By the time we arrived back at our dorm, the sun was dipping under the horizon. The tension from earlier had faded entirely and we bumped shoulders affectionately as we entered the front doors. I couldn’t blame Kaz for his thoughts and I wouldn’t hold it against him, either. He had been forced to be my escort. What had gone through his mind when he’d been instructed to help the daughter of the Levant family? He’d greeted me with benevolence, regardless of how he felt about it. He helped me out when I felt trapped by the Sway without hesitating. I knew Kaz was a good person. I would show him I was, too.

“Why the heck is someone calling me?” Kaz said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Everyone knows I hate talking on the phone. Hello?”

I pretended to be interested in the vending machine next to the stairwell to give him privacy.

“Oh, oops. I’ll be right there!” He ended the call and turned to me. “I have to run. You good by yourself from there?”

“I think I can manage some stairs.”

He patted my shoulder before exiting the building again. I waited a minute and surveyed the area. Only two guards stood by the doors. Now would be the perfect chance to do some exploring on my own. Once classes started tomorrow, the entire campus would know my face, if they didn’t already. Tonight could be a good chance.

Without second-guessing myself, I hurried out of the building, keeping my head down. The academic buildings had held nothing of interest to me, so I didn’t bother heading there. Instead, I stuck to the growing shadows as I made my way to the library. The path leading to it that looked beautiful during the day definitely looked sinister at night, as Kaz had said. I stayed alert as I walked down it, listening for any sign of someone following me.

Even if I couldn’t go in, I could get an idea of the perimeter. An old library like this was bound to have a hidden room or two. Knowing the outside would help me seek them out once inside. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. I felt better doing something than nothing.

Slipping over the gate was easy enough. I didn’t think it was there to actually prevent people from getting onto the lawn, but more so for decoration. That gave me pause about what the library could hold. If there were deep, dark secrets inside, wouldn’t it have more protection? I’d been inclined to believe the rumors about it, but were they actually wrong?

Ivy climbed up the bricks of the library, resembling inky snakes under the glow of the moon. I trailed my fingers across the rough surface, gazing up toward the roof. Four or five floors, for sure. The building was massive. I stayed away from the main doors, afraid there might be a security system, instead proceeding to the back where the shadows of the forest could conceal me better.

The windows were too high for me to peer into, no matter how high I stood on my tiptoes. I could just manage to grasp the ledge, but it didn’t do me much because I couldn’t pull my body weight up. It seemed the only way in was through the front.

Pursing my lips, I walked around the corner to the far side of the library. It was so dark I nearly slammed right into protruding brick as the back wall became an irregular shape. I moved back to inspect here. Here, the windows were barred up. The woods made it so dark it was hard to make out anything, though. I scrutinized the brick, noticing it was a different color than the rest of the building, and more decrepit. Not that unusual seeing as the academy itself had been around for over five hundred years. But they had kept it when they added the new addition. The question was if it was accessible or not.

A snap came from the trees behind me and I froze, my heart leaping into my throat. A smaller crack came and then the sound of a small animal scampering off. I didn’t move for another moment, willing my pulse to calm down. What kind of animals did these forests hold? I hadn’t thought about that. Bears? Mountain lions?

I glanced behind me a few times as I forced myself to keep advancing. More noise came from the thicket and I held my breath, listening hard. Only to be greeted with silence. Great, I thought. Now I’m paranoid.

My dagger wouldn’t be much protection against a bear, but the probability of being mauled wasn’t very high, anyway. I needed to focus. I still wanted to check out the opposite side of the lake after finishing with the library because Kaz and I had never made it over there. I continued on, noting that the part with the old brick was about the size of the foyer of the dorm building. The rest of the building returned to the usual weathered brick. No back exits. Only one way in and one way out.

As I went to step around the corner of the building, I caught two figures in the distance walking along the path of the lake. Twisting on my heel, I fell back into the shadows. With my back against the library wall, my attention turned to the forest. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I noticed a light in the distance. Dull and yellow. I squinted, trying to decipher what it could be coming from. Didn’t the woods stretch for miles? Did they have a guard station posted out there? Or something else? Was there a path?

I made to go toward it when I heard a rustling to my right.

In a flash, I grabbed the digger at my thigh and unsheathed it. But before I could straighten up fully, a hand wrapped around my throat, shoving me back into the brick. I managed to get my elbows up in time to break my momentum so my head wouldn’t ricochet into the stone as well. Glaring up into the golden gaze of my attacker, I immediately flattened out my arms along my body so that the dagger stayed out of sight. It would be a mistake to threaten royalty.

“Are you lost, human?” Claude asked, voice as silky as the night sky.

“No.”

“If not, how did you end up here?”

“I’m just exploring the campus.”

“After the sun has already fallen?”

I lifted my chin. “Am I not allowed to? As far as I’m aware, there is no curfew. So, I’m free to go where I want to, aren’t I?”

“The gates to the library are locked. You’re not allowed to be here.”

“And yet here you are,” I responded without thinking. Now wasn’t the time to provoke someone ten times stronger than me. “Since we are both here, I’m not sure what the issue is.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“That’s funny coming from the one with his hand wrapped around my throat.”

His gaze hardened, but he didn’t remove his hand. I gripped the dagger harder, getting ready to defend myself. He wasn’t choking me, so I had no real reason to fight back— his lingering hand was more like a warning. Only barely brushing against my clammy skin, but close enough that it would take less than a second for his fingers to close in and snap my vertebra. My neck felt small and fragile when encompassed by his hand. Especially because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and kept talking back.

I tried to subtly figure out an escape route, but just as I turned my head Claude inched his head closer. As I faced him again, my nose brushing against his cheek as his lips came to my ear. “I will figure out your secrets.”

His hot breath sent shivers down my spine and my pulse into overdrive. I tried to jerk back, only to scrape the back of my head against the brick. Claude released me and I prayed he’d walk away, but instead he reached out toward me again. I held my ground, refusing to flinch even as he slid his fingers under the ribbon of my uniform and yanked it undone. The golden fabric slithered to the ground at my feet, leaving the hollow of my throat bare and smarting.

Claude lazily studied the newly exposed skin and I fought the urge to cover it. “I suggest you learn how to tie your ribbon properly. It protects such enticing… features.”

I clenched my jaw, feeling a flush go through my cheeks. I hoped the dark concealed it. “Thank you for your advice.”

He stared at me blankly before stalking off and materializing into the night as if he were made of darkness himself. I picked my ribbon up off the ground, brushing it off, and trying to calm my heart. It hit me that the Sway hadn’t affected me. He’d constrained it as to not be noticed. But how long had he followed me for? I went through my actions frantically. I hadn’t done anything too incriminating.

Still. I clenched my jaw, releasing a breath out through my nose. I had no idea I’d been followed. I didn’t even consider someone could follow me. So easily, too. Vampires were masters of stealth. I should expect to be followed considering everyone at the academy considered me to be an enemy.

Stupid, I scolded myself. No wonder my family had no hope for me. I could have given myself away just then if I’d tried to break in like I’d originally wanted. Slipping my dagger back into my holster, I slunk over to the fence and hoisted myself over it. Screw the lake. I was going back to my dorm. I needed to think things over.

My chest constricted and I fought to keep my breathing even as I returned down the canopied path. I messed up. Claude would be even more suspicious of me now. What would my father say? What would he do? I whipped my head up, convinced my father would show up at any moment to discipline me.

But no. He wasn’t here. He wouldn’t know I was already failing. There was time to recover. I would just be more cautious going forward.

For once I felt grateful to be at the academy, out of my father’s reach.

I made it back to the dorm without incident, feeling relieved as I stepped into my room. The warmth of it made me realize I had sweated through my uniform. Grimacing, I peeled the fabric away from my back. I hated the fact that being anxious made me sweat. As I discarded the blouse of my uniform, I stared at myself in the mirror, feeling phantom fingers around my throat. I knew Claude couldn’t harm me because of the peace treaty, but the idea of the royal family finding a loophole like Kaz had said seemed probable.

My eyebrows furrowed when I realized something about my appearance was off. There weren’t any bruises or blemishes on my skin. My pink hair lay limply along my back, tangled from the day’s escapades, and my necklace—

My necklace.

I twirled toward my blouse, picking it up and shaking it out. Nothing. No, no, no. I couldn’t have lost it. I’d worn it for over seventeen years without misplacing it. Where would I even have dropped it? Somewhere along the grounds? Wouldn’t have I heard it drop had it fell upon the marble paths? It had nowhere to catch and rip off…

Ice flooded through my veins. Claude. He’d plucked it off my neck when he’d taken my ribbon off.

My hands shook as I dropped the blouse again.

Oh, shit.

The next time Claude saw me, I was sure he would murder me. I thought what had happened at the library was bad, but this was so much worse.

What would he do once he realized I wore the bones of his grandfather around my neck?