Page 301 of A University of Betrayal

“Grace...” I heard Julie say, then the two girls passed me. “They’re good friends.”

I immediately inspected said Grace, who could only beGrace Blair.So not J, at least.

I wondered if I followed Julie often enough, would I find J? They had to talk to each other or at least greet each other on campus.

No. I wouldnotstalk Julie. That went too far.

I waited until they had walked on before I stepped out of the shadows and ran behind another group of students to follow the two unobtrusively.

“Good friends?” I heard Grace laugh out loud. “Our families don’t care about that kind of thing. Or do you want trouble with Gloria?”

I paused and narrowed my forehead.

Justhearingthat woman’s name made my blood boil.

But it made me wonder if this Grace was accusing Julie of causing trouble with the council leader. What if she wasn’t the spy I thought she was? What if she was also a follower or even suffered from their strict rules?

“Grace, you’re being loud,” I heard Julie hiss just before Grace stopped abruptly.

“What is wrong with you? I hardly recognize you, Julie!” Grace Blair snapped at Julie, who just stared at her and clenched her hands around the English book. “You criticize meall the time.First because of Mady, then because of Larissa and constantly because of such little things.” Grace took a step back. “Get a grip on yourself and your life, because I don’t want to have to talk to Amara first to get her to talk some sense into you.”

The more this conversation revealed about Julie, the more curious I became. Who was this girl that she had to bebrought to her sensesby the Domini of the circle?

Grace turned on her heel, shook her head and walked away, shouldering her backpack.

Julie stared into space, which irritated me. Her gaze wandered down to her hands, as if she was looking for something on them.

Now she was alone. I just had to follow her, wait for her to end up in a deserted side corridor.

And indeed, she broke out of her stupor and left the wide main corridor of the east wing to rush into a side corridor.

Perfect.

I felt a surge of excitement, but I skillfully suppressed it. There was no time for that.

I reminded myself that I would now get some information and if she didn’t give it to me, I would use the right means to make her tell me everything. I wouldn’t ask her twice to stay away from J, and I would make sure she did.

My hand automatically moved to my pocket as I pushed through the crowd of students towards the corridor that Julie had chosen.

The corridor was less crowded, and I just barely recognized the shimmer of her platinum blonde hair before she stormed around a corner.

Was sherunning?What if she had noticed that I was following her? No, that was impossible. I had only just entered the corridor.

I pushed past more students, started running too, and ignored the curious glances of the other people in the corridor. I stopped briefly before the next corner, approached it, and spotted just in time how Julie stormed out of the corridor into one of the courtyards further back in the corridor.

Why the hell was she running?

I tried not to run, stepping carefully but quickly through the empty hallway to the second-last courtyard into which she had disappeared.

There I slowed down even more, looked around before pressing myself against the wall and looking outside through the glassless arched window.

This was one of the overgrown courtyards that probably saw the visit of a human soul once a day. It was the perfect place where no one would notice if you suddenly disappeared.

The thought was tempting, but I forced myself to push it aside and continued peering into the courtyard.

Ivy was rampant up the walls, engulfing the benches and the active fountain with the statue of a goddess, which was already slightly weathered and surrounded by white moon flowers.

The goddess Lunaria.

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