“Let’s do this quickly. We just need to find out what Michelle knows and we can figure out the rest later.”
“That’s fine. I have an idea about thegroundingQuinn suggested.” Evan grins, but there’s an evil twinkle in his eye I can appreciate.
“Do tell.” We bounce down the stairs hurriedly and head to the containment area on the lowest level.
“Well, I don’t think Michelle should be allowed to go back to business as usual in her cozy room with her friends. She should just stay right where she is, in a containment room. We can put a cot in there. There are enough security officers to put one on duty down here. I’m a little disappointed we didn’t think of this earlier ourselves. Not that we’ve had too much trouble, but this would probably work as a good deterrent.”
I smirk, enjoying the idea of her being isolated down here by herself, she will hate it. It’s perfect—well, it’s as close to perfect as I’m going to get without pissing off Quinn. Another few months and Michelle will be gone from Havenfall anyway. I feel a little better knowing the plan, but I still don’t believe Michelle’s recount of what happened. She was holding back something. And now that Evan has put the idea of her obsession in my head, I can’t help but think that maybe she was behind the other incidents with Quinn, and all this comes back to being my fault. If Michelle was harassing Quinn to get her to leave because she had some twisted fantasies that we would be together, and she somehow knew Quinn threatened that, I would feel responsible.
Evan dips his chin to Paul, who’s leaning back in a chair with his ankles crossed. He looks completely relaxed, but I know he would be ready at a moment’s notice. “Any issues?”
“Nah, quiet as a mouse,” Paul answers.
“We’re going to need to set up this room for an extended stay—cot and basic necessities only. Ms. Buchan will be staying here for the foreseeable future,” Evan informs Paul.
“And that one?” Paul asks, indicating Leo with a tilt of his head. I can’t tell how he feels about the news concerning Michelle, his voice is flat, lifeless.
“Might just cut him loose. He graduated, he can find work outside of Havenfall. It hasn’t been decided yet. Find someone to stay here tonight until we can set up a more permanent watch situation down here,” Evan finishes, and pulls the door open to the room Michelle is waiting in.
The moment the door opens and she sees me her heart rate picks up. How did I miss these cues before? The fact that I could not be less interested in her isn’t an excuse. Michelle is powerful for an unblooded vampire, and will be even more formidable once she changes over. I should not have ignored her interest and let this go on for so long. If I’d handled this sooner, today might not have happened.
Michelle blinks up at me, all feigned wide eyes and innocence, and it boils my blood. This girl is an Eva in the making. “Just stop,” I tell her, my voice flat and devoid of emotion.
Her eyes search the room, probably looking for Quinn, and when she doesn’t see her, she trains her focus back on me. “Headmaster Stone.” Michelle’s bottom lip quivers. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was…I was just scared.” Her shoulders lift as she lowers her head in mock shame.
I want to roll my eyes at her failed attempted, but her submission might help me get the answer we need about whom she talked to. “Scared? You?” I eye her, pretending I know something about her other than the small bits of information she’s given me today. Those few tidbits are more than enough to tell me how unlikely it would be for Michelle to show any remorse for hurting someone weaker than she perceives herself.
I lower myself into the chair across the table from her. I don’t bother hiding the unnatural fluidity that comes so naturally to me. My predator is a vain beast. Merciless when someone is deemed our prey. Michelle’s hungry eyes eat up the show. I flash her my fangs a few times as I rearrange myself in the seat, letting her sweat it out a little longer until I start questioning her.
Evan is leaning against the back wall, his arms crossed over his chest, but it’s a relaxed pose, and she barely offers him a glance. Reaching up to twirl her fingers in the ends of her hair, Michelle bites her bottom lip. She’s trying to be seductive, but even if I didn’t have Quinn waiting back at home, it wouldn’t work. Finally, she remembers to answer my question about being frightened. “I guess I was more startled than afraid, I just reacted without thinking. I felt threatened.”
Now Michelle feeling threatened I can buy. “Understandable.” I furrow my brow just a bit. “You’re probably getting close to your blooding, acting on instincts.”
Michelle nods her head jerkily, eager to agree. “I do feel as if it’s getting close.”
I lean back a little farther, relaxing my pose. I was bred on this dance of manipulations. Michelle may think the Buchans and their cruelty taught her well, but they have nothing on my father.
Evan, understanding my role as the sympathizer, assumes the opposite character. “I talked to Leo. He told us you spoke to someone after the incident, that they were going to take care of it. We need to know whom you spoke to.”
Michelle tilts her head to the side a tiny bit and widens her eyes, but I hear the rush of her blood as it races to her heart with adrenaline. Without the benefit of being blooded, these senses would allude her. She may think her mask of innocence is enough, but my senses are much keener than anything she could yet comprehend.
“I didn’t tell anyone.” Michelle furrows her brow as if she’s confused. Her breathing shallows just enough so her next breath is a little ragged. I want to glance over at Evan to see if he finds this as ridiculous as I do. I’ve witnessed children half her age manipulate a situation better than this.
I tsk and shake my head slowly, showing her I’m disappointed in her response. She fidgets in her seat, but doesn’t offer any more. “I believe Leo,” Evan states. “He’s just not deceptive enough to make that up.”
Before she can deny it again, I speak up and offer her an out. “It’s okay if you forgot to mention it, no one would blame you. Not after what you’d just been through.”
Evan makes a noncommittal grunting sound. Michelle licks her lips. I can see the calculation in her eyes as she tries to decide if she should tell me or not. When she looks down, I know she’s going to lie again. “I can’t tell you, because it didn’t happen.”
“I want to help you, Michelle, I really do.” I make sure to use her name. “But I can’t help you if you’re not willing to help yourself.”
The girl leans back in her seat, and I know she’s not going to tell us anything. It would be a waste to ask her about the pig and the blood, she’s not talking. Not yet anyway.
“Well, since you aren’t working with us, you might as well get comfortable here. This is your new home.” Michelle looks around the empty room in confusion at Evan’s words. “Someone will escort you to class and bring you back here when the day is over. No roommates, no friends, and definitely no sneaking out. We don’t want you to find yourself in a situation where yourinstinctscan take over.”
“How long do I have to stay here?” Her voice is small. This may be a better punishment than I thought. I bet Michelle is used to being the center of attention, she certainly carries herself as if that’s the case.
“Indefinitely,” I reply with mock sadness. “Unless you have more to tell us, we can’t let this kind of thing go unpunished, even for you, Michelle.”
