Page 54 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall
Elowen's eyes met mine, a bottomless pool of brown, and I looked back at her just as shrewdly as she brushed a strand of dark, silky hair out of her face. "Given the circumstances, I'll let the condition of Dane slide, but let's not make a habit of murdering other students, hm?"
"Lots of paperwork involved?" I said with faux-sympathy and Elowen smiled, pulling her face taut.
"You may be excused." The door to her office flew open and we made our way to it before she stopped me. "Leonora, a word."
Novalie shot me a look of concern and I waved her off. Truth be told, I was curious to see what kind of bullshit would come out of Elowen's mouth next.
The door closed softly behind Rowan and I stayed standing even as she sat.
"I just wanted to apologise for not taking you seriously before—I truly felt that the deaths were commonplace. I see now that I was wrong."
I waited, expecting more, and smiling faintly when silence reigned.
"Is that all?" I asked, injecting as much polite cheer as I could into my voice.
"Yes. But Leonora," she said as I placed my hand on the door to leave, "be careful. Whoever is out there doing this likely won't be happy with your interference."
"I'll bear that in mind."
"See that you do."
I closed the door behind me and was unsurprised to find Hayes waiting around the corner, the warmth in the bond having already told me where he would be.
He opened his mouth and I shook my head, waiting until we were further away before I spoke. "I don't know what it is, but she's definitely hiding something. Sheapologisedto me—since when do undead vampires do anything like that?"
Hayes frowned. “Maybe she was just being nice?”
I gave him a look that showed exactly how ridiculous I found that, and he nodded in agreement. “I can’t explain it,” I said carefully, keeping my voice hushed as we walked to Hayes' room. "But when she opens her mouth I just get this feeling, like a cold shiver, and Iknowshe's lying."
"Does it happen with anyone else?" he asked, pushing his door shut and I shook my head.
"I don't think so."
"Hm."
"What?"
"Well, it just reminds me of Cal. He's mentioned a similar phenomena to me before."
"Phenomena," I echoed. "Good word."
Hayes rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious—what if we're missing something here? Your powers, your resistance to enthrallment, and now the ability to tell truth from lies? Those are all the qualities of a mage."
"What are you saying?” My stomach dipped and Hayes slid a small phone out of his pocket. I knew who he was dialling even before he spoke.
"I’m saying, I think one of your parents might have been a mage."
"Is that even possible?"
"Rare," Hayes murmured, "but not impossible." There was a click over the phone and Hayes said simply, "I need you," before hanging up.
The air seemed to shimmer or crackle and Cal stepped into the room like it was easy to appear from nothingness.
"What is it?" He looked between us, the concern evident on his face and making the fine lines there look more noticeable.
"Leonora can tell the difference between truth and lies," Hayes began and Cal looked like he'd been hit over the head. "Yeah, that's what I thought. What do you know that you haven't told us?"
"I know a lot of things," Cal said weakly and Hayes growled.
