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“N-no, sir.”
Tell him it was the horrible girl with the straight hair,Cyrus says just as Thaddeus is asking me another question.
“No… I… I’m sorry, what did you say?” I stutter.
Thaddeus pulls the knife out of the wall, strides over, and places it down on the desk. “I said, do you know how dangerous this instrument is? Or are you stupid?”
The class titters.
I hang my head in shame.
“She knows,” Laila snaps. “We all know.” Laila turns around and points at Gabrielle. “Go pick on her. She’s the one who did it.”
Twenty-Six
Something has happened,Cyrus says when I walk in for lunch.
It’s the quiet atmosphere in the room. Breakfast was rowdy this morning, and I get the impression the school hall is usually like that as the students eat, but just now, it’s like stepping into a wake.
I turn to Laila. “Is it weird in here?”
“Yep,” she says.
When I spot Cooper sitting with Evan, Roman, and Nathan, I walk over to their table.
“Hey.” I wave. “What’s with all the bleak faces? Has something happened?”
Cooper nods. “They found Jenny Valetta’s body.”
I sink down into a chair, barely noticing the scrape sounding out next to me as Laila does the same.
“Shit,” Laila says. “She’s really dead? I know we all assumed, but…”
“Yeah, it’s just crappy having the confirmation.Apparently, Octavia called her parents, and they were seen arriving today.” Cooper sighs.
“That’s awful,” I mumble. “I guess that’s why Octavia seemed so spaced out this morning.”
“I overheard some of the teachers talking,” Roman says. “Apparently, that first night, they found some of her clothing all bloody outside the castle. It seemed like she’d been dragged away. Maybe by a Reaver. Then her body washed up on the beach.”
My stomach flips over as the image of a bloated, pale corpse floating in water flashes through my mind. It makes me want to throw up.
Despite everything, I feel sorry for Gabrielle again. Her roommate died. I haven’t known Laila for very long, but it would still throw me for a loop if anything happened to her. And I got the impression Gabrielle and Jenny were really good friends.
“You haven’t heard the worst part yet,” Nathan adds. “There were bite marks on Jenny’s neck.”
The blood drains from my face. “Bite marks?”
“Someone is playing vampire,” Cooper says.
There’s a sharp hissing sound in my mind from Cyrus.
“Playing vampire?” I ask.
“I mean, it’s the only logical explanation,” Evan says. “Vampires don’t exist anymore. But there are some auras who—”
“Mate,” Cooper interrupts. “Kira doesn’t need to learn about those freaks.”
I lean forward, intrigued. “What freaks?”
