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And then there’s the small problem of keeping the massive secret about a vampire alive in the castle after one of the studentsmayhave been killed by a vampire.
I’m so in over my head.
Taking a deep breath, I remind myself that Cyrus awakened after Jenny Valetta went missing. There’s no way he could be the one who killed her. But no one else knows that, and no one really knows me. If Cyrus is found, he’ll be accused of the murder. Even if I explain what happened, the school will probably accuse me of lying. They may even assume I came here specifically to wake the vampires trapped by my ancestor’s blood magic.
Alaric created a loophole in his spell for a reason, I knowit, but I just don’t get what that reason was. It could be guilt. He killed Vladimir Dracul. He was at the forefront of a movement that wiped out the vampires. After all that fighting, one would assume he would stick to his guns, but clearly, something made him change his mind. Something caused him to leave that loophole.
I step back into the room to blow-dry my hair, and Laila is staring at her phone.
“No classes today,” she says. “Jenny’s parents are here, so Octavia is holding a special memorial service to honour her.”
“Okay.”
It feels so strange to feel connected to the dead girl even though I never met her when she was alive. Instead, I saw her blood. I saw the crime scene left behind. She didn’t deserve to be murdered like that, and her poor parents didn’t deserve to lose a child.
As I dry my hair, Laila takes her shower, and once she’s dressed, we make our way to breakfast.
“The assembly starts after,” Laila explains. “And then there’ll be a ceremony outside. We go to the island cliffs, and each aura invokes their power. It’s a tradition for when one of us dies.”
My stomach squirms as we enter the hall. “I’m so not hungry today.”
“Me neither.”
But we still choose a few items from the buffet. I get a cup of tea and an apple. Laila pours herself a black coffee and stares at an unopened yoghurt.
Cooper comes over and grabs a seat. “You girls okay?”
“We’re just processing Jenny’s passing,” I say and glance at Laila absentmindedly stirring her coffee.
“Same,” he says. It’s strange to see him not smiling. His eyes are bloodshot and his hair unbrushed. “Jenny was a member of the Black Orchid Society, so I knew her pretty well. I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt her. She was a sweet girl.” He pokes at his cereal, clearly as not-hungry as the rest of us.
After a moment, I blurt out, “Did you guys hear anything in the corridors around two a.m.?”
Laila looks up at me. “You heard something?”
“Just footsteps. I figured one of the teachers might be wandering the halls, making sure everything was okay.”
“I guess it makes sense,” Cooper says. “After two murders, the faculty must be feeling pretty nervy.”
“Yeah. It was probably Octavia or Apollo or someone,” I say, trying to stay hopeful.
I manage to eat the apple, but Laila eventually bins her yoghurt before the assembly begins. The rest of the students clear away their food items, and the tables are moved. We sit in chairs facing the stage.
I hear a sob and turn to see Gabrielle crying into her sleeve. Another girl dabs her own eyes with a tissue. A surge of fear and grief hits me like a wave.
This is real. A girl died.
There are butterflies in my stomach when Octavia takes to the dais with the rest of the faculty. Her expression is that of a stone mask, like watching a marble statue walk and talk.
“Today, we honour the life of our sister, Jenny Valetta.” Octavia glances towards a row of solemn-faced people.Jenny’s family.“A beloved friend, sister, and daughter. She takes her place with our ancestors but also lives on in our hearts and memories.”
There are a few sniffles in the crowd. Gabrielle lays her head on another girl’s shoulder.
After Octavia is done speaking, a few of Jenny’s friends take the stage to say a few words. At one point, it’s clear that Gabrielle is supposed to speak, but she shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. Sympathy tugs at my heart despite what she did in the blood-ritual class.
Then Jenny’s brother Ricardo gets up to speak. His face is pale, and his hands ball into fists at his sides. When he reaches the small microphone placed next to what looks like a lectern, he clears his throat.
“My sister was a good person,” he says, gripping the lectern with clenched fingers. “She didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this.” He wipes away a few tears. “The circle leaders will investigate this, and they will find who did this to her. And if the vampires have returned, I will personally track down and kill every last one of them.”
