Page 303

The mayor, Vivienna's mother, Diana, and even Bastien had all stopped interacting with each other and warned us almost daily to keep our distance from the other species.

Julie said nothing more, and so we continued on our way. A path led us behind the university, toward the west wing, if my sense of direction wasn't completely fucked.

My thoughts drifted further, and I wondered what was so different about Alarik Copeland, why he didn't seem to make an effort to keep the species apart, even bringing them all together at the same university.

Was that why Harlow had shown up here?

I didn't want to think about this strange woman, but my thoughts automatically drifted to the person who was making a fool of the university administration while turning the campus into a playground for hyperactive students.

No one, not even the cybersecurity team, had yet managed to expose the person behind the hacker attacks.

“Julie...” I began, trapped in thought, remembering how she had illegally hacked into the university server last semester. “You're good at programming, aren't you?”

Julie hesitated.

“My skills are limited.”

I raised my head to look at her, a mischievous grin playing on my lips.

“Do you think you could find out who's behind The Eye?”

Good Life

OneRepublic

With both hands in the pockets of my damaged black leather jacket, I strode through the crowded halls of Vanderwood.

I didn't know why I was so excited that Julie had promised to see if she could find out anything about Mr. Anonymous. Maybe it was because it felt forbidden, especially after Bayla and Adrian had warned me not to put myself in unnecessary danger.

But I was a Ruisangor now. What did they think? That some hacker could hurt me?

With a fading smile, I entered one of the empty side corridors I liked to use as a shortcut when I was on my way to the media studies lecture hall.

The fact that I was becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of being a Ruisangor and consuming goddamn blood wasn't the scariest thing.

Far too quickly, I had gotten used to not breathing while I was at Vanderwood, surrounded by all these humans, because the hope of soon being able to spend time with Mady again pushed me to learn more about the Ruisangor way of life.

Also, I had begun to use the extra time I gained from my minimal need for sleep to my advantage, which had significantly improved my academic performance. And don't even get me started on the physical benefits while riding my motorbike.

But something was bothering me. My own words from earlier...

I am a DeLoughrey.

Something had gradually led to a hopeful part of me feeling that I belonged to this clan.

I couldn't deny that I enjoyed spending time with Miles, or that Camille, who had in fact recently persuaded me to try on her self-made dresses, was a fascinating woman I wanted to spend more time with. I also enjoyed training with Laurent now, not to mention all the help I was getting from Bastien, even though I didn't like that he thought I couldn't manage on my own.

A deep groan snapped me out of my spiral of thoughts and I paused.

Do I Wanna Know

(slowed to perfection) – TikTok Remix

TommyMuzzic, ZeddMusique

My thoughts faded immediately when I heard the female gasp that clearly came from the adjoining courtyard.

What the...