Page 244 of A University of Betrayal

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, justdisappeared... maybe evendead.”

“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 wouldneverhurt 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.”

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