Nightworld Academy: Term One(Nightworld Academy #1)(55)

I nod but I’m twitchy about our decision, despite pretending I’m fine. We're not supposed to leave campus, and I'm unsure this is sensible. But this is a last-minute evening out, to the party and straight back. Perhaps I'm dismissing the danger I'm in, but with Ash and Amelia accompanying me, I'll have the same help as last time. If Dominion are watching.

Tonight isn't about supernatural threat. This is a vision about a human who’s screaming in terror. I can’t let anything happen to Tessa. Nobody attacked me before I knew what I was— I'm more worried about the consequences if we're caught. But hell, I’m a teenager. Aren’t I supposed to disregard authority?

Amelia spends a frustrating amount of time zombifying herself, but the results are impressive. Her skill with makeup and prosthetics comes from working backstage with costume at academy performances.

Her peeling skin and oozing black liquid are disgusting.

"What’s happening between you and Jamie?" she asks. Again.

"He’s annoyed he has to stay."

Amelia checks her costume in the mirror. "No, not just tonight. Did he come on too strong the day you stayed at the cottage."

"Really? Can you imagine Jamie forcing himself on a girl?" I shake my head.

"True. But before this tension, there was other tension." She waggles her eyebrows and I fight blushing. "Did you tell Jamie you preferred Ash and upset him?"

"Amelia!" I gasp.

"Don’t deny it, Maeve." She turns and looks me straight in the eye. "That’s what happened, isn’t it?"

I ache to tell Amelia the real reason, but this is one situation where I agree to follow Theodora’s demand. I hate people knowing but also feel I’m betraying mine and Amelia’s friendship. I’ve discussed this with Jamie, and he was emphatic we shouldn’t. This can’t be hidden forever.

"Can we not talk about this?" I ask her. "It’s personal."

She purses her black painted lips and returns to decorating her face.

Please don’t let me lose any more friends.

Amelia steps back, finally happy with her make-up, and we wrap long coats around ourselves and leave the dorm room. The hallways are quiet in Walcott house; most prepare for their party as we leave for ours. My town is an hour’s drive from the academy in one direction, and Ash's village is half an hour in the other.

"Do we tell Jamie we're leaving?" whispers Amelia.

I widen my eyes. "No. He's agreed to help by diverting attention. He understands we need help keeping this on the lowdown, and his role is as important."

I'm lying. Jamie would leave in a heartbeat.

"You have a weird relationship," she comments.

I don't reply, refusing to be drawn back into that conversation.

We sneak from the Walcott building and to the grassed area behind, instead of stepping into full view by walking across the courtyard. Taking advantage of the shrouded moon, we hurry through the crisp night, beneath the barren trees where the leaves that would've given us cover litter the floor.

Ash plans to drive from his town to the academy, then onto mine once he collects us from the rear of the campus. The main entrance into the academy is through the tall iron gates, which we need to pass. The perimeter fence is covered in security signs designed to deter human intruders, reminding me of the day I arrived. Only this time, I see runes glowing on stones randomly dropped around the bottom of the chain fence.

"How do we get out?" I look at the six-metre fence, hardly visible in the night. There's no barbed wire, but I can't imagine climbing over.

"There’s another exit to where Ash is meeting us. That way we only need to climb a gate."

Thanks to the magic barriers, the academy feels no need to have people patrolling, but Amelia told me security personnel are close by if there's sign of trouble from supernatural intruders.

Where were security the night I was attacked, when the only people around to help were my friends? Was security told this was house pranks? Sofia and Theodora mentioned a rogue security guard to Oskar, which answers my question.

We stealth through the long grass, along the perimeter, until we reach a narrow lane that runs towards a building. This stands beside the field where the academy keeps cows for the blood-drinkers. I'm repulsed by the thought, but that makes me a hypocrite because I'm not a vegetarian.

"This one leads to a small gate where service vehicles come in—maintenance etcetera." Amelia points back to the cows. "Food."

"Mmm. Fresh meat for the burgers." I pause. "Is the meat any good once the vamps drain the animals' blood?"

"Maeve!" She wrinkles her nose. "The alternative to the hemia drinking animal blood isn't good, is it?"

"Some vamps still drink from humans," I mutter.

"They don't. It's a punishable offence."

"How punishable?"

"Three strikes and then put to death."

I gape at how matter-of-fact she is. "For drinking or killing?"

"Either, especially if the human remembers. If they survive, of course."

Wow. Speechless, I follow her along the edge of the lane in the shadows. Now I understand why Tobias helped Andrei. I'm torn whether he should—how dangerous is Andrei?