“Do you think that because of Aric? Or do you think that because you’re something different?”
I stilled. “What do you know about me, Mark? What is the Academy saying about me?”
“They don’t tell us much,” Mark admitted. “They say you’re something special, and they really want you.”
I’d already figured that much out on my own. I trusted Paris, but I was mildly curious what she had told him. “And that’s all you know?”
“What else is there to know?” Mark asked, his eyes curious.
“Nothing,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. “Absolutely nothing.”
Mark turned back to the library for a second. “Do you want to get a coffee or something?”
“Sure,” I said, realizing he needed human contact. Even if we didn’t talk about Paris, Mark needed someone to be in his corner. “No talking about our sad love lives, though. I can’t handle it.”
“Deal.”
I SPENT several hours with Mark, talking about classes and discussing the general day-to-day activities of the Academy. When we were done, we left the UC. It was dark.
“I didn’t realize how long we were in there,” I admitted.
“Me either.”
“I should be getting home.”
“Do you want me to walk you?”
I considered the offer, but bringing Mark to the house I shared with Paris seemed like a bad idea. “I should be fine. It’s not too late.”
Mark didn’t look convinced. “Still … .”
“I’ll be fine.”
We were on the front walk of the UC and, since it was Monday, the area was mostly empty. The first day of classes didn’t draw hordes to the library, and each dorm had internal coffee stations these days.
“Okay,” Mark said. “Just … could you text me when you get back to the house? Just so I know you’re safe.”
I smiled. He really was a nice guy. “Absolutely.”
“And … just … tell Paris I understand. I’d really like it if we could go back to being friends,” Mark said.
“I’m sure she’d like that, too. Just don’t think it’s going to happen overnight.”
“No, I get that,” Mark said. “I just miss you guys.”
“It’s going to be okay, Mark,” I said. “Things will settle down.”
“I hope that’s true,” he said. “I would hate to lose the people I care about because I’m boring.”
I snorted. “You’re not boring, Mark. You’re a good guy. You just might not be the guy for Paris.”
“Or you.”
He definitely wasn’t the guy for me. “I think the right woman is out there waiting for you. You just need to be patient.”
“And what about you?”
I paused. “What about me?”
“Have you found the right person?”
I rolled the question through my mind. “I guess not.”
Mark shook his head, his shoulder-length hair brushing his shoulders. “You’ll figure it out. I have faith.”
Well, at least one of us did. “Me, too,” I lied.
Mark and I walked to the sidewalk together, but separated at the fork. We were heading in different directions.
“Don’t forget to text me,” Mark said.
“I won’t.”
I was halfway down the sidewalk when I heard something behind me. I swiveled, but no one was there. Mark was about a hundred yards away, his silhouette outlined by the streetlights. He wasn’t moving. He was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring into a crop of bushes, and something told me that he’d made a discovery.
I was tired. I wanted to go home and curl up in my bed. Something about Mark’s frame told me not to leave. Instead, I headed in his direction.
“Mark?”
He didn’t look at me. He didn’t answer. I tried again.
“Mark?”
“I … I … .”
I rushed forward, slowing my pace when I neared. “What is it?”
The first thing I saw were a pair of tennis shoes poking out from the bush, a cute pair of pink New Balance shoes that hadn’t been worn more than a few times. As my eyes traveled up, I realized they were attached to the body of a young woman. I dropped to my knees, instinct taking over.
She was a brunette, long waves cascading out onto the ground like a dark halo around her head. Her face was pale, drawn, and her sightless eyes were staring up at the sky. I gulped, fighting the urge to scream.
She was dead. I knew that. She wasn’t the first body I’d discovered.
“Is she … ?” Mark looked like he was on the edge of a precipice.
“Dead? Yeah.”
Mark was as pale as the corpse. “We need to call the police,” he said.
I knelt down next to the body, taking a closer look. There were marks on her neck – bite marks. Oh, crap. “Call them.”
“What do you see?” Mark asked.
“She was bitten.”
“By a vampire?”
I shrugged. I really had no idea. “Just call the cops.”
Another year at Covenant College, another body. I just couldn’t catch a break.
Six
“So, let me get this straight, you’ve been back on campus for five days and you’ve already discovered a body?”
I’d told the story to Kelsey and Paris from beginning to end – twice – and they were still dumbfounded.
“It’s my lot in life,” I said. “I’m doomed to be the girl who finds bodies. Maybe I should put it on a business card.”
“Well, Mark technically found it,” Paris said. “How did you two run into each other again?”
I rolled my eyes. “Really? That’s what you’re worried about? I already told you he’s accepted the breakup and he wants to be friends. Why are you dwelling on that instead of the dead girl with the bite marks on her neck?”
“Because, it’s been my experience that men don’t just get over being dumped and want to be friends,” Paris replied. “That’s something a girl would do.”
“No, a girl would key his car and tell his next girlfriend he gave her herpes,” Kelsey corrected. “Then she would try to be friends after she felt like she got her revenge.”
I blew out a sigh. Yeah, that sounded just about right. “Can we focus on the dead body?”
“Do you think it was a vampire?” Kelsey asked.
“I have no idea,” I said. “Do other things bite?”
“Why are you looking at me?” Paris whined.
“Because you know more about this stuff than I do,” I replied. “Everyone knows more about this stuff than I do.”
“I don’t,” Kelsey said, not looking a bit perturbed about being out of the loop.
I leaned against the back of the couch, pinching the bridge of my nose as I stared up at the ceiling. “This is just … the last thing I needed.”
“Why not ask Rafael?” Paris prodded.
“Maybe because I would like to figure something out on my own for a change,” I said.
“I don’t think that’s it,” Kelsey hedged.
“Okay,” I conceded. “Maybe it’s because, the more I go to him, the more I feel like I owe him.”
“And you don’t want to owe him?” Paris asked.
“Or is it that you’re worried he’s going to want payback in sex?” Kelsey queried.
I barked out a hoarse laugh. “I don’t want to owe him,” I said. “And, yeah, that whole sex thing has occurred to me.”
“So, it’s okay to sleep with a werewolf, but it’s not okay to sleep with a vampire?” Paris asked.
I shrugged, considering how to answer. “I … .”
“You just don’t want to have sex with Rafael,” Kelsey finished for me. “That’s okay. You know that, right?”
“I’m up on inappropriate forms of touching,” I scoffed. “My mom had the talk with me when I was a kid. It’s not that. I’m just … conflicted.”
“Because of Aric,” Paris supplied.
“Because of everything,” I corrected. “I just stumbled over another dead body, and a vampire may or may not have been responsible. I don’t think it’s strange to question jumping into bed with a vampire given that set of facts.”
“That’s very pragmatic of you,” Paris said. “It’s also a load of crap.”
“A huge load,” Kelsey agreed.
“It’s not a load of crap,” I argued. “I have a right to feel how I feel.”
“Except you’re not really admitting how you feel,” Paris said. “Until you do that, this whole thing is going to be a huge cluster of crap.”
“Well, thank you, Dr. Phil.”
Kelsey and Paris exchanged a look.
“What did the cops say?”
“Well, that’s the other thing,” I said. “The cops aren’t exactly big fans of mine. I keep stumbling over bodies. I’ve had two roommates just up and disappear. They’re looking at me right now – and they’re looking at me really closely.”
“They don’t have any evidence, though,” Kelsey said.
“No,” I agreed. “What if someone from the sorority house talks? We weren’t the only ones who saw what happened to Laura. I mean, take Matilda for instance; we haven’t talked to her. What if she goes to the cops?”
“Then she would have to explain how her sorority of idiots thought they could suck magic from people and make themselves more powerful,” Kelsey countered. “And, if she does that, she’s also going to have to explain how Laura shot a huge ball of light at you, which you reflected back at her, and somehow she was burned alive because of the big ball of light. How do you think that’s going to go over?”
“She has a point,” Paris said. “They’d lock her up in a nuthouse.”
That didn’t sound like a bad idea. “Has anyone seen Matilda?”
Kelsey shook her head. “She lives down by me, but I didn’t see her at any of the regular haunts this summer. I asked around to see if anyone else had seen her, but she was off the grid.”
“Do we even know if she came back?” Paris asked. “If I were her, I would’ve transferred to a different school.”
That was a good point. “Is there any way we can find out?”
“We could go to the sorority house,” Kelsey said. “That’s where she moved after the … incident.”
Seeing the place where Laura had died was not on the top of my to-do list. “I’ll pass.”
“I could go,” Kelsey said. “It might be better if it was just me.”
“If you want,” I said. “Don’t feel you have to, though.”
“I’ll go tomorrow.”
I rubbed my eyes tiredly, turning after a second to find Paris watching me with sympathetic eyes.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Now? Now I’m going to go to bed,” I said. “I can’t make any big decisions until I get some sleep.”
FOUR HOURS later, I woke with a start. I bolted to a sitting position in my bed, listening. I couldn’t figure out what had woken me. The house was quiet for a change. No one was yelling, and there were no slamming doors to remind me that living with women you don’t know is always a mistake.
After a few minutes, I settled back down onto the mattress, confident sleep would reclaim me shortly. An hour of tossing and turning later, I gave up the fight and climbed out of bed.
I dressed quietly, pulling on simple blue jeans and a black T-shirt and hoodie. When I exited the house, I did it through the back door. Even though he’d been keeping an occasional watch on the house, Rafael appeared to be absent tonight. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. On the one hand, I could have used someone to talk to. On the other, I wasn’t sure if Rafael was my best option.
I had no idea where I was heading when I started down the sidewalk. I just needed some air. When I realized I was near the UC, the flashing police lights illuminating the night sky caused me to pull up short. I had no idea why I was back here.
The police had cordoned off the area where the body was found and, thankfully, it looked like she’d been carted away. I watched them from afar, not understanding what they were doing. Sure, in the back of my mind, I understood they were collecting evidence. I couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking as they completed the task.
Did the police know what Covenant College was? Were they aware of the supernatural elements? Something told me that it was a secret – one only a handful of high-ranking officers were aware of. So, what did the others think? Didn’t the high body count on the campus worry them? Why hadn’t all the dead bodies triggered a state investigation?
Since Aric’s father was a state senator, and an important figure in the wolf hierarchy, it would seem that at least some of the state’s highest officials were in on the big, bad secret. Did they tell the state what to investigate and what to ignore?
And what about the newspapers? How come some intrepid reporter hadn’t put the massive body-count numbers on display in the pages of a local or state newspaper so everyone could see them?
“This whole place is just messed up,” I grumbled, running my hand through my hair. Great. Now I was talking to myself. That’s never a good sign.
Since returning to the scene of a crime is frowned upon in law-enforcement circles, I opted to stay out of sight. I purposely stepped into the bushes, keeping my frame hidden as I watched them work.
I was there for more than an hour. It was almost 3 a.m. before the tech teams packed up and left, leaving only the crime-scene tape and bad memories to plague the dark. For some reason, I wanted to go down there and look around, but I waited. I’m not sure what I was waiting for, but I didn’t have to wait long.
About twenty minutes after the scene cleared, a new figure stepped onto the sidewalk. I couldn’t make out features, but the figure was tall and broad. I kept my distance as I watched, but my heart was hammering.
The figure kept to the shadows as it slipped underneath the tape and glanced around, finally crouching down next to the crop of shrubs where the girl’s body had been discarded.
I leaned out, trying to get a better look, but making out distinguishing features was impossible. I slipped back into the bush line when the figure straightened back up. Now he was facing me, still shrouded in dark and mystery. I could only hope the bushes made me invisible.
The figure moved farther down the sidewalk, finally walking close enough to a streetlight for me to get a better gander of just who I was dealing with. My heart skipped a beat when I recognized the features.
It was Aric.
I sucked in a breath, my heart rolling painfully. Why was he here?
Aric stepped over the crime-scene tape, lifting his head to the wind – as if he was smelling the air. His body tensed, and his head snapped in my direction, like he was looking right at me. Could he smell me? Was that part of his whole wolf thing?
Aric remained still for a few moments, his eyes never leaving the bushes I was crouching behind. Finally, he dragged his gaze from my hiding spot and disappeared into the night.
I waited another half hour before I felt safe enough to leave. I hurried back toward Franklin Street, too scared to cast even a single glance over my shoulder to see if someone was following me.
Seven
I was in Sam Blake’s office by mid-afternoon the next day. I still wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing, but it seemed obvious that the wrong thing to do was nothing. For his part, Professor Blake didn’t look surprised to see me.
“Ms. Lake.”
“Professor Blake.”
I shut the door behind me to ensure our privacy. Blake kept his attention on whatever he was working on until I was settled in one of the open wingback chairs across from his ornate mahogany desk.
“So, how can I help you?”
Professor Blake has a way about him. He likes to talk down to you. He’s young for a professor, early thirties, and his blond hair and bright eyes had instigated many a college-girl crush. I was oblivious to th
at part of him. He did nothing for me in that manner.
“Did you hear about the body found on campus last night?”
“I did.”
“Do you have anything you want to say about it?”
“What would you like me to say?” Blake asked. Seriously, the man is infuriating.
“Did you know that one of your Academy students, Mark, discovered it?”
“I was made aware of that fact this morning,” Blake said. “I was also made aware that you were with him at the time.”
“Do you think that’s just a coincidence?” I pressed.
“I have trouble believing someone arranged the situation just so you could be there when the body was discovered,” he said.
“It would be narcissistic to think that, right?”
“Maybe a little.”
“I still think I was the one who was meant to find the body,” I said. “It’s too coincidental for it to be something else.”
“And yet, you wouldn’t have discovered the body unless Mark was with you,” Blake said. “It doesn’t seem like a very good plan.”
“Nothing that happens here seems like a good plan,” I said. “Not one stinking thing. This whole place is a freak show.”
Blake leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him as he regarded me. “You seem a little keyed up. Don’t get me wrong, you always seem a little keyed up, but you’re especially … obnoxious this afternoon.”
I loved it when he called me obnoxious. It was like a cute pet name he trotted out every time he spent five minutes with me. “I’ve been back on this campus for six days now, and I’m already knee deep in crap. Again.”
“Why don’t we let the new crap slide for a bit, and let’s talk about the old crap instead,” Blake said.
“What old crap?”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened at the sorority house before you left last spring,” Blake said. “Why don’t we start there?”
I stiffened at his imperious tone. “What do you want to know?”
“There are a lot of rumors regarding that period of time,” Blake said. “My understanding is that you were there.”
“I was.”
“And several of your roommates and friends were there, too,” Blake prodded.
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