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At least ten times I had tried to reach Mum. In vain.

Then I had sent a message to the group chat with Julian, Larissa, and Julie – which, it should be noted, Miles had also joined shortly before the winter ball – telling them everything that had happened today, and Julie had confirmed that she had seen the Council members escorting my mother into Moenia.

Panic had taken hold of me and now I was dependent on Julie's updates.

She had assured me she would try to find out more.

No one else had read the chat yet. Least of all, Julian.

When it was finally half past seven, I sighed and ripped open my backpack.

I was still wearing the Vanderwood hoodie and felt like a homeless person because everyone else here seemed to be wearing fancy suits and shirts... or no shirts at all.

Sure, it was their university I was advertising with that hoodie, but there was no need to overdo it. Being stuck with one of these crazy rich families was bad enough.

My life really knew how to make fun of me.

I found a dark blue blouse, my only one, and decided to put it on. After freshening up, I made my way downstairs.

The urge to open every single door on my way was overwhelming, since I knew that in Blairville everyone carried their secrets around with them, especially the members of the three founding families.

Fortunately, voices from downstairs stole my attention, so I only paused in front of a few beautiful oil paintings of grazing deer or the Blairville coastline.

These paintings looked as expensive as the DeLoughreys' cars, and above all, they seemed to be of high quality. Many of them were painted by an artist with the initials VR.

Where the stairs led down, the scenes changed. Most of the artworks now depicted hunting scenes. Men in forests with their oversized dogs... or were they wolves?

“You're the first person who seems interested in the paintings hanging in this house.”

I spun around.

Where had he come from?

Emely's big brother, who occasionally let his macho side show on campus and – like all testosterone-driven Senseque men – always ran around shirtless during breaks, eyed me suspiciously.

He was wearing a shirt. Light blue.

“And you seem to enjoy stalking people and sneaking up on them, don’t you?” I remarked, turning to face him.

I tried to block out the fact that I had already been lying on top of him.

Why did that have to occur to me now of all times?

He raised an eyebrow. “May I remind you that it was you who ran me over out of nowhere?”

I felt my cheeks turning into a furnace.

“Back then, you ran away from my sister, then you were with Julian the whole time, and it seemed like you were one of those naive human girls who had fallen for his charm. And now you show up here and it just so happens that you’re one of us.”

He didn’t sound convinced by Alarik’s lie at all.

“Things change.”

What kind of stupid response was that, Bayla?

He stared at me pensively, yet as bewildered as if I were an exotic circus attraction.

He resembled neither his father nor Emely. Just like with Alarik, it was only the facial structure. His eyes were an intense blue, speckled with hints of yellow, and his nose was more delicate than his father's. His complexion was just as bronze as Emely's and Alarik's, and his physique...