and loves to sink into books as much as I do. Then I told him about my obsession with Jane Austen. He listened to me attentively. I think I’ve found someone I can talk to about books... for hours!
He had told me one of the courtyards in the East Wing was his second favorite place at Vanderwood and I had asked him which place he liked most. In response, he had put his finger to his lips and whispered, “Secret...”
It seemed rude to ask him any more questions, so I just enjoyed the rare fall sunshine here and continued reading my book, with him beside me immersed in a novel called The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I think I might borrow it soon.
When he had to attend a history lecture, I had surprisingly bumped into Amanda. I had thought that Alarik and I would have been alone in this enchanted little courtyard with the mermaid statue on the fountain, but apparently that wasn’t the case. I had been a little worried at first, because Amanda could have told anyone else in the Circle, or - God forbid – Gloria...
“What on earth are you doing with that guy? Do you have a death wish?”
I understand her fear, but I am not scared any longer.
“Let me explain...” I interrupted her calmly, and told her everything on the way to the next lecture.
I thought she was going to freak out, but she actually stayed calm, probably deep in thought, especially when I told her what her brother thought. I’ve noticed that she’s always very quiet when it comes to Alaister. As if there was something bothering her.
Beloved Mum,
Alarik has written me a letter. And even if you can’t read it, I want to entrust it to you.
Hey Alice,
That’s your name, isn’t it? I’m sorry if I spelled your name wrong. I’ve only heard it once so far, and that was a week ago when we met for the first time. My father told me that one of my fellow students had told him that I was spending time with a Quatura. And since I don’t want you to end up in the same situation with your family or Circle after this unfortunate coincidence, I’m writing you a letter.
There is still so much that keeps my mind occupied.
You said you were going to the library to continue your research. I don’t know what you want to find on our campus, but I would like to help you. I like the idea behind it, and especially your passion for books. I would like to bring you a book that I really enjoyed and that I read recently. You asked me about it. The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It’s about a group of elite students who get caught up in some pretty tumultuous events... just like we will, if we keep talking to each other in seminars. Don’t worry, as I said, I don’t want you to get into trouble. Let me know if it bothers you.
If you show up at the library at 6:06 pm on Thursday, I’ll know you don’t care what anyone else thinks any more than I do.
Thinking of our inspiring conversations,
Alarik
I don’t know what to say.
He’s such a rebel. And it feels like we have some kind of common project to work on now. I hope you’re not angry with me, but I’m going there on Thursday. The Circle won’t find out about it... And I’m not hurting anyone. On the contrary. I have the feeling that this research could help to renew something outdated, perhaps even the whole system we live in.
Beloved Mum,
Diana found the jacket in the laundry and confronted me. I didn’t know what to say, because I didn’t know her opinion on the Ruisangors topic. But I told her. I confessed everything to her. Almost everything. I left out the part about the feelings as a precaution, because I hadn’t even been able to process that myself yet. I often had to think back to that day. To that moment.
Diana is worried. She said, “Actually, I’m not surprised, especially since you’ve been seeing the Senseque.”
I blushed.
“Did Amanda tell you that?”
“I didn’t tell her,” Amanda had called from the hallway. She had just come from Moenia and had Alaister with her.
He gave me a brief smile, but he had looked so exhausted, believe me. He must have had extra practice with Gloria again.
I’d touched his arm by chance, and he’d been so cool again.
“Tell what?” he asked, pulling himself up onto one of the kitchen countertops.
“You won’t believe this, but she’s hanging out with the director’s son.”
“Oh, is she?”
Alaister raised an eyebrow and scrutinized me longer than usual. I realize that he knows Alarik from campus and that he knows what he is. But there was something else...
“Don’t make such a big deal out of it,” I began. “It’s about the ideas, and besides, I don’t have anyone else here who’s interested in literature.”
Alaister and Diana wanted to protest, but I was quicker.
“Your biology tomes don’t count.”
Amanda had asked me about these ideas afterward, which led to us sitting in the kitchen for three hours talking about the species.
I can sense the enthusiasm in the others, even if they are all worried. But with Diana in particular, I sense a growing interest, especially in the inheritance of our DNA and why there are no hybrids. She and Alaister discussed whether there had ever been experiments in this direction and how ethical they would have been.
I don’t know how to describe it, but two hours ago I had an idea. I don't know to what extent I can write this down here... That’s why I might not write about it in here at all. On Thursday I would ask Alarik for his opinion.
Beloved Mum,
Diana told me to make the DeLoughrey man’s jacket disappear, preferably burn it. I had laughed because I knew she wanted to ask me about my powers but didn’t dare.
Every Quatura always has way too much respect for me when we are in Moenia. I hate that. It creates a distance between us all. Just because my powers are strongest there doesn’t mean I use them. And just because my magic comes from within doesn’t mean I’m going to set everything around me on fire right away. I explained to Diana how I felt about it, and she understood straight away.
And no, of course I didn’t burn his jacket!
Even worse, I went looking for the charming Ruisangor on campus today because I was not sure about where a Ruisangor usually hangs out. Certainly not on the big campus lawn. So, I had walked through the inner courtyards, but no one had been there either. It felt as if this encounter had been a deceptively beautiful product of my imagination. As if I had seen a ghost. And if this strange ghost hadn’t given me his suit jacket, believe me, I wouldn’t have believed he existed.
Disappointed, I had given up and returned to Diana, who had greeted me with a “I hope you never see him again.” I had slightly resented her “Just for your protection” because I wasn’t a baby and I didn’t really believe in the legends about Blairville’s horror stories.
I would ask him about it as soon as I found him. I certainly would.
Beloved Mum,
I was in the library today. 6:06 pm. Diana had come with me and hadn’t wanted to leave my side until I’d persuaded her to at least behave normally and not cling to me so conspicuously.
When I finally walked through the rows looking for him, I found him. He had just been standing there, the dark blue sweater of his uniform over his somewhat untidy white shirt and a book in his hand.
I had already told Alaister that it looked good when he was reading, but with Alarik it was something else again. While Alaister radiated a certain elegance and mysticism in everything he did – which was due to his appearance, the pale skin and the white hair – Alarik radiated a certain peacefulness and immersion. As if he really was a part of this library and always had been.
I must have stared for too long, because he grinned at me, closed his book and walked over to me.
“I knew you were coming.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked him in a teasing way.
“Are all Quatura this rebellious?” he asked, and I blushed again, which was unfortunately very noticeable with my pale complexion.
“If they were, things wouldn’t be the way they are right now.”
My words had made him think, because it had taken him a while to reply.
“Well, your friend seems to be very interested.”
“How...” I had wanted to start, but he tapped his ears and grinned. “Believe me, I heard you whispering as you entered.”
Senseque have very sharp senses. That’s for sure. I felt so uneducated in that moment.
I then asked him for his opinion on the topic that had been on my mind the whole time and still is, by the way.
He had listened to me attentively again, before saying that he would like to write me a letter about it, because talking about it at Vanderwood would be too reckless. He said that his father, the strict university director, was already sending spies who were friends of his brother, Nickolas.
Right now, I’m just praying that Alarik liked the idea, because otherwise I’ve really made a fool of myself.
At the end, I had asked him why he had set the meeting for 6:06 p.m. and he had just grinned again and said, “Because these times deserve to be used.” With those words, he left me speechless.
Beloved Mum,
I bumped into Amara on campus and invited her for a coffee with our now small but tight group of Alaister, Diana, Amanda and me.
I realized that she has no friends, and I felt very sorry for her. She spends almost all her time in Moenia these days, and maybe with you too, but I don’t know. She never talks about you. But Mum, believe me, Amara loves you just as much as Margot and I do. She just finds it a bit harder to deal with the pain.
She wanted to decline, but I forced her slightly, because I realized that she just needed to disconnect from Moenia. Even though it was only for an hour.
“This is my sister, Amara. And this is Diana.”
“Hey, Amara.” The two of them had hugged like they’d known each other forever, and a few minutes later I was told that they met regularly at the temple, just like Diana and Amanda did for Gloria’s Tempesta lessons. It was the first time I felt a bit out of the loop, but I guess that’s what happens when you distance yourself from Moenia.
We had been sitting in Lola’s Diner, drinking coffee, when Alaister had suddenly brought up our topic from last week. He had said that he was currently working on the inheritance of the Quatura gene and that he had some ideas on how to research and experiment on the other species.
My best friend is always so eager to learn, especially when it comes to biology. Even in the temple, he is the one who comes first and leaves last.
Last week, he wrote to me that he missed me at the temple and I had to promise him that I would come back more often to practice with him... He’s the only thing I like about Moenia, by the way. I would never have survived it all without Alaister.
Anyway, Diana had wanted to know his ideas, but he wouldn’t comment, perhaps because Amara was present? Was he perhaps afraid that she would pass on something to his mother?
Amara had asked how we came up with such ideas, and said that we should be careful what we talk about, because the current order had its legitimate reasons.
“You sound like my mother,” Alaister had said, whereupon Amara had jumped up and left. I told Alaister that he shouldn’t always be so direct and followed her.
I don’t know if you knew, but she’s had a crush on him ever since we were little. The fact that he compared her to the Devil of Blairville must have been a slap in the face for her.
“He doesn’t mean it,” I shouted to her, and Amara stopped.
“And even if he does, Alice, maybe not everything Gloria says is wrong. She’s a Council member for a reason.” I had also stopped and stared at her. “I meant what I just said. You should stick to the rules.”
“Amara, you’ll be in charge soon, and questioning the old order might be something new that could help us all move forward.”
She had looked at me and seemed deep in thought before she finally left.
Beloved Mum,
I was sitting by a fountain in one of the pretty courtyards today, reading. The sun was shining, but only slightly, through the partially open, ivy-covered stone roof. Everyone else had lectures... almost everyone.
“The book girl,” someone had said and sat down directly opposite me into the window of the Gothic stone wall.
Not being able to say anything, I had been looking into the shining gray eyes and at the lips painted with a smile. He was wearing a black suit jacket again, without the sweater underneath. And a white shirt.
“You’re supposed to stay away from me, you know that?” he asked me, tilting his head so that the sunlight shone directly on his pale skin and made his dark blond hair shimmer.
I still wonder how I could have believed for years that Ruisangors burned themselves in the sun.
“It’s not hard,” I had somehow managed to say, and he had smiled.
“And yet you’re still trying to find me.”
“I...”
“Don't even try to lie. You’ve been carrying my jacket around with you for days.”
Not only had he left me speechless again, I had also noticed for the first time how attractive his manner was to me.
“And you seem to be watching me.”
My words seemed to have taken us both by surprise, because he had opened his lips slightly to say something, but nothing came out. That had been the triumph that had made me smile. And my smile had been reflected in his face afterward.
“I heard you talking to the Senseque, in the library.”
My breath had hitched and from then on, I had understood what Alarik had meant.
“You seem to love taking risks, Blair girl.”
I knew he wasn’t just referring to the topics I had talked about with Alarik, but also this one idea I had first voiced that day in the library.
“Tell me I’m wrong and that there’s an easier way.”
The young man had eyed me and finally said, “You’re not wrong, but you’d have a lot of sides against you. Not everyone can handle that.”
He must have meant the Councils and the Esadowas, who influenced the Senseque pack in the same way that the Councils influenced the Circle.
“It’s worth the risk.”
“You like playing with fire, don’t you?”
He’d smiled, and I’d turned to grab his suit jacket from my backpack, hiding my knowing grin.
If only he knew how fitting his description had been for me...
“Here, the reason I’ve been looking for you all this time.”
I held out the black fabric to him, and he reached for it, our hands touching lightly.
“Are all Quatura this warm?” he asked, and at that moment the sun shone on one half of his face in such a way that I couldn’t help but make an exact memorization of his contours. The pale red, finely curved lips, like rose petals, and those eyes, like the moon that you can sometimes still see in the sky at midday...
We just stared at each other for ten seconds, and a lot of things went through my mind. I had the feeling that he was feeling the same as me, but I hadn’t dared to do anything other than stare.
“I have to go,” I said and just left.
I could just slap myself in the face for that. Because I don’t know what his name is or when I’ll see him again!
Spring Nocturne
Angus MacRae
“I told you!”
Larissa paced back and forth in the kitchen while I carefully skimmed through all the pages again. I felt as if I had just read the beginning of a wonderful fairy tale. A girl who fell in love, had a philosophy that not everyone agreed with, and firmly believed that she could change something about the problems of her time.
Julian threw an apple to me and I raised my eyebrows in question.
“You haven’t eaten anything today.”
My expression changed to annoyed.
“I agree with him. Your stomach is humming like Lara’s motor.”
The motorcycle we’d saved up for together in order to pay off one of her exes. The motorcycle that had probably ended up in a junkyard in Blairville.
“It’s not,” I lied.
Larissa shook her head. “Trust me, we hear that.”
I heard it too, felt it even. But somehow, I hadn’t gotten the chance, and now was the worst possible time to eat. I put the apple aside and earned a head shake from Julian. Julie was the only person present who didn’t judge me. And I thanked her inwardly for that.
I handed her the diary pages and let her skim through the entries again. We couldn’t miss anything.
Larissa continued. “What I wanted to say... She didn’t stop. Quite the opposite, she kept seeing him, talking to him about it, even to her witch friends.”
“And she fell in love with a DeLoughrey,” I sighed, perhaps a little too theatrically.
When I read the lines, my heart had melted. Yep, I admitted it. Romance novels were a new major part of my evening reading.
“Something tells me this could have caused a lot more drama,” Larissa said with concern in her voice.
“Why?” Julian asked, starting to cut open one of the apples.
“Why do you think? It’s obvious that she’s fallen in love with two guys, and one of them even wrote her a letter.”
“Alarik,” I replied to Larissa’s words.
“And she went looking for the other one,” I said with a grin. I could well imagine her wandering around the campus with his suit jacket in her hand.
“Maybe she gave it up. He was rarely around, anyway.”
Julian’s comments were really depressing, which I made him realize by rolling my eyes.
“What?” he laughed, unsure and amused at the same time, and removed the core of the apple with a knife.
Larissa sighed. “I actually think, this girl didn’t leave anything to chance. After all, she was so determined to think about a new order.”
“I just wonder who this mysterious DeLoughrey was,” I murmured in thought. I was definitely too attached to the love story, which had to continue somehow. “Gray eyes, she wrote.”
“I only know one male DeLoughrey – obviously excluding David and Nicolaj – who doesn’t have brown eyes, and that’s Bastien.”
I looked up in alarm, directly at Larissa, who was now also part of this clan. It was as if all their gang stories had come together and made a baby, because the DeLoughreys ran some shady businesses, piled up a lot of money and Larissa had even mentioned to me at dinner that she always trained in an underground training hall with the guys using real weapons.
Anyway... The DeLoughreys were people I would never mess with.
But if Bastien was part of this story... The man from the book was similar to him, yes... He was mysterious and suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
And then there was Alarik.
“It’s cute how Professor Copeland was with her,” I continued to gush without restraint.
Julian laughed and pushed a plate towards me with the sliced apple on it.
I looked at him in disbelief, but he insisted I eat something, so I picked up the plate and started to eat a few pieces. It was only then that I realized how hungry I actually was.
“Next time, I’ll cook you blueberries,” Julian said with a grin and I tilted my head, grinning in fake frustration, raising my eyebrows.
“He’s become a professor of literature, history and philosophy,” I continued before reaching for another piece of apple. I tried to connect the Alarik of that time with the Alarik of today, wondering if he had changed a lot.
Living in the Dark
Myuu
“I wonder what happened to Alaister,” Larissa asked, opening the fridge.
“He’s dead.”
The fridge slammed shut with a crash.
We all looked at Julie, and the first feeling that spread through me was sympathy.
Julie looked from one to the other. Then she blushed. “I mean, what else? He’s gone and no one’s talking about him.”
“Shit, sorry, that’s your dad, isn’t it?” Larissa gritted her teeth.
Julie blushed even harder.
“Yes, but it’s all right. I’ve never met him.”
“Do you know that Gloria?” Larissa asked much more carefully this time.
Julie laughed bitterly, and it made my blood run cold. “Believe me, you don’t want to meet her.”
I had met her, and my respect for her had grown enormously that day. She seemed like someone you didn’t want to upset, under any circumstances.
“She’s the highest member of the opposition to the Circle,” Julie explained, staring out the window at the pond that surrounded the houses.
“Do I need to understand that?” Larissa looked overwhelmed and opened the fridge again.
“No, I haven’t quite figured it out yet either,” I laughed quietly, a little tense inside, because the Circle had made no further effort to contact me and I had become so paranoid that I had marked every full moon on my calendar with an alarm clock. As far as I knew from Grace, though, other young Quatura were having their rites of passage at the moment, so mine could be a whole month away.
I didn’t want to think about it. Instead, I was grateful for the peace and quiet from these crazy people.
And to make sure I didn’t turn into a hairy, albeit majestic, beast, I would consume Alarik’s dodgy herbs in a few days, just like Julian did.
“And this Amanda? Isn’t that...” Larissa lowered her voice and gestured toward the stairs. “Vivienna’s mother?”
Julie lowered her voice again and looked at me. “That’s her. And I’m surprised she got on so well with that Alice and your mother back then.”
When I had seen the light blonde woman with the straight, shoulder-length hair, she had seemed like a loyal servant to Gloria. And that as her daughter...
Mum had been friends with this woman. I couldn’t imagine it. They had seemed so hostile with each other.
“There must have been a lot going on, because all these people have nothing to do with each other anymore,” Julian murmured, stealing a piece of apple. “Well, at least from what I’ve seen...”
When had he had the chance to observe that? I looked at him questioningly, but he avoided my gaze.
Larissa slammed the fridge door shut in displeasure. “Damn, two of them are gone, just disappeared ... maybe even dead.”
“Do you really think Alice is no longer alive?” I finally asked, something that had been burning on my lips the whole time.
“Where would she be?” Julian asked gloomily.
One could assume he would agree with Grace’s attitude regarding the species, as pessimistic as he was.
Larissa looked curiously at Julie. “Is there a cemetery in Blairville?”
“Yes,” Julie replied quickly and put the diary pages down on the kitchen island.
She sat on one of the bar stools and pulled her legs up. Her hair was braided back, as usual, and the gray hoodie she was wearing definitely differed from her usual pastel-colored feminine wardrobe.
“We should go there,” Larissa announced in determination.
Yes, we should definitely pay this cemetery a visit, but not so soon.
“Not until we've gone back to Professor Copeland's office. He has the student files and maybe even information about Alice, if they really were friends...” I put all my hope into my words. He had to have something there that would lead us to her. “...or more,” I added quietly.
He had written those letters, and they hadn’t just been letters, right?
“Are you really going to pull this off?”
I looked at Julian with impatience.
“We have no other choice.”
“Bayla’s right. There’s finally something going on here, and something really doesn’t sit well with this story.” Larissa marched to the fridge again.
“What do you think you’ll find there?” I laughed, amused.
“At the prof’s?” She peeked past the fridge door, and Julian and I spoke the same thought out loud.
“In the fridge!”
We both looked at each other and I grinned broadly before looking back at Larissa, who slammed the door shut in annoyance.
“I don’t know... I’m thirsty.” My body tensed, which Julian seemed to notice. “I could eat a fucking horse.” The fact that this probably wasn’t a joke made the tension on the first-floor rise. “Or a human.”
“Are you serious?” Julian asked with an alarmed look, and Larissa turned to us.
Her eyes began to glow red. And my breathing immediately quickened.
Then Larissa laughed.
“You should see your faces. God, that you’re so scared of me.” Her laughter swung from amused to disappointed, and she looked at me. “I would never hurt you.”
She didn’t want to hurt me. But she’d only been a Ruisangor for two weeks. Did she really know what she was capable of? Did the DeLoughreys enlighten her?
I didn’t say anything, just looked unsettled at Julian, who shrugged his shoulders, his eyes glowing yellow. A normal reaction, as I knew by now.
“I understand why Alice had all these thoughts. She just didn’t want this hostility around her to control her life any longer. The feeling she described, that it feels right to think about these things even if it’s forbidden... that’s exactly how I’ve felt since I found out about all this crap.”
Fortunately, Larissa had changed the subject. I had no idea how else to respond to her without hurting her again.
I hadn’t had the courage to approach her about having children, either. All I knew was that she had always told me that she wanted to have a big family one day, so she could give her children what she had never had as a child.
My heart contracted painfully.
“I wondered what Alice had meant by project all this time. She had mentioned an idea. And I think she kept writing. This can’t be all that’s left of the diary,” I said quickly, trying to pick up.
“And even if it is, we’ve searched everything we can.”
Julian seemed basically hopeless about finding more information.
“I’m glad Julian wasn’t sent home by a shotgun.” Julie looked questioningly at Larissa, and my best friend rolled her eyes. “Her mother loses her shit sometimes.”
“Ms. Adams did what she had to do,” Julian replied with a grin, and I shook my head in displeasure.
“Julian, Larissa is right. My mum is an enigma with a lot of edges, and she’s definitely way too worried.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. From what? Does she really think that poorly of me?” Larissa began, upset, “But while we’re on the subject. It seems like your mum and Alice used to be very good friends. Do you think she might have any contact details or documents about her in her files?”
My mother’s document that she was secretly working on popped into my head. I had told Alarik and Julian about it. But should I really let more people in on it? I trusted Julie, but I also knew that she was close to the people who should never know about it. And then there were Alarik’s words... And anyway... Was the document even important?
“You should check out your mum. She seems to have played an important role in Alice’s life.”
I just nodded at Larissa’s comment and reached for the diary pages when I heard voices from upstairs.
Enough Is Enough
Christopher Tyng
“Ugh, the she-wolf is here. I thought you lived with the other dogs.”
“Watch your mouth!” someone hissed back angrily.
Julian’s attention wandered to the stairs, where Emely came rushing down. Her gaze was indistinct as she stopped for a moment, looked at each of us, and her expression only brightened slightly when she spotted Julian.
“Hey,” he said kindly.
“Can we talk for a minute?” Emely said, looking at me, Larissa and Julie as if we were the contents of the garbage can that Larissa and I always had to take out because the rich people in the house wouldn’t even think of doing that. Julie was the only exception, because she had suggested we set up a housekeeping plan, but Amber had ripped it off the wall and torn it to shreds.
Julian jumped up immediately. “Sure.”
They both left the house.
I knew that Julian had asked her out and that they were going on a date soon. But I also knew about the Russian Alpha son who was always watching her as if she were his prey. Julian had told me everything. And since then, I was even more afraid of being exposed and perhaps having to join that pack.
It wasn’t long before the next person came down the stairs. She had styled her thick blonde hair with a curling iron, and her make-up was – as always – neither too much nor too little.
“You three, here in the eat-in kitchen, all alone,” she said with suspicion in her voice and walked past Larissa with the greatest possible distance to open the fridge.
“Where else are we supposed to be?” my best friend asked, annoyed.
“That’s not my point,” Vivienna hissed and took one of the orange smoothies from the fridge, which was regularly refilled by a strange female butler. “It’s about the constellation.” She closed the fridge slowly and looked at Julie. “A Quatura who can’t afford to hang out with such people.” Julie’s expression stiffened, but Vivienna didn’t let herself be put off and looked at Larissa. “A cunning bloodsucker fucking her way through the DeLoughrey dynasty. Let’s not even get started on the Bardot stray...” And then she looked at me. My heart slipped into my gut. “And you.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with that,” Larissa said, shrugging her shoulders, before Vivienna could say anything else.
Vivienna turned around angrily.
“In case you haven’t understood yet, there are rules set by our families to make sure everything works here!”
Larissa opened her mouth, but Vivienna didn’t let her speak.
“Don’t even try! I’m not arguing with people like you, and I’m not risking my neck!” She turned abruptly to Julie. “Just like you do!”
Julie winced and lowered the water bottle to the table. And of course, I noticed the ice crystals that had formed on the glass, as did Vivienna, who stared at the bottle as if it were a wild insect that might attack her.
She quickly grabbed the key and marched straight to the front door. Not without turning around once more.
“You’re dangerous. A ll of you! But don’t think you can fool me.”
The last thing we were was dangerous. At least not me. I wasn’t so sure about Larissa, because she had told me about the incident with Mady. And since the ceremony, I wasn’t sure about Julie either. But Vivienna knew how to defend herself, I had witnessed that.
“You’re up to something.” Caught off guard, I inhaled a little too loudly. “And if I were you, I would stop.” She opened the door and took a step out.
“I’ll keep an eye on you. All of you.”
Julie’s puppy pranced through the hallway and hurried toward Vivienna.
She looked down at the dog disapprovingly, but instead of pulling the door shut behind her to escape – as Kelly always did – she opened the door a crack wider.
The dog ran past her in confusion, sniffed at the door frame and... disappeared through the front door onto the wooden footbridge outside.
“Buddy...” Julie whispered, startled.
“I hope he never comes back.” Vivienna laughed and closed the door behind her.
Julie jumped up immediately. “No...”
“That bitch...” Larissa growled, her eyes glowing red. “How dare she!”
Julie rushed to the door and pulled it open with a swing. Ice spread on the door handle, started covering the whole door, but she paid no attention to it. Instead, she looked through the door in panic and rushed outside.
She came back a few seconds later.
“Buddy...” she whispered, as if paralyzed. “He’s gone.”