his wide eyes were any indication, he was as surprised as I was. “It is unfortunate that you had to learn the error of your ways in such a painful fashion. But you should know that my sympathies are entirely with those who have suffered persecution by Black Cross. Your past as a living man, and the mistakes you made then, have now been wiped away. The sanctuary of Evernight Academy is yours. We will protect you. We will teach you. You need not be alone any longer.”
For one half second, I actually liked Mrs. Bethany.
Lucas Wasn’t won over quite so easily. “Thanks. I mean that. But it’s not going to be so simple. Those guys are about ready to stake me already.”
“They’ll obey the rules.” Mrs. Bethany’s smile held a hint of chill. “Leave that to me.”
“The human students — ” His voice sounded strangled. “I’venever killed.”
“The urge is strong.” She spoke as though this were only to be expect·ed. “In your case, perhaps, stronger than most — I see the signs. But here you will have many guardians over your conduct; I daresay you are in less danger of harming a human here than you would be in the outside world. In time, you will discover how to be a part of the vampire world. You will become one of us.”
Lucas shut his eyes for a moment, and I wondered if it was in relief or despair.
Chapter Six
LUCAS WALKED TO THE WROUGHT — IRON GAZEBO, staring after Mrs. Bethany as she went inside to give the annual welcoming speech to the student body. Finally sure that nobody else was watching, I dared to materialize at his side.
“Hey,” he said. He half turned to see me and managed to smile for my sake. “Right back where we first kissed.”
“The more things change.” As the breeze ruffled his dark gold hair and the ivy leaves around us, I could imagine that we’d gone back to the beginning. The sunlight seemed to pass through me, warming me throughout. Despite the wind, my own red hair hung long and motionless, untouched, unreal. “Why aren ‘ t you in there?”
“Mrs. Bethany gave me an exemption this go — round. Said she’d try to find a way to explain to the vampire students and teachers to leave me the hell alone without tipping off the humans. Me walking into a pack of vampires before she gives the hands — off speech — no way am I doing that unarmed.”
“She handled it better than I would’ve thought,” I said. “I guess Mrs. Bethany takes the sanctuary thing here seriously.”
Lucas shrugged. “She claims she’s got my back, but all the same, I’m glad Ranulf sneaked our weapons up here in his trunk.”
“Why not yours?”
“If Mrs. Bethany doesn’t search mine, she’s a fool. And that lady’s no fool.”
I studied his face, reading the emotions he was trying to hide. “You’re not frightened of the vampires. You never have been. It’s being around the human students that gets to you.”
He grimaced. “I can’t look at Vic without thinking — Bianca, I would’ve killed him. Vic. One of the best friends I’ve ever had. I’d have slaughtered him just to eat.”
“Is that why you won’t be alone with him?” When he shot me a look, I added, “Yeah, I noticed.”
“No, you didn’t,” Lucas said quietly. “It’s not just me. It’s Vic, too. He finds ways to avoid being illone with me.” I could hear the pain in his voice.
I put my arms around him; maybe it Wasn’t a real embrace, but I could feel him next to me and knew he’d take some comfort from it. “He’ll trust you again. It’s just going to take some time.”
“How long will it be before l trust myself?”
There was no answer to that. I said the only thing I could: “I love you.”
“And I love you. That’s why I’m going to make this work. I have to.”
* * * just like Lucas was learning to be a vampire for my sake, I was learning to be a ghost for his. This meant I had to get the hang of this haunting thing.
I had the basics down: going invisible, appearing in my mist form and! when I had my bracelet or my brooch, becoming solid and lifelike once more. Moving from place to place required some concentration, but it could be done.
Haunting Evernight Academy, though — that was going to be a lot tougher. I’d need to figure out where I could travel in the hallways and where I couldn’t. Leaving trails of frost around wherever I went would tip off the other students and teachers about a ghost, and while I wasn’t sure they could do anything about it but scream. I didn’t intend to find out.
It was scary, to think about the myriad ways this could go wrong. But holding back meant leaving Lucas alone, and that was something I couldn’t do.
As he walked into the school I followed. The heavy wooden doors were simple enough to slip through, maybe because they, like me, had once been alive. Once again, I entered the Evernight Academy great hall. Dozens of students milled around, each wearing the uniform sweater with the school crest: a shield emblazoned with two ravens on either side of a sword. To my surprise, a wave of nostalgia swept through me. Maybe I hadn ‘ t often been happy at Evernight — but sometimes I had. This was where I’d fallen in love and made so many good friends. This was where I’d lived.
My happiness lasted only a moment, though, as I focused once more on Lucas. Nobody attacked him, or said anything to him, which had to count as a positive sign; apparently Mrs. Bethany’s speech had done the trick. But if nobody planned on killing Lucas, nobody planned on forgiving and forgetting either. Every vampire student stared at him with undisguised loathing. Lucas didn’t slow down — he wasn ‘ t a guy to crumple because of a little glaring — but that didn’t mean he liked it.
We encouraged him to come here because we wanted him to feel comfortable being a vampire, I thought. How can that happen if eveqbody else nijects him?
Every time he walked past a human student, his whole body went tense; I could see it in the set of his shoulders and the lines of his face. But he determinedly didn’t look directly at them, and his steps never slowed. His resolve was as strong as his hunger, at least for now.
Lucas kept going, heading toward the north tower where the guys roomed. I stayed with him. A few flakes of ice crystallized on the windowsill nearest me, and hurriedly I floated higher, closer to the ceiling. Until I learned how to avoid creating frost, it might be better for me to stay up high, where at least nobody was likely to see it.
The crowd began murmuring, as though there were some commotion. I glanced back and saw that the students were parting — that someone was shoving them aside to get closer to Lucas. Apparently Mrs. Bethany hadn’t managed to calm everybody down.
I folded myself tightly in a corner. Lucas cocked his head, hearing the danger before he saw it, and turned to face his would — be attacker. Probably it was some younger vampire guy, only at Evernight for a few laughs, ready to turn into a killer again the first time he felt like it — like Erich, that jerk who’d stalked Raquel during our first year here. Lucas would be able to handle somebody like that easily, I knew.
But when the attacker appeared, it was somebody Lucas couldn’t handle. Somebody I couldn ‘ t handle.
It was my mother.
Mom stood in front of him, fists at her sides, eyes wild. “Is it true? Tell me.” Her voice shook. “I want you to look me in the face and tell me it’s true.”
Lucas looked like he’d been punched in the gut. As he opened his mouth to answer. though, Balthazar pushed his way to their side and grabbed Mom’s arm. “Not here,” he said quietly.
Mom didn’t even turn her head, like she couldn’t see or hear Balthazar, but after a moment she nodded and stalked toward one of the staircases. It was like she was daring Lucas not to follow her, but he did. Balthazar started to come, too, but Mom shot him a look that froze him in place on the stairs.
She led him into a small office on the second floor. I went along, although I desperately didn’t want to hear what I knew had to come next.
As soon as he’d shut the door behind them, Mom said again, “Tell me it’s true, Lucas.”
“It’s true,’ Lucas said. He looked deader than he had the night after he’d been killed. “Bianca died.”
