It didn’t help. But as Embry dressed for the day in Raven’s Head drama sweats and magicked away a pair of truly craterlike under-eye circles, she knew what would.
She owed Oakley an apology.
It shamed her so much it literally made her skin crawl, but Rye was right.
What you said was badly, badly done, and right now there’s no coming back from that.Itwasbadly done. But Embry hoped there could be some coming back from it. Or at least that Oakley would be open to an attempt.
Before she could chicken out, Embry left her pride and her single room behind, hit the grand staircase, arrived at room 401, and knocked.
When there was no immediate noise from behind the door, Embry leaned in and listened. Nothing. She knew both the vampire and her revenant roommate preferred to sleep late if they could, owing to their naturally nocturnal nature, and after a night like the last one, it was likely—
“Have you seen her?”
The gray-white face of Magda Vulcovic loomed in the threshold. Per usual, she was dressed in black from the top of her nearly shaved head to the toes of her Kuromi slippers. But instead of her usual scowl, the revenant wore an expression of pure concern.
Embry blinked. Reset. “Hey, Magda, I was looking for Oakley?”
“So you haven’t seen her, then?”
“No, I came here to find her.”
Magda took a step back, opening the door widely. Though the room was dark with its heavy blackout curtains still drawn, there was enough light from the hallway and a salt lamp on Magda’s bedside table to display the obvious. Oakley’s bed was neatly made and unoccupied.
Embry’s stomach tightened. “She didn’t come home with you after the game?”
“She didn’t evensitwith me. The last I saw her, she was promenading down the track with a crown on her head and that sorcerer on her arm.”
Embry’s mind was spinning. “Wait. The last you saw her was after the crowning? You didn’t see her after we all walked off?”
“Nope. I figured she’d just ditched me, but she wasn’t with you guys. Then I thought maybe she just didn’t want to wear her crown the whole game or something and came back here. But she didn’t.”
Embry tried to shake off the lingering effects of her sleeping draught. Rubbing her temples, she paged back to those final moments. Embry trying to explain, Oakley rushing off toward the opposite end of the stadium, and Rye catching Embry before she could follow.
Did Oakley actually turn and go toward the home-side seating and the game?
Did Embry actually see her round that corner?
She wasn’t sure. All Embry remembered was Rye’s disappointment filling her vision, the sob welling in her throat, the helplessness she felt at her own fault.
And then she ran off herself, in the same direction. But she never turned toward the stadium, never saw Oakley anywhere—in the shadows of the risers, or on the path back to the dorms. But Oakley was a vampire and vampires were known to not only be silent, but fast. Perhaps so fast Embry never would’ve seen her up ahead. Or maybe she’d even turned into a bat to avoid having anyone see her cry? That seemed like something she’d do.
“Are we sure she didn’t come back here?” Embry asked.
Magda sank to her own disheveled bed and waved a hand toward Oakley’s side of the room. “I mean, no, but that’s how she left things before she went to your room to get ready.”
“May I open these?” Embry asked, gesturing to the blackout curtains as panic rose in her gut. “Just to get a better look?”
“Go to town,” Magda grumbled.
Embry threw open the drapes. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating not a speck of—
“Hey, what are they doing?” Magda was at the window before Embry even realized what she’d meant. Revenant powers. “Where are they going?”
“Who—what?” Embry asked, peering over the girl’s slim shoulder.
Room 401 faced the lake and the sports complex. And at thatvery moment clumps of students were spilling out of the dorm and snaking toward the football stadium.
Something dropped in Embry’s stomach, like a silver dollar in a shallow fountain. The hairs on her arms immediately stood up. This was unusual, and the last five minutes were already verynot right.
