I shuddered. I don’t think any of us knew what to say; no one spoke for a few very long moments. Until Zyacus broke the silence. “Did you see him again?”
“Yes, he was gone for a month but then he was back at school. I tried to convince the headteacher he was a blood drinker but since there was no proof and he hadn’t hurt anyone and could walk in the day, nothing was done about it. His father was also a very rich donor. No one died at that academy.”
“So are you saying not all of them are murderers?” I asked, thinking of Kyan. If all of us suspected him, there was at least a chance I’d become acquainted with a blood drinker but I didn’t want to condemn him like we did with Aric so soon. I was just starting to like him. The thought of him biting someone and drinking their blood disgusted me, however.
Aric seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “I’m saying that no students died. Not that they didn’t kill people outside of the academy.”
“One of those things killed Finnick. I know it,” I said quietly. “I would bet it was Senica.”
Aric looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. “What makes you think that’s how he died? They said he fell out of his window and broke his neck.”
“We saw it,” Legacy whispered. “We saw him die and he was attacked by someone.” Then she looked at me apologetically.
But neither one of them asked why we were there, they went along with it. “We need to get rid of Senica.” Aric put his arm around Legacy pulling her close to him.
Zyacus locked eyes with me then turned to Aric. “He threatened Visteal, threatened to hunt her. And drink her blood, now that I think back on it. He needs to die, not simply leave.”
I was inclined to agree but that meant killing a fellow student, and another dead body would mean the closure of this academy. No one would know what he was and how would we prove it?
“Killing a blood drinker is not simple, plus he’ll be a trained fighter on top of it.” Aric let out a long breath before continuing. “And it would have to be quiet. If any one of the professors found out there was a blood drinker here, the academy would likely close. As dangerous as they can be, I went to school with a few daywalkers I knew of and they never killed anyone. It would seem Senica is a rogue. Hell the others might even take him out if he exposes them for killing Finnick.”
The more Aric talked, the more I suspected Kyan. He said I was off-limits. And I didn’t think he meant from a romantic perspective anymore. He must have meant drinking my blood was off-limits. I tried not to appear horrified but my expression probably gave that away nonetheless. “How many do you think there are here?”
Aric shrugged. “I have no idea. Could be just Senica, could be a few, maybe even more. There are three hundred and three of us from Collweya at this academy.”
I swallowed hard. “And you think Kyan is one of them?”
“Yes,” Zyacus answered.
Aric however, tilted his head back and forth as if unsure. “I’ve known Kyan for a long time. We’re not close friends but friends, and all in all, he’s a good guy. If he is a vampire, he hides it remarkably well. I never once suspected him until I saw how fast he moved to protect you two. But that could have been magic.”
“He snarled like… an animal, like a wolf,” Legacy said. “Unless that was magic too, I’ve never heard a human sound like that.”
My thoughts exactly. We needed to come up with a way to test if someone was a vampire and create a hunting party of our own. I then wondered if Kyan was one of these creatures, could I kill him? Should I? He’d only ever been kind to me.
“Whatever you do, don’t tell any of the professors or they’ll send us all home,” Zyacus said. “And I don’t want to go home.” Moments before we walked inside after Aric and Legacy, he grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Maybe—maybe you should go back to Delhoon until we can figure this out.” His eyes showed real concern, another glimpse of the kind boy I knew lurked beneath his arrogance.
“I’m not leaving.” I felt the urge to lean in, to let my guard down with him. “What sort of princess would I be if I ran away because someone threatened me? It’s different in Delhoon than Hesstia. Queens in my kingdom aren’t meant to only be pretty and quietly agree with their husbands. We rule.”
He stepped closer, close enough that I felt his hand brush mine. “You can’t rule if you’re not alive.”
“Then help me make sure my heart keeps beating,” I breathed. His hand slowly trailed up my arm and by the way his lips inched closer to me, I thought he might lean in and kiss me. My heart was definitely beating. Definitely. I was scared and nervous. I wanted to shove him away but yet, energy shot through me at the thought of his lips on mine.
Peeking her head back through the doorway, Legacy said, “What is taking so long?”
I stepped away from Zyacus, awkwardly pushing a stray hair behind my ear.
“We were talking.” He gestured for me to go inside first.
