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“She constantly talks him into clubbing, and it’s getting really exhausting because Miles seems to have a really low tolerance for alcohol.”

I raised my eyebrows.

Another strange feeling spread through me.

“Is that so?”

Larissa's concerned expression turned into a grin. “Don't get any stupid ideas. I know you two hate each other.”

That last sentence hit me a little too hard, and something in my chest tightened. Hate was a strong word. If Larissa knew how much I actually hated him... How badly I wanted to hate him.

This week, I had realized that everything I felt for Miles was unnatural. The document on Bayla's phone had opened my eyes and kicked me hard in the ass. Ruisangors and Senseque were doomed to be enemies for all eternity. Not even our genetics seemed to be compatible.

My father had often talked about foreign or dangerous blood, and I already knew that hybrids couldn't exist. But that one column in this document's table had surprised me, despite all my knowledge.

The order we lived by seemed to have a natural purpose. The enmity protected us from dark miseries.

“Anyway, I want to warn you.” I looked up at Larissa. “Bayla and I have had enough of that bitch.”

“And I thought Vivienna was a nightmare,” I murmured, trying to sound normal. Not as if I were desperately trying to get someone out of my head who could mean my downfall.

“If you compare the two, Vivienna is an angel,” Bayla laughed.

Larissa leaned further over the table with the three-dimensional map of Blairville, her beautiful long honey-blonde hair falling forward. For a moment, it was as if I could see traces of Miles in her facial features.

“Don't challenge her. She'll destroy you.”

“It's a miracle that I hear you three talking to each other so animatedly.”

We all startled.

My head turned. To Miles.

We had agreed that whenever we came here, we would leave the secret door open until we left, as it made a worryingly jarring noise every time it was opened and was hidden behind the wall anyway, which was additionally shielded by Alarik's endless plants.

Furthermore, we had tested how well the masonry dampened sound and decided to only be up here when Alarik was definitely not down there, because even from a distance, our footsteps and muffled voices could be heard.

Apparently, however, the open door seemed to make it easier for a Ruisangor to get here unnaturally quickly.

When our gazes met, I noticed something strange in his eyes.

An... apology?

I blinked.

He's deceiving you. He'll tease you with it. You should get out of here, Emely. Now.

“We were just debating when you would finally arrive.”

Miles swallowed Larissa's bold-faced lie, probably having arrived here much too quickly to have been able to eavesdrop on us.

Bayla turned her head toward me to hide her grin.

“Here I am,” he announced with outstretched arms and looked back at me. His expression was still the same, so I turned away from him.

I couldn't leave. They were planning to continue their research.

On top of that, I couldn't stand the idea that Olivia was the reason he was sparing me with his brazen manner.