Chapter 44

STEFANO.

I blast fireball after fireball at the lake, but they do nothing. The vampire is already gone, and now I’m just here unsuccessfully trying to make it come out even though it probably already vanished. As to how it did that, I don’t know, but I need to stop.

I take a step back on the deck, breathing hard and staring at the water, which is now emitting steam. I turn around to find Valeria standing in front of me, her eyes still fixed on my hands. I banish the flames at once.

“We need to go back and check on everyone,” I say.

She nods mutely, and with that, we head to the cabin. The next events flow by in a haze. All I can recall is waking up Celeste and Auric. They both jolt awake and Celeste comes up to the manor to check on her parents. I remember them saying that they would have the place surrounded by guards immediately and get the whole forest scoured for the presence of vampires. They ask no questions, they just let us into the safest part of their manor, an underground bunk that has all sorts of spells trapped inside.

“You should stay here until we get the green sign,” Madame Saria says, leaving with her husband. “We will be back.”

We all nod, and silence ensues once she closes the door.

Celeste faces us. “I’m sorry you had to go through that on your own. I’m just so relieved that none of you got hurt.”

“I’m sorry I slept through it,” Auric says in a low voice. “I didn’t know. If only I woke up in time, I would have helped you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Valeria says. “We were good. Stefano saved us all.”

They both turn to me. “Thank you for that.”

I only nod. I can’t say anything. Something about the whole event just rubbed me the wrong way. I sit there in the corner of this metal room, replaying everything, trying to find exactly what doesn’t feel right.

And after a while, I pinpoint it.

The way the vampires acted like they were not there for me or for any trouble. The way they seemed to only get here because of Valeria.

That won’t be the first time either. I remember the night I brought her to the school, and how the vampires seemed to avoid her.

Perhaps it’s just because she’s their natural enemy, being a half-werewolf. But could it be something more?

I look at her now, watching her fiddle with the coat I gave her. Nothing seems off with her. Nothing seems wrong. In fact, I still feel the same flutter in my stomach whenever I look at her. But this time, I can’t deny that something is amiss. Not with her exactly, but with the whole situation. She’s the one who found the tunnels with Celeste. In every death, she’s somehow there. Hell, all this insanity started when I found her and brought her here. I know in my heart that she’s not the one who did bad things, that she would never do any of those.

However, she might just have a more active role than I initially thought.

“Cici, honey? It’s time to go out.”

I look up at the sudden call of a female voice. I look up to see Madame Saria peeking through the door. She looks at all of us and says, “Everything is clear. You can go back out now.”

Still dazed by the events, we all go back out without speaking to each other. The manor is suddenly filled to the brim with men in uniform, armed with what I can recognize as guns that emit wooden stakes for vampires and flame-throwers. They’re all being deployed by Master Evan.

“Did they find anything?” I ask Madame Saria.

She shakes her head ominously. “No, they didn’t. There were no signs of vampire activity anywhere. Which means the one you encountered must have been waiting inside the property all along.”

***

A couple of days pass. The Andrich family moves to their other mansion farther up north. Auric, Valeria, and I still come with them, but the atmosphere is different now. None of us talk about the investigation again. I myself didn’t try to initiate anything in light of recent events. We all just tried to drown out the shaking incident with lighthearted stuff that don’t feel very genuine at all.

In the end, we give up doing that and call all the institutions that I listed down in the notebook to check on Jake.

But of course, we get no such luck finding him.

“Where could he be?” Auric asks, almost to himself. “Are you sure these are the only institutions in the area?”

“I’m sure,” I say, peering at my list. “Although I suppose we can expand. We just need the numbers.”

“I’ll use my dad’s contacts and get them,” Celeste volunteers.

That’s the end of that.

After one week, the letters from the school finally arrive.

It’s time to go back. No news about safety or anything. No update about the murder. The only thing that came with my letter is another note for the student government president position, stating that I should come back a day earlier to aid in the return of the students.

So when the day rolls in, I tell Celeste’s parents and the group. My bags are already packed and the school-issued carriage is already set.

However, on my way to the gates, I hear someone calling my name. “Stefano, wait!”

I look around and see that it’s Valeria.

“Hey,” she says, panting. She stops in front of me, looking like she doesn’t know what to say. “I… hope you have a safe journey.”

“Thank you,” I reply. Suddenly I feel guilty about my thoughts about her. “We should meet when you’re back at school.”

She smiles. “I would love that.”

“Goodbye, Valeria,” I say, and with that, I leave.

I get into the carriage, and I watch as Valeria’s figure and the mansion get smaller and smaller as the carriage goes faster. I take a deep breath as the view goes away, then I reach into my pocket and take out my notebook. I’ve added a fresh new section here after the vampire attack. A section about Valeria. I listed all the strange events surrounding her that I couldn’t explain. All the things I know about her are here, but the problem is, I don’t know much.

And there’s only one person who can answer all of the questions I have.

I close the notebook and tap on the driver’s shoulder. “Can you take me to White Oak first? I need to speak to someone.”

The White Oak is within the walls of the Society, a little far from the School. However, it’s not merely a place for beers and fun, it’s where the leader of the Mages’ Coven resides, the Priestess Lilith.

***

The tavern is empty when I arrive. The usual gathering of Mages is absent. There’s no magic in the air, no laughter. It seems that the news of the murder has spread here as well and now people are afraid to come out of their homes.

My heart sinks, but I continue to approach the woman behind the bar. Her paper-white skin is a stark contrast against the wooden background. Her hair is perfectly silver, and her eyes are the coolest, palest shade of blue that it almost seems like she’s blind. It startles a lot of people, but I have come to know those eyes for many years.

After all, Priestess Lilith is my guardian and mentor.

She smiles at me when I sit by the bar, still wiping some glasses even though no one is here to drink. “You’re certainly too young to be here,” she says with a smirk. “What is it that you need?”

“I need you to help me locate the former Luna Valentina of the Silver Arrows Pack.”

Priestess Lilith smiles. “The mother of the main suspect Valeria Marcus? Consider it done.”