Chapter 72

JUNE.

"I'm going to quit," I say with an exhale, letting the words come out of me in a rush.

Miss Hera just stares at me, her eyes blank. I'm pretty sure that she heard me, but she doesn't seem to understand me completely. Or maybe she just doesn't like what she heard. Either way, she's now looking at me like I'm growing corn out of my ears in real time.

I swallow hard. Should I keep going? Perhaps I didn't drive my point hard enough the first time.

I decide to start from the very beginning of my proposal to her. "Well, my aunt and uncle seem to have changed their minds about paying my school fees. They said they would pay for the last half of my stay here and I won't need to work. I was thinking that I would need to—"

"You can't do that," Miss Hera suddenly says. Her voice is soft but it carries a bit of an edge to it. Not exactly aggression, but not completely calm either. "You can't just leave the post, you know. I understand that they changed their minds but I thought we had something here."

I don't know why she has to make it sound like we had a relationship or something. It makes things a hundred times more awkward, especially since I built up a couple of days just to be able to talk to her about this. I didn't think she would react like this either.

"I'm really sorry," I say carefully. "Maybe I can help you find another student who would be happy to help. Vlad helped you before and I believe he would love to help you again—"

"Vlad can't help me anymore, dear," she interjects softly. "He said he has other matters to attend to now, and I won't be asking him to stop those for me."

Silence grows between us. I kind of forgot that Vlad is a Dragon like Seven. I think I was just cruising aimlessly for the past days and that slipped my mind. Good thing Tiffany is no longer talking to him, and good thing he had the initiative to end it before taking it too far...

Unlike Seven.

Tears spring into my eyes and I find myself struggling to blink them away. Miss Hera doesn't seem to notice as she also seems to be way too deep in her own thoughts to really pay attention to me.

"It's my aunt and uncle's decision to make me quit," I tell her. "I can't stay. They've been really worried about the current disappearances and they want us to be safe. I hope you understand."

Silence again. For a long time, she hasn't said anything. Then at last, she gets to her feet and sighs. "Well, if I can't stop you, there's nothing I can do. I really enjoyed having you here, June. I really do. I hope you can still drop by and visit me, even if it's not related to the job anymore."

I'm touched. For all her faults, Miss Hera has been more than kind and generous to me. I will definitely miss coming here after every day.

She smiles at me and gives me a brief hug when I get up too, then she just lets me go.

I get out of the office with a heavy heart. I hate to say goodbye to a place like this, but I know that I need to.

Tiffany is already waiting for me in her car, so I decide to just head straight to the parking lot. The school is still packed with students, so I'm pretty confident that Aunt Janet and Uncle Brian will be proud of me for taking her home on time.

I'm about to head to her car when suddenly I feel someone looking at me. I turn to my side and see Seven, about to get into his car.

It's Friday, so I suppose they have that training going on. I don't know why he's here, but I'm paralyzed.

I freeze in my spot, meeting her eyes. The longing there is almost insane. I find myself wanting to run to his arms and forget about the whole thing, but the monstrous image in the forest and the thought of disappearances stop me.

I just turn around and leave.

* * *

SEVEN.

"June," I whisper, but I don’t think she heard me.

She's already getting into Tiffany's car, right into the driver's seat. Before I can run and follow her, she starts the car and starts to back away from the parking space and leave.

My heart clenches, and it always feels new even though it does that every time I think of her. It still feels fresh even though it's been nearly a week since she called it off and told me she doesn't want to see me again.

And don't get me wrong, I really do understand. I lied to her over and over again and I'm only reaping the consequences. I don't want to get her involved in this whole mess anymore. Maybe it's better that she's staying far away from this.

It's empty comfort, but I find myself able to get into my car and attempt to leave too. But then my phone starts to ring and I see that it's Vlad.

I think about not answering. Maybe if I just let him be, he would leave me alone. I don't want to go to the training thing and look at any of them for hours on end. I don't want to be involved in this in any way anymore.

I start my car, ignoring the call, but for some reason it kind of sounds louder now. I turn it off but it starts again. This time Amelie is the one calling. I turn that off too, only for Vlad to come in almost instantaneously.

This time, I'm unable to take it anymore. I stop my car and answer the call. "What?"

"Dude, why aren't you at training?" Vlad asks, his frustration so clear from the other side of the line that it's almost deafening. "They're looking for you, and you have to come here now!"

"Tell them I'm sick," I say. "I really do feel unwell. I will come next week and I will make up for it—"

"There is no next week. The training is over. Just come here."

With that, he turns off the call. I stare at my phone nervously. I can't believe he's making me go, but I find myself getting out of the car and heading straight into the underground room.

I expected some kind of crazy contraption inside the room for our training, but to my surprise, there's just a long stone table laid in the middle of the room.

Professor Venetia is sitting at the head of the table, and standing next to him are Amelie and Vlad.

Sitting on the stone chairs are a bunch of older men and women that I don't recognize. They all get to their feet when they see me, though.

To my utter surprise, I see my dad there, on the right side of the Headmaster.

"What's going on?" I ask in a tiny voice.

"These are the heads of the Dragon houses," Professor Venetia announces. "And we're here to discuss your ascension to the throne as the Dragon King."