Page 25 of A University of Betrayal

“I know that all this can seem like a lot. You remind me a little of me back then.” She came closer and pressed the credit card into my hand. “Here, do what you want with it. This family is drowning in money.”

I looked at the black and gold card with the elegant lettering.

DMF – DeLoughrey-Medici Finances.

Of course, these rich people owned a financial institution. What else did I expect? But I wouldn’t be using the damn thing, anyway.

“You have until four o’clock to get an overview of the property. Do what you want, maybe don’t open any doors that are closed and... did I forget something?” she said the last part more to herself as she whirled around. “You’re not ready to leave the grounds without an escort yet, so it’s best to stay on the property if you don’t want to make a mess.” She squinted her eyes playfully. “Bastien noticeseverything,so stick to the rules, or you’ll havehimas your personal escort. But don’t worry, he’s a really nice guy, even if he has the third most kills in the team.”

I looked at her, confused. What did she mean by kills? Not really...

“What am I talking about? I almost forgot. Miles will take you to training later. If you have any questions, please ask him, your trainer, or me, of course.”

Another wink. Then she rushed past me and just left me in the world’s most impressive closet with endless questions.

God,it felt good to finally be able to wear a biker jacket again. Everything I was wearing here looked good on me and fitted almost perfectly.

I wondered how she had found out my cup size. Maybe it was better not to know about certain things. And it was time to move on, which made me head outside to the park.

The trigger for this had actually been Miles, who had been strolling through the park in a black open felt coat – without a shirt, of course – and randomly throwing knives around.

The man looked forbiddingly hot, but my main reason was that I wanted to ask him a lot of questions, including where the getaway car was. Admittedly, it wasn’t wise to ask this weird guy of all people, but he had been the most honest of them all so far.

As it turned out, it was incredibly difficult to orient yourself in this building. I ended up in dark side corridors about six times. In addition, it took longer as I looked at every painting I walked past. Often landscapes that reminded me a lot of Blairville, including rocky coastlines with beaches, dense misty forests, flower meadows, but also historical buildings or paintings of gentlemen gathered around tables with contracts.

I would have loved to take photos, but it was difficult without a camera.

I felt disempowered. I wasn’t even allowed to use my cell phone. Would there even be mobile phone signal here?

In the huge ballroom-like foyer were the largest and most beautiful paintings. They portrayed eccentric societies, as well as detailed ball evenings and people from the past. The floor was made of black marble with golden patterns.

From here, many corridors led to different areas of the house, but there were also two large doors to the outside. One of them was the one that finally took me to the park.

The first thing I felt was actually fresh air. It was windy. A constant cracking of branches in the distance worried me at first, but the longer I walked around, the more I got used to it until the sound faded into the background.

A beautiful park with beautiful statues stretched out in front of me, even if half of them would probably have frightened me at night. Huge paws, claws, and fangs. The same ones that I had now gotten and that I often unconsciously slid my tongue past. Sometimes they seemed smaller, almost imperceptible, but then... especially last night... that size...

“It must be pretty impressive for someone like you.”

I wheeled around and, not three feet behind me, he stood. Adrian DeLoughrey. A disdainful, amused, if barely noticeable smirk adorned his far too handsome face, creating a stark contrast in combination with my confusion.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen this man smile.

“Excuse me?” I asked, trying to sound like it was normal for people to appear out of nowhere all the time.

“Such a big house, expensive clothes, money,power...”He came closer, as close as when we had been together in the art room at Vanderwood. “Control.”

Instead of simply surrendering to his words and his presence, I took a step back, frustrated by the stupid comment, even if he was right. This was all new and felt strangely foreign.

“I didn’t choose to be your guest,” I remarked dryly.

“You don’t seem to understand.” His expression became serious again, as if I had seriously offended him. “You’re not a guest here. You’re part of the clan, in fact, a goddamn part of this family.”

That uncomfortable feeling of strangeness again, and for the first time, hopelessness mixed in.

What if I really couldn’t go where I wanted? What if I was now trapped here and this generous contract I had signed was just a lie?

“It’s hard to believe that someone like you would ever be one of us.” That disparaging tone again. “You don’t even seem to notice when someone of your own kind is standing behind you.”