A University of Betrayal (The Blairville Legacies #2)

Chapter 52

Emely

Change is in the Air

RealTunesStudio

It was rare for me to be alone here. A house full of Quatura, and I had the ground floor to myself. What a dream. Especially after a busy day of lectures, seminars, and classes.

Miles hadn’t been there today, so I’d sat alone in the law lecture and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

I was determined to become better than him. And why shouldn’t I succeed?

Bored and yet full of energy, I lay on the couch and flicked through the law book on my chest, which I had borrowed from the law library today. Yes, it was unimaginable that I would ever enter this quiet part of the law school, but that’s how it went when you had a goal. You had to make sacrifices. And so, even now, at the beginning of my studies, I sat in the library or here at the couch from afternoon to night and studied.

Someone warm was lying on my gray hoodie – on my stomach, to be precise. Buddy, Julie’s annoying little dog, who I had taken to my heart. He was my moral support in this madhouse, and he seemed to get on well with me. Something actually atypical for dogs and Senseque.

I forced myself to keep turning the pages, one hand on Buddy’s neck. Then I heard someone coming down the stairs.

I knew immediately who it was. Her walk was careful, as if she might break something on the steps, her breathing faster, but only a little, because she was often nervous, and her heart sometimes beat irregularly. Then there were the sighs when she opened the fridge and realized she was out of fruit.

How could someone live on fruit? It definitely wasn’t healthy, especially not in her current condition.

I continued reading because I didn’t want to disturb her when I suddenly heard something else.

I jumped up and Buddy startled, looked up at me and tilted his head.

Julie was just as startled and stared at me like I would be the death of her.

“You still haven’t done it.”

Julie’s look filled with confusion, then realization, then tension.

I listened to the small, almost inaudible throbbing, which sounded extraordinarily strange... very intense, slightly vibrating, but almost too quiet to hear.

Julie picked up one of the knives and cut vegetables and meat instead of fruit for a change.

I stared at her. “You're not going to get rid of it, are you?”

Damn it, it wasn’t really any of my business. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to pressure her into it either. For God’s sake...

Julie looked up and there it was again. Uncertainty.

“Yes, I just don’t know... I don’t know,” she finally confessed, her cheeks glowing red.

She felt uncomfortable talking about the subject. But she had to talk to someone about it. It was about a baby, and she hadn’t planned for this child.

“Do you want this child?” I asked cautiously.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you deciding to abort it. Don’t feel bad. You’re young and should do something necessary before there’s no turning back, and you regret it.”

She looked down at the vegetables as if she was deep in thought. Her eyes looked watery, and I didn’t know if I had gone too far.

“I can’t... That’s all. I don’t want to kill it on purpose. Even if it’s going to die inside my body anyway.”

I was about to ask her what she meant when the door burst open and Bayla Adams entered the house. She was wearing her dark blue uniform sweater vest over the white shirt and the black skirt, and had a lot of books and folders in her arms.

I had seen her in the large Vanderwood library earlier.

“Julie, I’ve been looking for you,” she said with joy, pointing to the folders. “Since the exam period is over, I’ve had some time to do some more research. These are collections of newspaper cuttings from around the late nineties.”

Julie turned away from me and sighed – audible only to me – before joining Bayla and taking a few of the books from her hands.

These were obviously not just newspaper entries that some librarian had collected – for whatever reason – on top of them, there were also the books that Alarik had recommended in class today.

“Either you’re a suck-up, or you’re a copy of my uncle,” I sighed and picked up the law book again.

Bayla stared at me for a moment, but her enthusiasm for the newspaper entries was much greater.

“What do you think? Now all we need is the others and we can get started.”

I pretended to read while I cuddled Buddy, but I was actually eavesdropping on the two of them.

“Larissa said she’d be right there, and Julian...” I lowered the book and of course our eyes met at that exact moment. “…texted me. He’s on his way.”

It was obvious that they were sticking their noses into something again. I was just surprised that Julian was still with them.

We hadn’t spoken yet, and I even had the feeling that Julian was avoiding me on purpose.

Had I perhaps really overdone it? Caught him off guard with reality?

The door burst open and Larissa simply marched in without closing it.

“Finally,” hissed Bayla, who had just spread the papers out on the table and pressed a folder into Larissa’s hand, just before I realized the reason for Larissa’s mannerless behavior.

Miles entered the ground floor with his hands in his pockets as if it were his new apartment.

Things began to stir inside me. My heart was pounding, my stomach was twisting. And all because my enemy had entered the territory. Only my body remained rigid on the couch until I finally pulled up and couldn’t hold back.

“What’s he doing here?”

Miles, still maintaining his macho posture, wheeled around and looked me straight in the eye. Something he always did when we met, so I had gotten used to keeping my death stare ready for this arrogant prick.

But this time, his gaze traveled straight down my body, and he began to smirk mockingly.

I remembered the last time we had met, when he hadn’t been himself.

“It’s a miracle that I ever get to see you in baggy clothes and with a dog in your arms,” he laughed, confirming that I wasn’t prepared for this situation.

I demonstratively stroked my long, wavy, almost straight hair behind my ears, but the one strand didn’t want to stay – as usual – and slipped forward again.

“You shouldn’t even be here,” I said with a threatening tone, making my eyes glow.

He just grinned and looked at Buddy again when he spotted something else.

“Looks like someone’s jealous,” he joked, and Larissa looked first at me and then at him questioningly.

“At what?” she asked, irritated.

I examined her more closely. She was supposed to be his sister... twin sister, if I had understood correctly. And indeed, she was. Even if her hair was a few shades lighter, a dark warm blonde, it was her eyes, facial features and slim, athletic figure that Miles tried to conceal with his coats. Both were tall and had long, thick eyelashes... And both were far too good-looking.

I hated it. Every time I looked at a Ruisangor, that thought kept coming back to me.

“At my good academic performance,” Miles joked, and Larissa raised her eyebrows.

Our last exam for this phase was coming up, and I had already studied for the last three like no one else in this house. Also, I prayed that he hadn’t studied much all the time because – thankfully – I hadn’t seen him a lot in the last few weeks. And I prayed that Miles would score worse than me. He deserved it.

Angry with myself, I shoved the book into my hoodie pocket. I had made an idiot of myself in front of Miles. Luckily, I had put on the gray hoodie and not the black one with the wolves on it. He would have made me regret it for the rest of my life for sure.

Bayla pressed a folder to his chest and tapped it. “We don’t have time to waste.” Then she turned to the others. “Remember, November 2nd, 1998 is the main focus, but if you notice anything else strange, feel free to share it with everyone. I’m grateful for any information.”

Wait, what? He joined in there? On this ridiculous mission? Mission death wish.

“What are you guys doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” I questioned, stretching my back so I didn’t look completely wasted.

Miles rolled his eyes, extra annoyed. Then he turned directly to me. “You can’t because we mind you asking.”

My jaw dropped.

“Miles, leave her alone,” Larissa hissed, apparently unaware that Miles was a jerk – or didn’t care – and that she could never stop him from making fun of me at my expense.

“We’re looking for an event that took place on November 2nd, 1998. An accident...” Bayla began, but Miles interrupted her.

“Or a murder.”

“What for?” I asked without looking at Miles, and Bayla looked at me with a serious expression.

“Should we tell her?” she asked Larissa, but Miles was quicker.

“I’d rather not. She’ll tell Daddy everything.”

Angrily, I punished him with my ‘fuck you’ look.

“I have no reason to. What you’re doing is doomed to failure anyway,” I finally said and reached for one of the other law books I’d been trying to get through to find the page I’d left off on.

The door burst open and someone entered the first floor.

My body tensed strangely.

“Julian!” Bayla shouted cheerfully, and her whole face turned into a fucking sun.

Julian had told me that one day in the forest that she was now his best friend, as if he had won the lottery with her.

“Did I miss something?” he asked with a grin, and Bayla pressed a folder into his hands too.

I snorted and looked at Miles, who seemed to be eyeing Julian.

“Only how I was about to rip a Ruisangor in half,” I replied before Bayla could say anything.

Julie looked between us all in confusion before turning back to the folder in her hands.

Miles’ head shot to me, giving me the usual condescending look.

“Oh, I would have liked to see that, too.”

He was the old Miles again. Not that strange one I had experienced a few weeks ago during punishment work.

“No, not much really. We were just about to start,” Bayla replied and Julian nodded.

“Whatever,” I sighed and decided not to let them force me to leave. Julian should know that I would keep an eye on whatever he stuck his nose into, and Miles shouldn’t think he could just scare me away. I was definitely not scared of him.

The others made their way around the table while Julie went into the kitchen to finish cooking her meal. Of course, she had offered to cook for them, and of course no one had said no. It seemed as if they were all getting on well together. What an absurd idea. Who were they kidding? Sooner or later, they would get into trouble with their families.

Larissa, Bayla and Julian had sat down around the table in the dining area with the glass front, devoting themselves to the newspapers and I could feel Julian glancing at me from time to time.

At some point I had enough, and I gave him such a harsh look that I hoped he understood that he had to apologize to me.

I knew that I would forgive him anyway, I always would. But somewhere inside me, something wanted him to come to me and tell me he was sorry.

Comedy Funny Music

Gold-Tiger

Miles, still standing where Bayla had put the folder in his hand, started moving, and I struggled not to look up from the boring law book. It became even harder when, in the corner of my eye, I watched him sit down opposite me on the other couch.

Miles sat on one of the couches in our house. He shouldn’t even be here. But I wouldn’t start a discussion now when the others were around.

I lowered the book slightly and caught him staring straight at me.

He wore his hair down today so that it fell into his striking face on the one side he hadn’t tucked behind his ear. He was wearing a tailored suit jacket over his white shirt, as all the Ruisangors usually did.

I broke away from his stare, which also brought him out of his motionless posture. He opened the folder and started flicking through it. And I continued reading.

I was so bothered by him sitting there that I could hardly concentrate on the lines in front of me. With the strange feeling that he was staring at me the whole time instead of going through these newspaper reports, I kept turning the pages every minute, trying to suppress the tingling in my stomach. It got worse when I tried to look, because I couldn’t think of anything else but the possibility of our eyes meeting. It was the battle of eyes that he always won, and I couldn’t allow him to do that this time.

I lowered the book very carefully and looked at him.

He actually wasn’t looking at me.

Gosh, how paranoid had I become?

His long fingers stroked the old newsprint as he continued to turn the pages and suddenly looked up at me without moving his head much. It was his eyes and only his eyebrows that shot up. His gaze was questioning.

I just snorted softly and quickly looked at the law book again. But after another agonizingly slow minute passed, I couldn’t take it anymore and the urge to see what he was doing was even more intense. I blamed it on my paranoia and his typical manner.

I turned another page so it wouldn’t be obvious that I was actually focused on something else and fought the tingling sensation that was centered in my stomach.

When I took the book down this time, my breath caught. Miles was sitting there looking straight at me. The brown of his eyes seemed soft to me for the first time, although the intensity of his gaze was almost overwhelming.

Instead of looking down and pretending to read this stupid book, I stared back.

This time, I wasn’t going to let him win this game.

My eyes began to glow yellow, almost on their own, and I tried to focus only on the color of his irises so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the strength of his gaze. Through my supernatural sense of sight, I perceived the bronze-colored fibers and noticed for the first time that his eyes were a deep shade of amber. He actually had very beautiful eyes…

The thought made me take a deep breath and my lips parted slightly.

Just then, his pupils widened.

Uncertainty spread through me, but I didn’t break the stare.

I wondered if he was trying to use his gift on me. Was that the reason?

His gaze slipped away from mine, wandering to my lips for a second.

Had that unsettled him?

I didn’t want to grin. Instead, I inhaled slightly again, creating a tiny gap between my lips. Miles looked right at that spot again.

And in that moment, I understood the best way to distract him. With my femininity.

A triumphant grin spread across my lips, and he looked me straight in the eye again, seeming to pull himself out of his thoughts.

I wonder what he had been thinking about?

Confused heat traveled through my middle, but I pushed that feeling aside and reached for the book instead without stopping my grin. This seemed to confuse and annoy Miles, because he reached for the folder in the same way and started flipping through it again hastily.

I was amused. How could I, a Senseque, distract a Ruisangor with my body?

If I had known this earlier...

Living in the Dark

Myuu

“Is it relevant that the DeLoughreys bought an entire neighborhood in 1999?” it came from Larissa.

Miles listened and got up to go to the table.

I was a little frustrated by that, even though I should have been happy. But I had enjoyed our little staring game too much.

“That’s a year later,” Bayla sighed, as if it was nothing important.

“The DeLoughreys buy up whole neighborhoods every few years,” I said with a dry laugh, looking at Julie. “Because the Quatura need money and can be bought. Because of your Circle selling everything they have, the balance is shifting.”

I hadn’t intended to accuse her, because it wasn’t her fault. Still, everyone should know how things worked in Blairville.

“Why is it the Quatura’s fault if you’re not faster?” she asked, more indifferent.

“Or if you just don’t have any money,” Miles remarked with a grin, and I put the book aside for good.

Buddy jumped off the couch so that I instantly felt the cold where he had been lying.

I gave Miles the middle finger, and he formed a duck’s beak with his hands before he started to open and close it again and again. I wanted to throw something at him. Then I noticed Julian’s observant gaze on me.

“What about this?” Larissa asked, waving a newspaper snippet in the air. “October 20th, 1998, a dead man in his mid-twenties found in the woods near Waterfall Street. Multiple gunshots to the head. His family is missing.”

“What the...” Bayla said with widened eyes, taking the paper from Larissa’s hand.

I was aware that murders happened from time to time, but in Blairville people either disappeared or were found with bite marks on their necks rather than gunshots.

I looked at Miles, who was standing next to Larissa, who had already picked up the next newspaper. He must have noticed my gaze because he turned his head toward me.

I decided to get up and take a look at the table. And maybe also to show Miles that his presence couldn’t get me down, even if it pushed me to my limits inwardly.

I joined the others, Miles looking me up and down.

There wasn’t much to see that the hoodie and sweatpants didn’t hide. At least I had washed my hair an hour ago.

I reached for a newspaper and immediately everyone looked up as if I was trying to steal something.

“Relax, I just want to have a look,” I lied boldly and everyone except Miles seemed to buy the lie.

He raised one of his elegant eyebrows.

I just shook my head and looked at the paper.

A man reports loud wolf howls near the cemetery. September 22nd, 1999.

Strange, but not unusual, for Senseque to have strayed there, especially after their first transformation.

“A burnt car with a dead family was found at the town entrance. The bodies are unidentifiable, but one of three families who left town last Thursday had been reported missing. July 13th, 1987,” I read out loud and nobody said anything.

What did I expect? But it actually pained me that people had just died here, in such a tragic way.

“What?” I asked, as Julian was still staring at me. Too late, when he lowered his head, I understood, and Bayla immediately looked at him as if she knew what had happened.

I bit my tongue.

Shit.

To hide my unease, I looked back at the folder and turned the page, but it was the oldest entry in the folder. Apparently, Bayla hadn’t brought an older one. Because I knew there were more, I knew about the horror stories Kieran had always told us about the 80s, about how there had been a cold-blooded serial killer here who had never been caught. And the stories were all true.

“Yes, it’s strange, especially in relation to this article.” Larissa held up another newspaper entry. “Eastburn family from the Blair neighborhood disappears without a trace. Two women and three children. Manhunt, open for clues. Could the Blairville Killer be behind this? October 10th, 1983.”

Bayla looked first at Larissa and then at Julie, who instinctively looked at us from the kitchen.

“The Blairville Killer?” Bayla asked, confused.

“A psychopath who randomly roamed the Blair neighborhood and downtown in the 80s, murdering entire families,” I explained. “He was never caught.”

Silence.

Julian just nodded because he knew the stories, and Miles and Julie also looked thoughtful, as if they remembered something. Only Larissa and Bay looked at me, half shocked, half expectant.

“That’s all anyone knows,” I added.

“That’s sick,” Larissa laughed, stunned, shaking her head and looking at Miles. “Did you know about this?”

Miles nodded. “Camille used to tell me about that time. The 80s here are said to have been wild... and dark.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine. And suddenly I wanted to find out more about those days. But I didn’t have time. I had to study for my degree. And I wasn’t even supposed to be standing here at this table.

“Did you say Eastburn?” Bayla asked, looking at Larissa, who nodded. Then her eyes wandered to Julie, who had returned to the kitchen, probably to keep her food from burning. “That sounds like a Quatura family.”

Larissa had already passed the paper to Miles, and I glanced at the black and white picture of the African-American family. Two very young women, three little girls, one looked to be just four.

I swallowed, which Miles noticed. He had also been looking at the picture. Now he looked at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Julie asked, and now I turned to her too.

She was stirring the pan as if she hadn’t overheard any of this.

“Doesn’t it bother you that there might be things in here about your Circle? Especially something like that?” Bayla said, visibly shocked.

Shrugging her shoulders, Julie opened three rice bags in a row, and the steam rose in the kitchen.

“Back then, many Quatura families were killed by Senseque... especially in the eighties.”

Was she implying that one of us was behind the Blairville Killer?

“No, impossible. We’re not killing anyone,” I said quickly and couldn’t help but look to Julian because I knew he disagreed.

Miles laughed, which I found highly inappropriate.

“What if it wasn’t an accident?” Larissa said, and Bayla nodded in thought.

“Some of these articles mention something about several families moving away,” Bay finally said.

“Just to escape this insecure situation and maybe join another Circle,” Julie murmured, fanning the steam away. She placed the large bowl of rice on the kitchen island before continuing. “I think they were afraid of the other species. Because that was just before the new official treaty, which now forbids the killing of other species for trespassing.”

I cleared my throat sharply. “May I remind you that you’re all violating those treaties right now?”

“I’m not part of the pack,” Julian said quickly, looking at me in a provocative way.

“And I’m not part of the Circle,” Bayla added, looking at Julian with a grin, as if there was a competition to see who could drop out the quickest.

They both knew that they were bound to join somewhere sooner or later. This wasn’t a game.

“I don’t even know anything about a treaty,” Larissa grumbled, putting her hands on her hips.

Miles crossed his arms and sighed impatiently, leaning against the table. “And I don’t give a damn about rules.”

What else did I expect?

“Who signed this contract?” Larissa asked and Julie answered from the kitchen.

“Representatives of the three species.”

Bayla didn’t seem to be satisfied with this answer. “Who exactly?”

Miles cleared his throat beside me, reminding my tingling stomach that he was still here.

“More important, I think, is who set it up,” he said.

No one present could answer that question. Not even I knew whose clever idea it had been to divide the species in such a way that they simply avoided each other and left people unharmed. What was certain was that this treaty was unique and prevented all kinds of bloody wars like the current one between the Ruisangor and the Senseque in Russia.

“Guys, look.”

Julian waved Larissa and Bayla over, who immediately hurried around the table, leaving me and Miles alone. It was as if I could feel him next to me without even having to know he was there.

“On November 4th, 1998, there was a fire at the Blairville Cemetery Mortuary, and nothing remained of the building or the body of Alice Blair.”

“Holy shit,” Larissa burst out. Bayla covered her mouth.

Julie had rushed to the table and snatched the newspaper out of Julian’s hand.

So, Alice Blair had really died twenty years ago… interesting.

“That doesn’t explain how she died.”

Everyone looked at Miles, who still had his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. I noticed he didn’t usually look like that, which was probably because he was always focused on destroying me with his scorn when I was around.

“Or what happened to Alaister,” Julie whispered barely audibly, and I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“What about the two of them?” I asked, irritated.

“They died on the same day,” Julian murmured.

“How...” I began, but Miles interrupted me again.

“We went to the cemetery. You’re welcome to go there too. It’s best to use the metal gate to the Quatura’s private crypt,” he said with a bitter undertone, running his fingers over his right hand.

“Wow, you seem to like her a lot,” Larissa laughed, and I finally lost track of what was going on here.

“There’s no one I hate more,” I and Miles said at the same time, and our gazes darkened.

“Don’t do that,” I hissed, and he just snorted in annoyance.

Talking with him at the same time felt horrible.

“Anyway, we think their deaths are connected. It’s the same day, and I don’t believe in coincidences like that,” commented Bayla, who seemed to care a lot about all this drama concerning Alice Blair.

She had gone through so much trouble to investigate, even though it was just some rebellious Quatura girl that everyone here was now chasing after.

“Then why wasn’t he in the morgue? This newspaper only says something about the witch,” I questioned critically.

“You’re clever. I’ll give you that,” Miles replied with audible condescension.

I looked at him angrily. “I don’t need your compliments.”

“She’s right. Where was his body?” Julie said contritely.

It was about her father. She was the only person who was actually allowed to be interested in the events of that time.

“Buried earlier?” Julian asked and I just nodded. That sounded plausible, even though the funeral must have taken place within two days then.

“Hmm...” Larissa began unsatisfied. “I don’t know. There’s something strange about it.”

“Did at least going through my uncle’s files help?”

Everyone looked at me.

Bayla grimaced guiltily. “No, unfortunately not. Thanks anyway.”

I turned my gaze away from her to another person. “That’s strange, even though Julie took something?”

Everyone suddenly looked at her, and she looked up from the newspaper article.

“I...” she began, her cheeks reddening abnormally quickly. “That was just Alaister’s file.”

Larissa put her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because there was nothing important in there... There was just a picture and his student ID. And his studies weren’t considered finished because he had previously...” She broke off and looked briefly at the newspaper article. It was written all over her face. She had expected something else. Perhaps a more satisfying answer as to what had happened to her father? Maybe a cause of death? “Anyway, he never started his third semester.”

Larissa looked troubled. “That’s even stranger now.”

“What if he was ill, both of them maybe?” thought Julian aloud, and I wasn’t the only one looking at him in frustration.

He raised his hands apologetically and looked at me and Bayla. “What? I’m just trying to find plausible explanations.”

“There aren’t any in this town,” Bayla sighed, staring at the newspaper entries, lost in thought.

“We can’t get any further without more information about Alice.”

Larissa looked not only dissatisfied, but also disappointed. As if she had expected more.

Bayla turned to Larissa. “And where are we going to get that from? The diary ended just like that. She was only in her first semester then.”

“I think there are still entries somewhere,” Larissa replied with confidence. And even if this hope sounded all too idealistic to me, it didn’t make sense that the diaries just stopped. Just the fact that they had already found two parts of the diary at two different places. As if this Alice had wanted to hide them.

“I have to tell you something,” Bayla admitted, and everyone looked at her. “The day we found the diary, someone broke into our house and the diary was on the floor of Alice’s room.”

We?

I immediately looked at Julian. My gut feeling seemed to have been right, because he obviously avoided my gaze.

“You were in Alice’s room?” Miles reminded me of his presence.

Those had probably just been the best moments in his presence that I would ever experience. I had been able to forget him just like that.

“She used to live with my mother, long story...” Bayla just waved it off, and I let the story about the burglar sink in.

To be honest, it gave me the creeps that someone had broken into Julian’s neighbor’s house. Who knew who this burglar was. Or what...

“Do you guys think the burglar wanted to take a dead woman’s diary?” Julian asked in disbelief, leaning back in his chair.

“What if it was her murderer, and he wanted to cover his tracks?” Larissa finally blurted out. Even though it sounded logical for once, I was sure this girl had been watching too many true crime documentaries.

Bayla sighed. “I don’t really know… That was twenty years ago. Why now?”

She sounded overwhelmed. If I were her, I would be too, because the information they’d all gathered didn’t add up to a coherent puzzle.

Admittedly, they had piqued my curiosity. Sitting here with these strange people, I felt like I was at the center of the action, without the spotlight being on me like it was with the pack, especially now that the Rolanows were here.

Larissa spoke up. “I think she kept writing and hid the rest of the journal somewhere, maybe because she knew something would happen. The hidden pages you found the other day, Bay, are the best proof of that.” She was right. Even if I wouldn’t tell her that. “The only question is where. Where would you hide diary entries?”

“It is a weird coincidence that you found them in order. Maybe there were just these two parts of the book?” Miles said critically.

I tried not to let on that I agreed.

“Nonsense. Coincidences exist,” Larissa laughed before waving his point off.

“I’d keep looking in the house if I were you,” I said, hoping they didn’t think I was serious about helping them.

For me, the house was the only place where really important things could be hidden. After all, Alice’s room was there.

Of course, someone disagreed. And for once, it wasn’t Miles, but Bayla.

“I would keep looking at Alarik’s office. He was the only person Alice seemed to have opened up to. What if he’s keeping these entries somewhere because she trusted him?”

“Aren’t you guys getting a little carried away? The professor would never have let us get away with it so easily if something that important was lying around somewhere in his office,” Miles laughed, as if all of this was just a game to him.

“What if someone talks to him?” Larissa interjected.

I was sick of them trying to drag my family into this. Nevertheless, I answered honestly, hoping to finally convince them that they had no chance with Alarik. “The night you were with him, I tried. He said he was open, but he was silent about something.”

“Maybe because it’s you,” Miles joked.

Couldn’t he just leave me alone?

“Could be. The first time I broke into his office, he invited me for tea afterward and lent me a book written by Alice. He has very interesting opinions.”

My jaw dropped, and I stared at Bayla in horror.

“What?!”

Miles just laughed and turned away from me to walk to the kitchen, not without making a melodic sounding comment. “Your family doesn’t seem to be as innocent as you’d like them to be.”

What was he trying to say? That my uncle was hiding something? That he had done something bad?

Calm down Emely. These are just words. Words can’t irritate you, can’t hurt you, if you don’t let them get to you.

But the truth could. My uncle was different from the rest of my family. And I couldn’t get rid of the thought that he was somehow involved. What if he knew the whole truth?

“If he’s silent like a grave, that’s all the more reason to get to the bottom of it. He obviously is hiding something,” Larissa said, as if she had read my thoughts. “We need a plan.”

“Oh no. Not again,” it came from the kitchen, amused, and I looked at Miles, who was inspecting the cupboards.

What was he looking for there? Tableware? Or was this clown up to something?

“What do you mean?” Larissa shouted back.

Miles laughed mischievously. “Nothing, sis.”

“Ew, stop calling me that.”

Larissa had only known for two months now that this idiot, of all people, was her brother. I would have punched him in the face if he’d called me that.

Larissa had already forgotten Miles’ comment and turned her attention back to the Alice case. “We need to make sure we’ve searched everything.”

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “I’m not letting you guys break in there again.” Half the group groaned in displeasure, Bayla and Larissa to be exact. “Besides, Alarik is on alert,” I added.

“Then we need to do it on a day when we can keep an eye on him, when he’s not in the office.”

Why did Larissa always ignore my clear commands? Was it so hard not to do something?

“The Winter Ball,” Bayla said, and Larissa’s eyes brightened.

“Not really, guys…” Julie said in a low voice.

“That’s out of the question,” I said.

After all, I had the last word when it came to my uncle.

“Emely, come on, just this one last time. If we don’t find anything then, we’ll leave him alone. I promise,” Larissa pleaded.

I looked from her to Bayla, and finally to Julian and Julie. All except the latter looked at me with pleading faces.

“I think you deserve to know the truth just as much.”

Looking at Bayla, I wondered if she meant what she just said.

“What a great way to drag me into this,” I sighed with distrust. Then I placed the palm of my hand on the pile of papers. “You win.”

With that, I turned away from the disbelieving faces around the table.

“Oh my God! Did you just hear that?” Larissa exclaimed in disbelief.

And a discussion broke out behind me. At first, it was about me, but then it soon turned to the Winter Ball and how they could best go about looking for clues undetected.

Pushing away the regret in my stomach, I walked to the kitchen where Miles was leaning against the kitchen counter, looking at me in surprise. His arms crossed and a pile of plates was beside him.

“I didn’t expect that from you, little wolf.”

“Don’t get too comfortable in this house,” I said sharply, pointing at the plates before gesturing behind me to the living area. “You may be accepted by them, but never by me.”

Just because of him, I should have said no. Just to annoy that moron. But I had said yes. And this time not because Julian wanted me to, but because I wanted to. I wanted to know the truth about my uncle.

I opened the fridge and looked for something decent to eat. What Julie had cooked smelled good, but it wasn’t what my body was craving. I needed more meat.

Again, I felt Miles staring at me.

I rolled my eyes. “If you think this is going to make me uncomfortable, you’re mistaken.”

I then reached for the rest of the hunted deer and closed the fridge. When I turned around, I flinched violently because Miles was standing right in front of me, just looking at me.

Everywhere – Epic Trailer Version

Hidden Citizens, Adam Christopher

How had I not heard him approach?

In the shadows of the kitchen, his face seemed more angular, more masculine, more mysterious. A male scent mingled with his almond fragrance and slowly penetrated my nose treacherously.

“Come on” His voice was almost a whisper. Playful, yet threateningly low. “I know I can mess with your head so much that you can’t even manage to read.” Confused, I looked up at him. “No one reads through the double pages of a law book in a minute.”

My heart began to pound violently.

How had he...

I didn’t manage to break the stare he was holding with me. And I realized that he had won the game this time again. But why couldn’t I get a word out? Miles was actually unsettling me, again.

I reluctantly pushed past him and realized that I could barely breathe around him.

I hadn’t expected him to grab my wrist, but he did, and I was forced to look at him. His eyes were on me, and he seemed... angry?

“Don’t play with me. Not the way you did on the couch.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My heart pounded, faster and faster.

There was warning in his eyes, and a glow flitted through his irises.

It was as if he wanted to say something else, but I tore myself away because the others came walking towards the kitchen. And the more time passed, the longer I felt his gaze on me, the more intense the feeling in my stomach became. And with every minute that I stood next to the group – lost in conversation about the Winter Ball – and prepared my meal, the desire to know what else he had wanted to say grew inside me.