Page 18 of Dead and Gone

The teacher sucks air between his teeth. "Do not refer to this as a human invasion; especially when you present your findings to the academy board for assessment. The councildidrightfully take back any magical artifacts that may contain danger, but that's hardly an invasion."

Her cheeks go pink, and the girl beside her hisses something. Ah, such harmony between the students' races.

"The shifters were the ones invaded by witches and humans," says a human guy towards the back of the classroom. I crane my neck to look at his group. A mixed group as instructed—vamps, witches, and him. "We're looking intotheirlocal history."

"Yeah, we're wasting our time," mutters the vamp beside him. "Unless the shifter elders agree to talk to us, we've nothing to write an assignment about."

Beside me, Leif shuffles in his seat and begins scrawling circles on his notepad. I close a hand over his thigh, and he side-glances me, smiling weakly. At least the elders aren't currently on Leif's back about joining their society. Leif is a half-shifter by birth but is all human in other ways—he's had nothing to do with the race since his father died when he was small.

Although I do find it difficult to imagine Leif as small.

"You may presentyourfindings after Pippa's, Ben," says Mr. Argyle. "And again, take care how you present the facts."

"History is never factual," I announce. "It's merely one person's interpretation of events, skewed by their own personal beliefs and molded to fit the narrative they wish."

A human guy gawks at me as if I spoke in a foreign language.

"Interesting observation, Violet," says Mr. Argyle.

"No. The truth. You can be sure that the witches' version of historical events doesn't match that of humans or shifters. And vice versa."

"And does this include your history, Violet Blackwood?" His hazel eyes grow hard beneath his heavy brow.

"Oh. Are you referring to the version of history that paints the old Confederacy government as benevolent, caring leaders?"

"I'm referring to ourcurrentleader and his history."

"Dorian? Again, facts can be cherry-picked. For instance, the number of people my father killed is vastly exaggerated." A hush falls over the classroom. "And the number of people the Confederacy killed is vastly under reported."

Our gazes lock. A few of the older teachers lived in the times before Dorian became the supernatural council leader, following the fall of the corrupt Confederacy and the eradication of the Dominion terrorists. Naturally, some remain adamant that the organization that imprisoned and attempted to experiment on my parents were the 'good guys'.

"As usual, you make everything about yourself, Violet," he says stiffly.

"I'm not the one who thrust me into the spotlight."

"Proceed, Pippa." He takes another look at me, radiating an agitation I find familiar from many who speak to. "You want historical facts? The names of the founders arefacts. Hargreaves. Sawyer. Redridge. Callow. Parker."

Pippa stares at him and then whispers to the witch beside her, who frowns and, in turn, whispers to the bored-looking vamp guy to her right. He shrugs.

"Um." Pippa clicks onto the next slide, presenting a photograph of four men with four names beneath, each written in a decorative font and artfully positioned around the screen. Extra marks for presentation? "Who's Redridge?"

Leif nudges Rowan hard and whispers. An alerted Rowan shakes hair from his face as he rejoins the room.

Mr. Argyle blinks rapidly before turning his head to look at the screen, silent for too long. With glee, I write REDRIDGE on my pad and underline three times. Attending wasn't a waste of time, after all. Were the Redridge witches more important to the town's history than we realized?

"Only four founders are recorded in the town ledgers," says the girl beside Pippa. "Four family crests are in the town hall. All human families. We can't have this wrong."

I will the teacher to turn around, but he doesn't, his head still tipped to look at the photo on the screen. "No," he sayseventually. "You're correct. I'm mixing up this town and the Confederacy leaders' names since Violet mentioned them."

Oh, but you're not, Mr. Argyle.

"What about vamps?" drawls a voice from the back of the classroom. "Where'sourhistory in the town?"

"Vampires are rather secretive," says Mr. Argyle. "But I'm sure the group assigned to digging up information on their history will uncover some interesting facts." He gestures at a sullen group.

"And bodies," whispers a human nearby.

"What?" calls the vamp. "No point whispering if you're insulting me, mate. I can hear."

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