My phone chimes before I can explore the rest of the room. The welcome lecture is in just ten minutes, and the humanities building is at the other end of campus. “Fuck’s sake,” I say, rummaging through my weapons. I settle on the stake, dropping it into my leather satchel. I zip up the case and shove it under the bed.
I rush down the pine grove, my feet aching in the brown leather boots Penny bought for me, knee-high with deep green laces. Every item in Cassie’s wardrobe, from her buttons to her nightgowns, was chosen by Penny. And just like my regular black uniform, each garment has plenty of secret pockets for me to hide a weapon or two. The boots in question have sheaths hidden behind the laces, ideal for a pair of long daggers.
The humanities faculty building rises on the riverbank. Columns fringe the outside, cracks running up their sides. Vines and moss fill their gaps. The large arched windows are boarded up to protect themonsters lurking inside, and I allow myself a shallow breath before pulling the heavy wooden door open, which is as thick as a tree trunk. Inside, I find the same candle-lit glow that filled Tynarrich.
The Familiar had said the Deans of Day and Night would give this first lecture. One of them will be a vampire. I hesitate outside the entrance to the largest lecture hall and swallow hard. There’s a chance that I will walk in here and find myself surrounded by leeches. And considering the garlic hasn’t come into effect yet, I may have to kill my classmates sooner than I hoped. But the Familiar assured me that day classes were human-only.
I step inside, and my eyes widen. The domed ceiling is bloodred, and a replica of the solar system hangs from its centre, every planet gilded gold, orbiting around the sun. All the planets’ moons are there as well. Amongst them is Callisto, which Catherine Lovelace chose as the name of our organisation. Why she picked a lesser-known hunter, instead of Artemis, I’m not sure.
I can’t see any wires holding the spheres in place, and the university, sensing my questions, offers me an answer: A small plaque by the door describes the moving sculpture as an amalgamation of iron, gold, and a variety of magnets.
I hurry down the stairs to one of the curved benches, throwing my satchel on the space beside me, and my coat on the other side. Luckily enough, no one says anything to me, so in turn, I keep my mouth shut, slowly surveying my fellow students. Penny told me that two hundred humans had been accepted during this first round of admissions, though they’re hoping to double that number in the next few years.
A human has one of two viable (legal) roles in Vampiredom. A Familiar or a Council ambassador. Both are essentially lapdogs for bloodsuckers. I can’t tell, at first glance, what my classmates want to be. When Penny first introduced me to “Cassie,” she told me that if anyone asks, I should say I want to work in the Council’s ethics department. I’m not sure how a master’s in Modern Vampire Studies is going to get me there.
I still remember getting my acceptance into Strathclyde, fouryears ago. I was going to be the first in my family to go to university. I was going to be a doctor. I’d tried for Glasgow and Edinburgh but didn’t make the cut. Strathclyde was good enough for me, though. Mum and Dad took me out for dinner to celebrate.
A month later, they were both dead.
Two figures walk into the lecture hall from a bottom entrance. Only now do I look at what’s down on the platform. A large emerald blackboard, with the wordsFàilte gu Oilthigh Taigh na h-Aibhnewritten on it, takes up half of the space. Considering my knowledge of Gaelic starts and ends withfàilteandslàinte,I really hope the lecture is in English. But my thoughts snap back into focus when I notice the man dressed all in black. The Night Dean, I presume.
A vampire.
He’s tall with coal-black hair slicked away from a pale and conventionally attractive face. His shoulders are broad, legs a little too long. An untrained eye might think he’s in his late twenties, but there’s something about his demeanor that makes me suspect he’s a good deal older.
None of the humans around me seem too disturbed by his presence. The Day Dean, a woman roughly Penny’s age, dressed in white, breaks through the murmurs that had filled the lecture hall.
“I think we can get started,” she says, turning to the bloodsucker, who offers her a flourish of his ghostly, sun deprived hand. I can’t stare at him.Act normal.“I am delighted to welcome you all to Tynahine University! Your arrival has been a passion project that our wonderful Night Dean, Faust Nocth, has been working on for—how long?”
“A hundred and five years, I think?” His rich voice has an accent. Continental, but I can’t quite placeit.
“We had to ensure the utmost safety for human and vampire students alike,” the woman continues. “And I’m so glad to say that you have all been chosen as the first class, of hopefully many, who will prove that our species can live and, most important,studytogether.”
Safety,she said. I think of the weapons beneath my bed. The stake in my bag. The blade in my watch.I’msafe, that’s for sure.
“I would like to encourage you all to befriend Tynahine’s vampire students. You will find that they are not too dissimilar from yourselves. Driven, just as you all are, by a quest for knowledge. They share your appreciation for the arts, music, even cinema! The only exception you’ll find, of course, is food.”
At this, a chuckle travels through the crowd. I force a smile, playing with my pen.
“Speaking of,” the vampire Faust Nocth jumps in. “All our students abide by the Treaties of 1912. We drink synthetic blood.” He brings out a bottle filled with a thick crimson liquid. My stomach turns at the sight. “We do ask, just as we have asked our immortal students, that you refrain from doing anything that may harm each other. There is a full list of vampire weaknesses in your rooms, but as a rule, try to avoid wearing crosses around campus or saying prayers in front of vampires. And I’m afraid that those of you who enjoy garlic will find it lacking in our kitchens.”
If the students here really do drink synthetic blood, they won’t have to worry about the chemical currently flowing through my veins. Faust Nocth rattles on about what other things should be avoided. I’ll have to ask Penny what she knows about him later today.
The self-aggrandising speech finally comes to an end, and two seats from me, a student drops a thick notebook. He swears in French, and I reach down to pick it up for him. He’s quite striking, with his large eyes, light brown skin, and a five o’clock shadow. His thick hair smells of ylang-ylang, and when he stares back at me, there’s a moment’s hesitation, as though he’s measuringme.
“Thank you,” he says, taking the notebook from me. I nod, and before I can get away, he says, “I’m Stephan.”
“Cassie.” I don’t have time for friends. But glancing around, I notice the other students have started to flock into small groups. If I’m a lone wolf, I may draw more attention to myself.
“Is this your first time at Tynahine?” he asks, following me out of the bench row. I glance down at the deans, both deep in conversation. If they harbour any suspicions of a vampire hunter infiltrating their dear university, they haven’t shown it. At least not yet.
“Isn’t it everyone’s?” I reply.
“I’ve come to visit a couple of times,” he says. “My girlfriend is a student here.”
My jaw tenses as I take in those words. “You have a”—I clear my throat—“a vampire girlfriend?”
His eyes narrow. I wonder if my disgust is obvious. “Do you have an issue with that?”
