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And so I sat here, in a large, cozy, old secret room, looking down at the campus through the slightly milky glass, hidden behind the dark pine-green curtain in the windowsill-like wall niche of the huge tower clock of Vanderwood University.

“Olivia McConnell,” Larissa hissed in annoyance.

She and Bayla had run into me on the way, and I had given up trying to avoid them. They both had free time slots in their schedules, which was why they had followed me, while I had done my best to avoid running into anyone from the pack or other Quatura.

To be honest, I just didn't have the energy anymore for the law that forbade us from spending time together.

We weren't even allowed to approach the other species...

I shook my head, laughing quietly.

What would the old Emely say about all this?

I was spending time with a Quatura and a Ruisangor girl while betraying my own uncle.

This morning, it had occurred to me that it didn't really matter. Soon I would be in Russia, because it was predictable that Mica would win the games.

And so, I only had a few months left to find out the truth about Alarik's past. If I was going to leave, I wanted everything between us to be cleared up, even if that meant I had to confront him sooner or later.

“I'm not usually like this, but I hate her.”

Bayla sounded annoyed as she plopped down on the couch next to Larissa. Only now did I realize who she was talking about.

I got up from the windowsill and walked over to the couch, sat down across from them, and stared at the ornate antlers on the wall behind the spiral staircase leading down to Alarik's office.

“How exactly do you know her?” I asked suspiciously, trying to suppress the unpleasant memories I now associated with her.

I wanted to run into Miles even less now.

“Olivia is a bitch in the truest sense of the word,” Larissa began, taking a deep breath as if the mere thought of the curly-haired girl was stressing her out.

“She plays games with everyone, exploits people for her own gain,” Bayla continued in a serious tone.

Larissa raised her finger. “She hated me from the start.” Her gaze darkened. “And I hated her too.” Finally, she pointed to her Quatura friend. “She used Bayla for two years to get better grades.”

That was a great start...

What if she wanted to take advantage of Miles in the same way?

Actually, that would be fine with me, because maybe she was the karma he had long deserved.

“I invited her to my birthday party,” Bayla continued. “And she invited all my guests to her own party on the same day.”

I gritted my teeth.

That sounded exactly like something that copperhead would do.

“She stole my first boyfriend,” Larissa laughed, as if it were now an inside joke. “And she threw the camera I'd spent seven months saving up for on the floor in front of the whole school.”

That alone was enough to give me a picture of Olivia McConnell.

“What she can't stand is when you're better than her.”

Larissa rolled her eyes and Bayla took over.

“Or when you have something she doesn't have.” Bayla's contrite look spoke volumes. “She managed to copy one of my assignments and made my own disappear.”

“And when she was accused, she immediately waved her free pass,” Larissa added annoyed.