Chapter 56

Emely

I didn't think the Quatura would affect my first semester at university so much, and it annoyed me. No matter where I was, they were around. And if they weren't, they were in my head .

Last night, I had had these strange visions of Bayla Adams again. Just a few minutes ago, I had talked to Julian about it and found out that she'd been in the territory of the fucking DeLoughreys , and that , with her crazy human friend.

So, either this witch was tired of living or someone just needed to fill her in on everything.

Besides, it just got on my nerves that she was still haunting my mind without me asking her to. And now I was supposed to deal with it, or what? If this was Julian's ultimate solution , then I would soon break our agreement and deal with Bayla.

I was on my way to the accommodation.

This morning I'd overslept and forgotten breakfast, which forced me to go to those pathetic Quatura and make myself something to eat, because I couldn't make it home until the next law lecture started.

An angry Grace had crossed my path, which meant I had one problem less.

I walked down the wooden footbridge to the modern accommodation my father had finished building last year. It had style, but it had been an expensive investment, especially because it was only for students. There were twenty of these groups of flats scattered around the campus. It was one of Father's many housing projects in Blairville, as he had originally studied architecture before becoming the city's chief doctor. Just as his father had demanded of him.

I shouldn't question this investment in housing any further. Father knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, when it came to the university, he had left Alarik in charge.

My uncle had been acting weird lately, constantly missing pack meetings, disappearing when father needed him, and ordering Nash around more and more.

Not that my stubborn brother didn't deserve it, but Alarik defended Julian over and over again.

Secretly, I thought it was a good thing, because maybe it made Julian more open with the pack, but it also caused more tension between all the members of the pack.

Hunter and Harry's father, Maverick, had questioned Alarik's role at the university and as father's closest advisor last week, which had caused further unrest within the pack. He'd said there were rumors of contact between Quatura and Senseque at Vanderwood. But we couldn't just banish the witches, because there was still the treaty.

What had the founding families been thinking when they had these contracts drawn up two centuries ago? That we would all go to the same university together without confrontation? Ridiculous.

I opened the door of the big house and immediately entered the living area, where everything seemed to be quiet.

Satisfied that no one was going to get on my nerves, I hurried to the kitchen.

My stomach craved meat, so I opened the fridge and sighed when I saw its contents: lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, tons of fruit, butter, and cheese.

Then I spotted the package of ham. I grabbed it with a sigh and closed the fridge again, only to pull myself up onto the large white marble kitchen countertop.

As I opened the package, the delicious smell of juicy meat hit me, even if it was nothing compared to a fresh deer from the forest.

God , this hunger was driving me crazy.

I took out a slice and was about to eat it when I heard a rustling noise from the garbage can.

I immediately looked toward the source of the noise and saw a small puppy with thick golden fur digging in the trash.

"What the hell?"

The dog looked up and tilted his head. Then his long, fluffy tail started to move from side to side. He let go of the garbage can and came trotting straight toward me.

"Where on earth did that dog come from?" I cursed quietly, remembering that I had been sleeping at home for the last few days.

But who could have guessed that the witches had overgrown the house with animals during that time?

The puppy stopped in front of the kitchen counter, sat on its hindquarters and looked up at me.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

The little puppy tilted his head and gave an "Ow?"

I looked at the piece of ham in my hand.

"How about no ," I replied and popped the piece of meat into my mouth.

The dog started squeaking and running back and forth as if there was a staircase leading up to me on the kitchen counter that he just had to find.

When he realized that this was not the case, he came back to my side to stand on both hind paws to paw up the wall with his front paws, of course without success. However, this caused a slight scratching noise, which made me sit up and take notice.

" Not good," I said and pushed his paws away with my free hand, which he immediately licked off.

" No, please , don't do that," I groaned.

Talking to a dog was a whole other level.

He sat down again and wagged his tail as if I had invited him to dinner.

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood me."

" Ahhhhh ! Oh my God! Who was that?!" a high-pitched screech rang out, and the dog jumped as someone came down the stairs like a furious elephant.

When the unnecessarily dressed-up Vivienna saw the dog, her eyes widened.

"That creature has pooped on my bed!" she hissed angrily.

I couldn't help but grin before shoving another piece of ham into my mouth.

Vivienna looked up at me and took a step back.

" You! That's your mutt!" She looked at me with anger, reminding me of the fight a few days ago.

"Hardly," I laughed, trying to cover up the hostility.

The little dog came running to her and tried to jump up, but she started shouting again.

"Go away! Shush!"

The dog ran to the couch and hid there.

I grinned gleefully. "The mighty Vivienna. Afraid of a little puppy."

Vivienna looked at me in disgust, probably because she didn't like the way I was sitting here eating ham.

"You're no different from that dog, you Copeland scum!"

I jumped up and she immediately jumped back.

"What did you just say?" I asked with a serious look and a slight yellow gleam in my eyes.

"What is going on here?" it came from the stairs, and Julian's neighbor came down the steps. She stopped for a moment, probably because the last time she'd seen Vivienna and me talking to each other, a lot had gone wrong, but then she came down further.

"Your stupid dog shat on my bed!" Vivienna continued to bitch, reminding me how annoying it was to have to sit with her in most of my law lectures.

However, she wasn't the worst person in the law department, no , it was one of those arrogant DeLoughreys who I would have expected to be the last person to go to law school .

Today I had spotted the brunette Ruisangor with the undercut man bun at the very back of the lecture hall.

He probably studied law, because his family ran the law firm downtown. Just maybe not for long... I would make sure of it.

Bayla had to stifle a grin, which brought me back to the present.

"What's so funny about that?"

Vivienna gave her an evil glare.

"Nothing..." Bay muttered, still grinning.

"I should hope so. I want someone to get rid of this or there will be consequences for you!" With those words, she stumbled up the stairs in a hurry.

I looked at the dog and clicked my tongue until he peeked out from under the couch and looked at me. I waved a slice of ham in the air, which the dog didn't need to see twice. He forced his little body out of the crack and came prancing happily to me. I threw him the slice of ham, which he immediately pounced on and licked up.

" Good dog," I sighed, and finally continued eating.

The package was almost empty and my stomach was still growling.

That's what you get for sharing your food with a pet, Emely.

Bayla eyed me with suspicion, then grinned again.

"You seem to get on well with Julie's dog."

What did she want from me now?

I already found it annoying enough that she was in my head, now she wanted to pretend that nothing had happened.

Couldn't the Quatura just leave me all alone to study?

"I hate dogs," I said, jumping off the counter and pushing the dog aside.

"Yeah, right ," Bayla replied, still grinning.

Her comment was enough to make me throw all my principles overboard.

I approached her until there was only a hand's width of air between our faces.

Hopefully I didn't smell too much of ham.

" Listen . Whatever Julian sees in you, you're one of them, and that means I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me, or you'll regret it."

Bayla swallowed, but she didn't seem afraid.

"I'm not one of them ."

"Yeah, right , and I was just bewitched out of nowhere ."

"Bewitched?"

She looked at me, confused.

" Listen , you might be able to pull Julian's leg, but you can't pull mine. And another thing, I'm only going to tell you once: Get out of my head! "

I hoped she had understood me, because next time I wouldn't talk.

I turned to leave.

"Why are you always like this? I didn't do anything to you," Bayla said, and I paused to turn around one last time.

She looked at me helplessly, almost as if she really didn't know anything. But there was something else. Blood.

"Your nose..." I gasped, my eyes widening.

Bayla touched her nose and looked at the dark red fingertip. Then, just like that, she fell over.

My head started to hurt, and I threw myself onto the floor with her.

"Bayla!" I shouted. " Bloody witch , what's the matter with you?!"

I slapped lightly against her cheeks, but it didn't bring her back. Instead, it only made my own headache worse.

I listened to her heartbeat, which thankfully was still there.

"What have you done?!"

I looked up to see Vivienna standing on the stairs, Julie behind her. Larissa pushed past them.

"Bay!" she shouted, but her friend didn't answer.

She had lost consciousness. And my senses were heightened to the extreme, even more than usual.

Then my cell phone rang. I answered it.

"Emely. Are you with her?" Julian seemed shocked and out of breath. "Wait, I'll be right there." Then he hung up again.

"What happened? Emely! " Larissa shook her friend, but at that very moment everything went black in front of my eyes.