Page 290 of A University of Betrayal

Bayla and I walked ahead until she whispered something to me. “Are there any elements other than fire, air, earth, water and... ice?”

I looked at her and there was something in her gaze. Was it uncertainty? Confusion?

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll know your element after the ceremony.”

I was terrible at calming people down.

“What if it doesn’t work out? What if something bad happens?” She sounded desperate, and I felt the need to reassure her.

“Nothing like what happened to me will happen to you, believe me. Unless your father was a powerful Quatura, which is pretty much out of the question because male Quatura are so rare that they get documented and pretty well known. Secret relationships are next to impossible for such people. Besides, you would smell strongly of Quatura to the other species and we Quatura would notice your pure magic more, most of the time at least.”

I had to think about myself. About how I had gone unnoticed as the daughter of a male Quatura.

My words had the opposite effect, because now Bayla seemed much more nervous.

“Julie...”

She widened the gap to the others a little more, pulling me along with her.

Miles and Larissa seemed to be engrossed in a conversation about the island, but Julian noticed... I could feel his gaze.

“Something strange has happened to me that I haven’t told anyone about.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked at her with interest. Everything was strange with Bayla Adams, even if it was perhaps a coincidence.

“I don’t know… I’d like to talk to you about it, but not here.”

I knew immediately that she meant the presence of the others and nodded in understanding.

Bayla managed to make me feel empathetic, even though I wasn’t at all. She was open to others... but not like Larissa, from whom all the information bubbled out.

As we opened the large steel cemetery gate, with its ornate metal sign indicating that we were now entering The Blairville Cemetery, the ornately forged but rusted iron gate rattled, and I struggled to push it open. Then, out of nowhere, it gave way and Larissa, who also had her hand on the gate, grinned at me.

She was stronger than me.Of course she was.

We entered the huge abandoned cemetery, where no one was to be seen today.

I hadn’t been here for a very long time...

“This cemetery can actually compete with ours,” I heard Miles laugh behind me.

“You have a cemetery?” Bayla asked.

“It’s an old family graveyard somewhere in Fogs Forest,” Miles confirmed.

Larissa sighed. “Is there anything else besides your well-hidden estate and a damn family graveyard in your territory?”

The corners of Miles’ mouth twitched upward again, and he took his hands out of the pockets of his black felt coat to play with a blade engraved with lilies.

“There’s quite a bit.”

Larissa wheeled around. “What? Really?”

“You think we were just a clan of nine back then?”

“There are nine of you?” Bayla gasped, startled.

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