But who would it be?
That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it?
If it was a witch, why did the dead students have puncture marks in their necks? Why were they missing so much blood?
It didn’t sit right. Didn’t make any sense.
I pushed open the door as quietly as I was able, sighing when I found Bianca alone and awake. Marcus must have left sometime earlier to avoid getting caught, too.
“Hey,” she said, halting in the brushing of her long blonde hair—looking at me with a cheeky grin through the mirror on her vanity. “How was your evening?” she asked.
“Fine. How was yours?”
She blushed. “It was… satisfactory.”
“Is that all?”
“Okay, maybe a little more than satisfactory.”
I shook my head and sat on the edge of my bed, pulling the tote bag onto my lap.
Bianca turned on her little stool and tilted her head, her light brown eyes narrowed with dread. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Did you find something out already?”
Her face paled, and I was sure I didn’t look any better. “I did.”
She inhaled deeply and clasped her hands in her lap. “Tell me.”
“It can only be one of two things if it’s not just normal stress.”
“It’s not.”
My brows rose at her certainty, but if anyone would know best, it was her. It was her it was happening to, after all.
“Then you can’t go anywhere alone anymore.”
She screwed up her face, pressing her lips in a firm line. “What?” she snapped.
I handed her the books, and waited a minute for what they contained to sink in. “It’s either a side effect of Vocari compulsion, or a witch has been tampering with your memory.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I confirmed it with the librarian and Elias. There isn’t anything else that fits. And Cal and Adrian and I went through both of those books front to back last night, but we couldn’t find anything that would help us definitively decide which one is to blame.”
Bianca’s breaths came faster, and an angry flush rose to her face. “So, you’re telling me someone is doing this to me? Someone is fucking with my head?” She was practically frothing at the mouth with anger now.
I put my hands up in a gesture of peace. “I know. It’s messed up, but we’ll figure out who it is. I promise. And then we’ll put an end to it. But for now, please don’t go anywhere without me or Marcus. Not with another student. Not with a professor. It could be anyone, B.”
“Yeah, or it could be your vampire friend,” she said, glaring at me.
My mouth snapped closed at the ice in her tone. I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“But you aren’t sure.”
I paused. “I am sure,” I said, nodding to myself as though I were the one who needed convincing. “It isn’t Draven, but if it’s another vampire, maybe he can help us find out who.”
She drew in a shaking breath and stood to get her shower things. “Well, just keep him away from me.”
I clenched my teeth, not exactly sure how she was proposing I do that since he had a habit of coming in through the window of our shared room, but not wanting to say anything to the contrary. She had every reason to be upset. If someone was meddling in my thoughts, I’d be freaked the hell out, too.
“You coming?” she asked after gathering up the rest of what she needed, reminding me that I didn’t want her going anywhere outside of this room alone.
I hadn’t planned to shower this morning, but I supposed I didn’t have a choice now. I snatched up a black towel, soap, and the fancy conditioner Bianca got for me that was supposed to help tame my hair. “I guess I am,” I said, and followed her out into the hall.
“Good, you need to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Bianca gave me a concerned glance, as though it was troublesome that I didn’t already know what she was about to tell me. “Harper, you smell like dog.”
27
Harper
“Don’t get mad,” Bianca said the next morning, hiding something behind her back.
I wasn’t even fully awake yet. Those were not the first words I’d wanted to hear this morning.
It was going to be a long day. Sloane was teaching our group again tonight, which meant the school day was going to go on two hours more than it usually did, and I was already exhausted just thinking about sparring off with a training dummy that could fight back.
I groaned, burying my face into my pillow. “What now?”
When