Page 169

Emely had appeared next to Julie. She seemed a bit flustered, as if she had run here.

“That woman is suspicious, and I hate that she's sneaking around our property at this hour.” She pointed down the corridor. “Her office is over there. She seriously walks around here at night as if she has no life, just to chase imaginary students out of the hallways and talk to herself. Alarik thinks she's trying to ambush the hacker.”

With growing tension, I looked down the hallway, as if she might appear at any moment.

The red-haired Madame was my walking nightmare. So often I felt her watching me. And then there was that phone call... Jesus.

Funny

Gold-Tiger

“Oh my God. They're moving,” Larissa blurted out.

“How...”

She pressed her hand over my mouth and urged us all further into the shadow of the wall.

“They're coming,” Larissa whispered frantically, and my gaze fell on a black shadow moving not far from us in the hallway.

“What is he doing?” Emely hissed, alarmed.

I watched as Miles appeared on the stairs and Larissa began waving him toward us in panic. But then sudden footsteps sounded and Larissa pulled me into a wall niche.

Miles looked in the direction of the noise and quickly pressed himself against the wall, into the shadow of one of the massive stone columns decorated with snakes.

For a moment, a strange feeling settled in my stomach and my eyes lingered on the ornate decoration that had been carved out of the column, probably during the founding era.

What if we were actually on the right track?

Miles' gaze wandered to us, and Larissa rolled her eyes. She cursed so quietly that I couldn't understand what she was saying.

“You shouldn't get too deeply involved in this. Don't forget that your work is being done under my cover.”

Voices drew closer to us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Julie stiffen and press herself even harder against the wall, her eyes wide open.

“Like I said, I've got everything under control.”

That was definitely Harlow's voice.

“I hope so, Rebecca.”

Suddenly, the two women stepped past the wall and I almost gasped when I recognized Gloria Westcode.

But that wasn't all. They walked straight toward the stairs where Miles was standing in the shadows.

“Countless Council members would jump at each other's throats for your position.”

Gloria said it like a warning.

The Head of the Councils wore a gray pantsuit and high heels, which, combined with her short gray haircut reaching just below her jawline, gave her a professional appearance.

Her entire expression seemed tense, and the light cast unsettling shadows across her wrinkled yet graceful face.

It was hard to miss that she and Vivienna were cut from the same cloth. Except that Vivienna's face still radiated youth.

“Keep an eye on the girl,” ordered Gloria Harlow, who was dressed entirely in dark brown. “On both of them.”