Page 23 of A University of Betrayal

Up and down, up and down. Again, and again. Toward the mirror, away from the mirror, and then look into those eyes again. Brown and human until I stepped into the shadows. But I noticed that if I concentrated very hard on my surroundings, the same result occurred. My eyes glowed a faint reddish color. And then I turned away again and paced back and forth.

I hadn’t been able to sleep since I woke up last night. No matter how hard I tried, the tiredness just wouldn’t come. Sleeping no longer seemed to be an option.

I stopped in front of the mirror and decided to take one last look at myself. My hair seemed shinier, a little thicker, or was I mistaken? I had never really had to deal with pimples, but now my skin looked clearer, smoother, more flawless. Only the scars had all remained.

Normally, I would have been happy to wake up like this and feel sexy all day long. But the price I had paid had been too high for me to be happy now.I was dead. I had died.

Fixedly, I looked in the mirror, searching for other changes. Had I even changed at all? I was still Larissa Champson. The orphan girl from Sacramento, on my own as always, and once again, I found myself in a situation that looked anything but appealing.

As it turned out, I was free. I could go and do what I wanted. But it wasn’t quite that simple, because I had been forced to sign a contract that had made it clear to me – in most formal language – that I was dependent on these people.

Until that moment, I tried to suppresswhatI had swallowed last night. Nothing like that would ever happen to me again. Never.

“You now belong to the oldest brotherhood in North America and since you are a Ruinouveau” –by which Laurent, the brown-haired bodyguard, probably meant what they had turned me into – “you will have to undergo extensive training to even have a chance in the brotherhood.”

As if that hadn’t been enough of the good news, Bastien had also informed me about our supposedlygreatest enemies.Two families and their supporters. TheBlairsand theCopelands.But no one had ever told me why exactlythesepeople were our enemies. And it was precisely the fact that I was so uninformed that worried me so much.

It wasn’t as if I’d lost my old, great life, and to be honest, the urge to find out more about the DeLoughreys had grown stronger overnight. But what did they expect? That I would just accept that they fed on blood and also expected me to do it as if it was a glass of champagne at a gala event, classy and above all, normal?

I was surprised at myself for gradually believing the whole thing. I had heard a lot of abnormal things, and there was a point at which you couldn’t suppress it anymore. However, it also scared the shit out of me because I hadn’t planned my life to turn into this.

Any other girl would probably have been happy if the DeLoughreys had offered her the chance to live with them, to take her into their crazy rich family for no reason at all, but I had grown up differently compared to most girls.

I turned to the closet. Another unpleasant problem. All they seemed to have for me were ridiculous dresses. Beautiful, sumptuous and graceful, but I wasn’t that princess and probably wouldn’t be one for centuries to come. Because according to Miles, I was now immortal, which I didn’t quite want to believe.

I was still wearing this dress. It was beautiful, but that was it. So, I opened the massive wardrobe doors to get upset about the contents again and then closed them again in disappointment.

I exhaled in frustration.

By the way, this seemed completely unnecessary. I only breathed when I realized that I was no longer breathing.How sick was that?

When I turned around and started to walk randomly back and forth again, my curiosity kicked in.

During the night, I had thought about what was hidden in such a big mansion – or should I call it a castle?

Countless doors, some small, some large, and so many corridors. I had toyed with the idea of exploring everything, but the mere thought of wandering around here alone and meeting one of these crazy rich people had awakened so much fear in me that I hadn’t even dared to open the second door in my own room. But morning was coming, and maybe the others were asleep. Besides, the door was so close. My fingers were practically screaming to open it.

Slowly and carefully, as I usually wasn’t, I walked toward the door.

I had become paranoid over the last eight hours. It wasn’t the many noises that I noticed now and that my hearing had to get used to. It was much more the inhabitants of the house, who had the same heightened senses. They were like wild cats, quiet and fast.

That also explained Bastien’s sudden appearance here, because, according to him, I had been so loud when I had demolished the room and the curtains – I emphasizethe curtains– that I had interrupted him while he had been working.

Dinner had gone strangely after the incident with the blood. They had talked about business, about assassins, and about the Blairs, maple syrup and some kind of Circle. Then it had been about this Nicolaj, who seemed to play a pretty big role here. And the way they were talking about the guy, I could hole up in this room right now and preferably only come out when this gentleman was back in California, where he apparently did his business. Whatever he was doing there, I didn’t want to know.

There was also a strange tension hanging over the table. The creepy guy at the far end opposite Bastien had rarely said anything and when he had, it had always been about Nicolaj. But what he had said had been enough to make Miles next to me tense his jaw and snort. Meanwhile, the blond guy next to Miles,David,had continued talking to Camille, who, it should be noted, was very talkative. And I hadn’t failed to notice how the bodyguard, Laurent, had been watching her so tensely the whole time. And Bastien? He had watched everyone, made few comments, and often glanced at me to make sure I was still alive or hadn’t long since died from my long-lasting shock.

The only person who hadn’t given me a second glance had been Adrian, as if my presence had been the worst thing for him. I had never felt so unwelcome, and that had to mean something from someone who no longer had parents and had been sent back by foster families all her life.

I had arrived at the door by now and forcibly pulled myself out of my carousel of thoughts. I just hoped that I could get out of here as soon as possible so that I could lead a normal student life with my best friend. I hoped she was okay because she wasn’t here.

If something had happened to her, she would be here, wouldn’t she?

Panic sprouted in me again.

The guy who had attacked us, who had turned me into what I was now... he hadn’t been here yesterday. What if he wasn’t here at all? But then he wouldn’t have been in the forest with the other guy a week ago, right?

Nothing made sense. Again.