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“The aftermath of what Alaric did lingered for many years. After his death, a lot of his critics came out of the woodwork, and they had a tendency to take out many years of frustration on our family. Victoria Belvedere had had enough of it. She took her children and moved away from the magical community.”
“You can do that? I thought we had to stay close to each other.”
“No.” She reaches over and strokes my hair. “Only while you’re young. It’s usually by the time you’re twenty and have graduated from the school that you can leave without any physical consequences. But by then, you’ll probably be working as a Guardian, so not many auras leave.”
I shake my head. “I’m not a fighter. Or a hunter. I don’t understand why I was chosen.”
“Not every aura goes out into the field to hunt Reavers. There are other jobs too.”
“For a necromancer?” I scoff. “They’ll want me out there raising zombie armies.” I shudder at the thought.
“You’ll find your way. I’m sure of it. I’m sure ofyou, Kira. You have a pure heart, and I know you’ll make the right choice, no matter what it is.”
I think about the vampire waiting for me in his crypt. I’m not so sure about that.
Forty
After Mumand I spend most of the morning together, all the visitors have a private meeting with the faculty to discuss the spate of missing and murdered students. It’s surreal. All those poor parents have to go and discuss murders and disappearances, and they can’t pull us out of school because we’ll die if we’re not together.
I head back to my room and wait for Laila. For a while, I worry she’s avoiding me so badly that she isn’t going to turn up, but she finally steps into the room alone about twenty minutes later. I’ve put on some of her favourite music to cheer her up. The Smiths.
“You’re here,” she says, her voice flat.
“That I am.” I smile. “Hey, I didn’t know you have a brother.”
One shoulder rises in a shrug.
“What’s his name?”
“Imran.”
“He’s handsome.”
Her eyes widen. “Do not get any ideas.”
I lift my palms. “No way would I break the friend code like that. Brothers are off-limits. Though I will go after your dad.”
The corner of her mouth twitches with the hint of a smile.
“Laila, I really want to talk to you.” I let out a long sigh. “The thing is, the secret I’m keeping from you is a really big one. And it could get you in trouble if you know about it. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get me in big trouble eventually, because it’s all going to come spilling out and there’ll be no stopping it. And I mean big trouble. Monumental, Goliath size—”
“I get it.” She shrugs. “Tell me or don’t. I don’t care.”
The lie is so blatant I simply raise my eyebrows.
“I might be able to help you, though,” she says. “If you choose to tell me.”
I move over to her side of the room and plop down on the bed next to her. Then I hold out my hand, the little finger sticking up. “We’re going to swear on this, you and me, that when I tell you this secret, you won’t freak out. And, also, we’ll figure out what to do together. Because I’m lost and pretty scared, actually.”
“Blimey, now I’m not sure I even want to know.” Laila leans away from me.
“Fine.” I move my hand away.
But she stops me by grabbing my little finger with hers. “I swear.” Then she lets go and rolls her eyes. “Kill me now. Why did I end up with the girl from the human world? Next, we’ll be braiding each other’s hair and doing mani-pedis.”
I move back to my side of the room. “Wait, you don’tknow about makeover Mondays? It’s a tradition in the human world—”
“Tell me the secret, Kira,” she interrupts, glowering.
