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“You can stay away from them!”
“I don’t want to,” I said in a small voice. “I love this place, and I owe them so much. I’ve been so much happier since I found them. If I’m dying anyway, then why not help them?”
“You poor child,” she whispered. “No, you can’t stay. We could go somewhere, see if time will help you recover. I could help you control it, and if I can’t, you could—“
“Is it possible to control?”
She gazed at me. “Honestly? I don’t know. At the compound, our Elders force young girls to suppress our connection to death.”
“Even you?”
“Even me. Only for Eli, I wouldn’t know how to reach death. He refused to let me give it up, forced me to practice in secret, forced me to defend myself against him while he tested out his attacks. If I had been even half-human, like you, I’d be dead by now. If the Elders knew what Eli was doing, what he can do now, they would be terrified of him, probably want him dead, too.”
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
“I was too scared of him, of what he would do if he had an excuse. Most of the people in the compound are defenceless. Only the men have power, and Eli badly wants more of it. The Elders are the only ones who stand a chance against him, but they’re worse than him in some ways. I never felt like I had another option.”
“I do.”
“With werewolves,” she said scornfully. “Another risk.”
“At least they don’t want me dead.” Most of the time.
“You’ll never listen. I don’t know why I bother.”
I glanced towards school. I was beyond late. “Then why are you here? Before, you made it clear you don’t approve of me, so what even is this?”
“You’re safer if you hate me, but I can’t keep away. No matter how scared I am, I still find myself pulled back here in case there’s a chance I can do something to stop any of this.”
“So you should understand why I can’t stop either.”
“No.” She held up her hands in protest. Her palms were covered in old scars. “You don’t understand. He makes me listen to his plans. He tells me the things he’ll do to see if I’ll react, to see if you’re mine. He wants both of us to suffer. I can’t bear it, can’t bear knowing. I wanted to scare you off, thought if I scared you enough it would send you running, but if we’re both here…” She brushed tears from her eyes. “What if we both run? What if we help each other?” She shook her head, her bravery vanishing before my eyes. “That’ll make it worse. He’ll want you more.”
“I can’t run,” I said. “I know he’ll follow. What does he want me for? What are his plans?”
Approaching footsteps made her flinch. She took a few steps back.
“Wait.” I glanced over my shoulder. Dorian and Victor were running towards us. “Don’t leave. Wait a minute.”
She kept backing up, but I moved forwards, too. The others caught up to us, then stood on either side of me. Victor kept glancing at me. I ignored him.
“What are you doing here?” Dorian snapped. “Trying to lure her out alone?”
“Dorian,” Victor murmured.
Vira’s mouth opened and closed. “I…”
“Why did you come back?” Dorian persisted. “Where is Eli?”
Vira’s gaze fell on me, pleading with me. I shook my head.
“Dorian,” Victor said more urgently.
“What?” Dorian snapped, angrier than I had ever seen him.
“There’s something wrong with Margo.”
Dorian looked at him as though he had two heads. “What are you on about?”
