Page 302 of A University of Betrayal

I had already looked at her a hundred times, researched her, but I couldn’t find anything about this goddess on the internet, neither in Greek nor in Norse mythology, let alone in the countless other mythologies. Only the name in Latin letters on the pedestal under the statue and the crescent moon, which was set in her crown and pointed upwards, revealed to me that it had to be a moon goddess.

She was looking up at the sky, her arms entwined behind her head, one leg raised. She held a scroll of parchment decorated with patterns in one hand, as if it were a scepter.

This statue was full of grace.

It was as if the architect of Vanderwood,Nathaniel Vanderwood,had come up with these figures. At least, that’s what I had believed until a few months ago, when I had started taking the time every Wednesday afternoon to carefully inspect one of these statues from the courtyards, to study it and compare it with other myths.

What had begun as an interest in mythology had become another theory that I now counted among the secrets of this university that needed to be deciphered.

When I spotted Julie standing next to the fountain, staring at her hands, my inner tension returned.

Destiny

Brian Tyler, Klaus Badelt

She was alone, not moving. And she had dropped her book.

What the hell was she doing?

I ducked, crept closer to the passageway leading into the courtyard, and peeked around the archway.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched her irises turn completely white, as if a milky layer were covering them, before an icy blue glow added to it.

She raised her hands, rolled up her sleeves as if in a trance, and watched in shock as I watched her veins shimmer ice blue, almost whitish, under her skin, while ice crystals spread over her skin.

I swallowed.

What was going on here?

White dust fell from the sky into the courtyard, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was snow.

What the...

Julie opened her lips slightly, reached out to touch the snowflakes, and I stared at her as if spellbound as it began to snow harder and harder, covering the ground with a patchy blanket.

My gaze remained fixed on the fountain. Paralyzed, I watched as the four fountains that had just splashed out of the fountain statue froze into elegant tendrils of ice. The surface of the fountain froze just as slowly.

I automatically stepped back, let myself be overcome by inner tension, and tried not to take my eyes off her.

Whatever was going on here. It was something I had never seen before, and I knew that Julie must have something to do with it.

Her skin glistened glassily, just like the tiny ice crystals on the fibers of her blouse and the dark blue sweater.

What on earth was she?What kind of magic was she using?

Clack.

Julie’s head shot around, and I managed to pull back behind the wall just in time, cursing myself for having moved out of the wall at all.

I heard hurried footsteps and when I looked into the courtyard, Julie had disappeared. All that remained was the ice and snow, even though it had suddenly stopped snowing.

“Damn it!”I swore, stepping out onto the courtyard, running a hand through my now-disheveled hair and kicked another rock away before I looked around, transfixed.

I strode to the fountain, touching the ice crystals at the edge.

It was real ice. Cold and sharp and beautiful at the same time, like a deceptive weapon.Cold, destructive magic...And Julie Blair, a Quatura, was responsible for all of this.

But now she was gone. And with her, my chance for answers about J or aboutwhateverhad just happened.

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