“Yes,” I say. The wooden door slams shut, lifting a momentary breeze that snuffs out a few candles. The already-dim classroom becomes even darker. And now, we’re alone. “Sorry for being late,” I start, because I imagine that’s why he wants a word. “I took a few wrong turns in the tunnels,” I say, hiding my clenched fists behind my back. “But it won’t happen again, Professor.”
“Oh, don’t be sorry,” he says quickly. “I imagine studying in a university like this must be a shock for a human.”
He keeps his distance, somewhat awkwardly. “I suppose so,” I reply. The echo of our voices fills the room, and I wait for someone passing by to open the door and peek inside, but even the tunnels seem to have quietened now. “But I’ve been looking forward to coming here.”
“Me, too,” he says. “It’s Tynahine’s first year opening its gates to humans, and also its first year allowing a wretched soul like me in, to share my so-called wisdom.”
“It’s your first year teaching here?” I ask.
“I was here two centuries ago, but as a student,” he says. “That’s not why I wanted to talk, however. You are my only human student, Cassie, so I just want to make it clear that if you are ever in any sort of”—he pauses, looking for the word—“trouble,then you can come to me. My office is a safe space for humans. As confident as Faust Nocth is in his little project, there is still danger. So, should you ever feel threatened, you’ll find my door is always open.”
“Thanks,” I say. My muscles are stiff. His words come across as genuine, but the thought of running to avampire’soffice when I’m in danger is a little disturbing. “Earlier you mentioned Campbell’s compositions are as lost asThe Book of Blood and Roses,and that made me wonder…” I pause, hoping he’ll answer without me having to probe too much. “What exactly is that book?”
He considers me and starts folding paper, so meticulously that I think he’s going to ignore my question. “A book of secrets,” he finally says. “It’s best known for its instructions on how to kill a vampire. But it contains much more. Remedies for curses, spells from forbidden grimoires, and a list of every vampiric weakness ever observed in the West,” he says. “It’s both a history and a collection of theories—some even say it contained a cure for vampirism. A way to reverse ourdisease.”
He blows out the candles on his desk, so that the only source of light now is the stained-glass windows, glowing in the dim of the tunnels. “Though I wouldn’t concern yourself with books as dangerous as that one, Cassie Smith,” he says, hoisting up his cello behind his back. “Someone might mistake your curiosity for something a little more…sinister.”
Chapter
Four
Professor Gustavsson’s warning has left me with a layer of sweat that doesn’t dry, even as the tunnels around me cool down.
Is he onto me? I was too bold, wasn’t I?
“Doesn’t matter.” My whisper echoes off a winding tunnel, riddled with puddles, white weeds growing beneath the lanterns.
But at least I now knowThe Book of Blood and Rosesis not a secret.
Which means that I should be able to find more information about it in Kinsnet. Just as long as I don’t have to seeheragain.
The air is damp, moss clinging to the stones. I hear water dripping somewhere in the distance. It’s an old passageway. The air is too close, the ceiling low. The more I walk, the older and darker the tunnels become, stones larger, with candles illuminating the arched ceilings instead of electricity. And each new tunnel, I realise, is stranger than the last, some with crumbling mosaics on the floors, and others with long poems etched into the walls, in English, Latin, or Gaelic. Just as I run my fingers along one of these words, the sound of high heels clicking on stone reaches my ears.
A chill runs through me as I make out her silhouette through the shadows, lanterns flickering on as she walks, following her steps.
Something about her presence, even in the distance, makes every instinct I’ve been trained to pay attention to come to life. My eyes adjust to the dark hallway, and I take in her entrancing features. A cascade of chestnut hair falls to her waist. Her eyes are a twilight blue, her full lips stained dark red. A perfume of blood and rosewater prickles my nostrils. I expect to see her lips dripping crimson. But the blood is on her hands. Small puncture wounds litter her palms and fingers.
“Lost?” she asks. Her sweet voice is instantly familiar. She’s the one I heard up on the fifth floor of Kinsnet, begging to be bitten. My cheeks are aflame as I try to push the image of her and Aliz Astra out of my mind. But my imagination works against me, and I fill in the blanks of what I heard last night. Aliz Astra pinning her to a bookcase, deadly fangs puncturing her neck. The sounds she made echo in my mind.
She arches a perfectly groomed brow, waiting for me to reply.
My mouth is dry, and my voice comes out in a croak.
“I think so.” The more I look at her, the more I understand why Astra would choose her. Though the word Julia used,plaything,doesn’t suit her in the slightest.
“These tunnels were carved for vampires to avoid the sun.” Her voice is suddenly too sharp. “There’s no reason for you to be down here.”
“Some classrooms are underground,” I counter. Her gaze sweeps down my body, stopping on my watch.
“Where were you going before you got lost?” she asks.
“Kinsnet.”
The tunnels are completely silent but for the sound of my own breathing. Her gaze burns through me, and I fight the urge to back away from her.
“You’re in luck,” she finally says. “I was just heading there myself.”
Despite her staggeringly high heels, she’s already five metres ahead of me before I even start walking after her. “Thanks,” I say.
