Page 30 of Bloody Valentine

Some hoity-toity-looking diner, most likely. I handed the page to Teagan, who whistled low in her throat. “Damn. Well, that’s certainly an honor.”

Intrigued, I waited for her to continue.

“This is St. Valentine’s place, Vivvy. Your ancestor. It’s the burial grounds. They are off-limits to everyone. I don’t even know how he would get this privilege. Maybe he’s trying to show you your history?”

Ourhistory.

I reminded myself. Realizing that our secret time in the maze was so much worse than the whole professor/student thing…we were related.

I felt absolutely dirty.

“That is a testament to how weird he is. Luring me to a graveyard while holding my phone hostage?”

Teagan snickered. “I mean, you have to appreciate the effort, right?”

I shook my head. “No. I want to hurt him.”

Teagan handed me back the paper. “Well, what better way to hurt a man than to break his plans? You need your phone back. You should go there and show him youownhim, not the other way around.”

I thought about that. What could it hurt to go to this creepy date of his? If nothing else, I would get my phone back and maybe learn about my grandmother.

“Think there are any pinecones lying around?” I said with a laugh.

Your desires will be your doom, child…

I sighed, ignoring her warning and nodding my head.

Probably.I thought to myself.But all the same, I have to see this through.

It took some time to get ready. I borrowed a beautiful, gothic black, full-length dress from Teagan. She worked my hair into a spun-up ball of twists on the top of my head. I looked at myself in the dorm mirror, feeling beautiful for once.

“Well…I’m ready, I guess.” It was dark, and I hated going around at night.

I didn’t want to bump into those damn stalking shadows. Some part of me knew that I was heading to so much darker than that.

I hugged Teagan bye and grabbed my coat, hat, and gloves. The weather was generally harsh, but it got so much colder at night. It ripped through my clothing and made my teeth chatter.

I had to walk away from the school. I was so far out now, behind the chapel, past the maze, beyond even the cemetery that lined the church. This was a labyrinth of its own.

A maze of graves…

I found Maddox. His back was turned to me. He was standing beside a building, a large crest adorning the door. It was a doe with multiple horns jutting out of the head. It looked as if it were warped.

Demonic even.

The images of the dead doe and mangled body filtered through my mind like a slideshow, and I cleared my throat.

He lifted my phone above his head.

“Come for this?” he said without even turning.

He knew I was here. This man could hear everything. Tracked me so easily. He was a predator…yet here I was, walking right into the lion’s den.

“Or are you the least bit curious in this?” he gestured to the door.

“This is our crest, Vivian. TheValentini.”

I looked at the doe again. The symbol made me feel extremely uncomfortable. It left a weird hum in my blood. I couldn’t help it. I was curious about my history. I wanted to know what happened. Those news articles. Were they true?

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