Page 287 of A University of Betrayal

Bayla looked desperate. I would be too if I were her.

Emely just snorted. “Whatever. And as if that wasn’t enough, you show up everywhere and mess up the system, break into my uncle’s office with your friends that you’re not supposed to have, and...” Emely threw her arms in the air, the menacingly large knife in one hand. “I don’t know what your intentions are, but I don’t trust you.”

No one said anything and Emely continued to cut. A piece of meat slid down the counter and my dog snatched it greedily.

“Shit,we should get back to the Alice case,” Larissa finally said, looking at both of us.

“Alice is dead. She screwed up,” it came immediately from the kitchen.

“We need confirmation that she’s dead,” Larissa said and jumped up. “Let’s go to the cemetery.”

“Seriously?” Emely laughed, and it sizzled as she put the raw pieces she had just marinated into the hot oil.

Larissa crossed her arms. “Yes, if someone dies, that’s probably where they’ll end up.”

“And what if she was murdered and never buried there?” Bayla murmured darkly.

Her best friend looked her straight in the eye. “Then I want to find out who would do such a cold-hearted thing.”

Bad Blood

Bastille

We had called Julian, which Emely had – of course – commented on with “You should finally leave him out of your crap” and he had picked us up in his rusty red five-seater pickup truck without further ado. Bayla, Larissa, Miles and me.

At first, I thought there was going to be a huge discussion, but Bayla didn’t seem to have anything against Larissa’s brother and Julian accepted him as long as he didn’t sit in the passenger seat or directly behind him.

And so, we drove – Bayla in the passenger seat, Miles DeLoughrey behind her, Larissa in the middle and me on her left – to the Blairville cemetery, which was located in the Quatura neighborhood. Not downtown, but near Moenia, behind the Blair neighborhood, which meant we had to be extra careful.

“If I had known I would ever be in the same car with a Senseque and two Quatura, I probably would have slapped myself in the face.”

“You can still get out of the car,” Larissa said, more than annoyed with her brother.

He just laughed and shook his head. “I’m only here because of you.”

“Of course,”Bayla said with a sarcastic grin and the two of them looked at each other in the side mirror.

“You’re curious yourself. If you were really interested in what I do, it would bother you that I sleep in a house with the other species.”

“I would never voluntarily go to one of the girls’ houses where all hell would break loose.”

Bayla and Larissa smirked again, and Miles propped his head on the hand held by his elbow on the window.

“My family would lynch me if they knew about this,” I said tonelessly and Miles’ head turned to me.

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because I hope to find out valuable information about my father,” I said impatiently, but more honestly than I had in a long time.

And immediately he was back. The pitying look from Bayla.

“Please don’t do that,” I said, and she looked at me, caught off guard.

“He’s your father.”

“He’s dead.” I tried to end the topic, but Miles picked it up immediately.

“Lucky you.”

---