Page 293 of A University of Betrayal

Suddenly Larissa looked at us in shock.

“Do you think she was killed by her family?”

In thought, I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense. If we don’t want someone to know about us, or if the Councils want to banish someone, we use a potion that makes the target forget.”

Miles just laughed. “You guys are really starting a competition against us.”

Larissa raised one of her beautifully curved eyebrows.

“The Circle had no reason to kill her,” I emphasized again.

Bayla was not satisfied with that. “And the others?”

“The pack?” Julian looked at her in disbelief.

“What if someone found out that Alice had had something to do with the son of the former Alpha, and they got rid of her?” It sounded like Bayla was accusing the former Alpha... Alarik’s and Nickolas’ father.

“Then a war would have broken out,” I said.

Everything about the story was strange. Alice was actually dead, but no one had an obvious reason to kill her...

“What if she just died,” Miles said, shrugging his shoulders and earning an annoyed look from his sister.

“Yeah right,just like that.”

I moved away from the others to read the other gravestone inscriptions one last time.

Hewas supposed to be dead. And with every gravestone I skimmed over, I was overcome with a sickening feeling.

I walked around the water lily pond, in the middle of which was placed one of Moenia’s rather atypical statues, that of Amphetrite, the goddess of water. She was kneeling in the water, holding a water lily with both hands and the scales on her waist, legs and arms made her look like a mermaid.

I stopped abruptly.

There was another gravestone, as small and unremarkable as Alice’s.

My skin began to prickle as I read the name.

Alaister Westcode.

“We haven’t found her record in Alarik’s student files yet. What ifhekilled her?” I heard Larissa say behind me.

“That thought gives me the creeps,” Bayla said.

“Alarik isn’t like that,” Julian finally said.

“Julie, what if...Julie?”

I couldn’t turn to the others, only stare at the single stone square on top of his gravestone. He had been a Water Quatura?

But something else made me stare in alarm at my father’s gravestone, who had indeed died.

Larissa was the first to notice where I was standing.“Oh no.She found him.”

I noticed everyone slowly gathering behind me, and then I felt Bayla’s hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

But even that I was only distantly aware of until someone else finally confirmed that this wasn’t a bad dream.

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