Page 9 of A University of Betrayal

How on earth had I been able to tear this pompous thing down? What was wrong with me?

I looked down at the heavy fabric lying on the dark wooden floorboards, then at my hands, startled again by all the details I was perceiving at that moment. The lines of my fingerprints, tiny white scars from back then that I thought had healed.

Then I looked out of the window. My stomach tightened with fear as I discovered a huge park with a hedge maze and a fountain in the middle. A huge lake and overgrown hedges lined with porticoes. A barely manageable area bathed in bright moonlight. And the amazing thing was that I could seeeverything.

A raven hopped across the lawn in the distance and cracked a nut.

I widened my eyes as I heard the shell crack.

No...it couldn’t be.

I sucked in the air, and the sweet smell instantly intensified my hunger, even though I didn’t even know what exactly I was smelling. I didn’t even know where I was, let alone how I had gotten here.

The memories were partly foggy: Bayla, the street in front of her house, a lantern. There was the bald psychopath... black eyes, a scar on his neck. He had...bitten me?

I jerked and grabbed my neck, but there was nothing there. Had I perhaps just dreamed it all and now found myself in the next illusion inside my head?

We had been attacked shortly after we had been at the party, and now I was here in some freaky room, probably drugged by a rapist.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, catching the sweet smell again. When I opened my eyes, I was still in the same place. I decided that no matter what happened, I had to get out of here because there was no point in waiting to see what happened.

I spotted two doors at the other end of the room, but when my eyes caught the mirror that was right opposite me, I let out a sharp scream.

A pair of red eyes stared back at me.

I took a step back, running into the second curtain and pulling it down completely, just like the first one.

But my concentration remained on the mirror. The red eyes moved whenImoved, stood still when I did. I could see my body… even though it was pitch black. And the red eyes belonged to...

A noise tore my gaze away from the mirror, distracted me. Rapid footsteps, unnaturally fast, almost a rushing sound... and they were getting closer.

The panic that rose up in me made me shudder, and I looked around hastily, searching for something to defend myself with. Then I spotted a long umbrella made of black lace. I grabbed it and positioned myself in front of the door, ready to fight.

The footsteps inevitably came closer. Then, in a split second, the door flew open, and a tall man in an expensive-looking Armani suit stood in front of me, snatched the umbrella from me with a swing, and threw it into the corner of the room where it dug its tip into the wall.

What the...

I immediately recognized who it was, even if it took the confusion in my head to the next level. It was one of the guys I had photographed. The driver of the DeLoughreys, who had to be in his late thirties. Dark blond hair with gray roots – which, by the way, looked very hot – plus the prominent chin and the gray eyes, which were no longer gray but reddish…

I backed up and bumped into one of the bed frame posts.

The man looked at me intently, as if I were a burglar, and he was still wondering whether he should beat me up for good with his bodyguard skills or whether it was even worth it. Then he looked at the windows, in front of which the massive velvet curtains were towering, then back at me, his expression unchanged.

“You’re alive,” were his first monotone words, which made me wonder if perhaps I should be dead.

I took a step to the side, stepping on the fabric of the curtain that lushly covered the dark floor beside me.

The man looked down at my feet, and only now did I realize that I was wearing a long black dress that fell loosely but accentuated my waist.

Someone must have changed me.Damn,maybe even a man?! Maybe evenhim?I wouldn’t have saidNoto that.

I decided that this could only be a confused dream, but wondered what my subconscious was trying to tell me byAdrian’s bodyguard appearing here.

“This is by far the weirdest dream I’ve ever had,” I laughed dazedly and looked at the man in amazement. However, his expression didn’t change.

“I’m going to have to disappoint you, Larissa. This isn’t a dream.”

Wasn’t that typical of dreams, someone saying that youweren’tdreaming?

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