Page 225 of A University of Betrayal

Great.How could you ever change that situation when the scars ran so deep?

“Anyway, I’m not going to let you guys tell me who I spend my time with,” I said firmly.

Miles wouldn’t stop me from sleeping under the same roof as the Quatura. If only to avoid leaving Bay alone.

“I’ve known her since I was a kid. She’s the one person who’s always been there for me.”

“As long as you don’t get caught by Nicolaj.”

Just thinking about the man made my blood run cold. He was what I imagined a terrifying Ruisangor to be. And I didn’t want any problems with that ancient fella.

Miles and I sat like that for a while, watching ravens fight over a nut, letting our minds wander, until he suddenly said something that really touched me.

“Just the idea that I could have lived a human life… A normal teenager who screws up, meets a pretty girl one day, and starts the family he never had… Raises kids, grows old, dies peacefully.”

He laughed at his own words, and it sounded bitter.

And then it hit me like a plank to the head.

I could have had it all if I’d stayed in Sacramento.A family. A baby...

My heart wrenched slightly at the thought of never being able to have children. It had begun to haunt me since I found out, creeping like a dark cloud of fog. It weighed heavily, as if I was cursed. I would never be able to have children of my own, to give them a better life. And adopt a human child? That was out of the question. I knew how I felt around humans. I would hurt it... Kill it.

And so I was doomed. Maybe it was my punishment for all the things I had done in my youth in Sacramento. Maybe I had also been the biggest asshole in humanity in my last life?

I wasn’t the only one who had to feel this way. I wondered how Camille dealt with it? Had she ever wanted to have children?

“What are you thinking about?”

Caught off guard, I turned to Miles, who was looking at me curiously. He was a man. He wouldn’t understand.

So, I jumped up. It was time to take a shower.

“That I’m here now and that I should make the best of it. And so should you.”

I reached for my towel and the water bottle, which smelled suspiciously good, like AB. Something every Ruinouveau received and which gave me more energy than others.

I saw Miles looking longingly at the bottle and decided not to drink it in front of him.

Miles blinked at me and took his greedy eyes off the bottle.

“That ship has sailed with me.”

Suspense Dark Ambient

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The last time I’d followed Adrian, it had backfired tremendously. He had caught me and given me an unpleasant lecture. But now he didn’t seem to notice.

To be honest, it hadn’t been my intention to spy on them, and I had never expected Nicolaj’s chambers to be so easy to observe from the park. I had only been walking, actually looking for Bastien, but as usual, he was nowhere to be found. Quiet voices had reached my ears, and now I was sitting here, pressed up against the wall under this stupid window that belonged to Nicolaj’s study, listening to the two men talking.

It was my only chance to find out more about Adrian.

“You’re hardly showing any progress.” That was Nicolaj. His voice sounded cold, almost reproving. “I should take you with me.” Then he let out a curse. “Wouldn’t you study at Vanderwood now!”

Adrian didn’t answer, and so I only heard the clan head’s footsteps until he continued.

“Bastien has been my best student, and I know it’s nothisfault that you’re not improving.”

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