Chapter 57

Julie

Bayla Adams was unconscious again, and I had the feeling that Grace's herbal mixtures wouldn't help this time either.

Only, to make matters worse, Emely Copeland had also passed out, as if some sort of plague was going around.

Julian had suddenly appeared and after bringing Bayla up to the room, which had caused a huge riot among the other Quatura girls, he had put Emely on the couch and sat opposite her, burying his nose in his hands as if he were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

At some point he had caught me staring, and it had seemed as if he had wanted to get up and walk toward me, for whatever reason , which was why I had left early for my next seminar.

I shook my head in bewilderment and broke out of my stupor to enter the molecular biology seminar room.

It seemed that there was no such thing as being too early because, as always, there were female students clustered around the young professor's table.

Mr. Suspicious himself, however, looked up this time, directly in my direction.

And when our eyes met, I wanted to freeze, because, as always , I was overwhelmed by the strange peridot green that seemed to sparkle even from this distance.

I remembered my triumph from the last seminar, removed my gaze from his and strutted more confidently than I felt, let alone would ever feel, to the table where David, as usual, was already sitting busy with his cell phone.

I couldn't let that man up ahead see through me, let him find out that I had started reading his insane, if frighteningly accurate, books.

This professor was a danger to the existence of supernatural beings, and knowing that unsettled me immensely.

How was someone as weak as me supposed to stop him? He was human, but that was what made him so unpredictable.

I hadn't told Grace anything because she never let me finish, and I also could never discuss this crazy fanatic with Erik.

The thought of Erik made me open my laptop absent-mindedly.

We would meet. Here in Blairville. I would see him. He would see me…

My stomach began to tingle in a strange way, and I could feel my fingertips getting colder. I gritted my teeth and shoved my hands under the table.

What was wrong with me? Couldn't I just be happy that this meeting might take our friendship to a new level? What if I did manage to have a normal friendship with him, just like other Quatura did with humans? What if I was simply overreacting? What if I was able to keep these two lives well apart?

Deep down, I knew what I was afraid of. That he wouldn't like the real Julie , that my personality would repel him and that I wouldn't be able to keep these two sides apart because I would risk putting all my weight on his shoulders, breaking down in front of him and maybe even hurting him with my magic.

"Neuropathic pain, muscle weakness..." the professor's far too pleasant deep voice rang out, bringing me back to the present.

The girls had already scurried to their seats, and he had walked around his table, to the front, leaning against it and, as always, rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt.

On purpose, I tried not to stare at his forbiddingly handsome veins, but my gaze landed on his gray vest, wandering further up over his tie to his neck.

"Paralysis, seizures..."

I swallowed as his sharp Adam's apple moved as he spoke, and I wanted to slap myself for not being able to take my eyes off his skin.

"...and psychiatric symptoms such as disorientation, anxiety and hallucinations."

He stopped rolling up his sleeves and crossed his arms, putting one foot over the other and looking around the seminar room with expectation.

"What did I just list?"

Amber's arm shot up.

Professor Tiberius nodded at her.

"Neurobiological symptoms."

He nodded with satisfaction. "Right, Miss Smith."

I almost rolled my eyes at this remarkable accomplishment , but controlled myself and forced my eyes on my laptop, where I opened my notes program.

"They are triggered by disease," the professor continued. "I've brought you the example of porphyria."

He walked around the table to his laptop to open the PowerPoint.

"Porphyria is a rare genetic metabolic disorder in which enzyme defects lead to an excessive accumulation of porphyrins in nerve cells."

I started taking notes. And even though I would have preferred it if Mr. Suspicious had put the PowerPoint up for us the day before so that we could prepare ourselves optimally, I liked learning by taking notes.

"In ancient times, certain diseases such as porphyria or xeroderma pigmentosum contributed to rumors and legends about vampirism because these diseases caused skin sensitivity to sunlight."

I looked up, startled. Perhaps a little too startled, because the professor was looking directly at me, as if he wanted to observe my reaction. His expression was unclear to me.

In the corner of my eye, I earned a warning glance from Amber and David next to me leaned in slightly to whisper, "Make it more obvious, Quatura girl ."

Was I that easy to read?

Oh man , I really wasn't qualified to take care of the Mr. Suspicious problem . I would probably even betray my own kind if I continued to react so conspicuously to his theories.

"Today we know that there are no supernatural beings," Professor Tiberius continued, and my pulse wanted to calm down, but he went on. "At least, they deny it." He gave the class a challenging, almost sly look. A look that gave me goose bumps. "But just because something hasn't been proven doesn't mean it doesn't exist ."

I bit my lower lip and looked at Amber, who also seemed to be looking at the professor with irritation. Then I looked behind to Noah, who was sitting there with his legs apart, just staring at the professor. Even David stared at him. They all sensed that something was wrong with this man, but no one dared to say anything .

Damn... If I didn't do anything, then...

The professor wanted to continue, but I was quicker.

"So, you're encouraging us to turn conspiracy theories into scientific hypotheses ?"

For once, my voice didn't break, but I felt the cold returning to my fingers, so I slipped them under my legs.

Mr. Suspicious pulled up the right corner of his mouth, showing one of his dimples.

And I hated myself for the warmth in my cheeks.

"In fact, I encourage you to question the very things that society minimizes or labels as untrue ." He looked around the room. "All the creatures of legend: Witches, vampires, werewolves... All these myths have their origins somewhere and if you take a closer look at these topics with the help of science , you will quickly realize that behind every so-called conspiracy theory ..." He looked at me again. "...there is a truth."

Great, Julie. Now he was building a castle of arguments on top of your rescue attempt. And there was only one way to bring down this castle of sand.

"Don't you think it's unscientific , after so much evidence against the existence of such creatures and things, to still insist on it and link a subject like neurobiology to mythology ?"

It wasn't a precise counter-argument, but it was a considered attack that could make others question his respectability as a grown man with a PhD.

" God , Julie, leave him alone," Amber hissed.

I looked at her, feeling confusion rising within me.

She must have decided to just let the professor talk and let the dust settle , as Grace always liked to say. She didn't seem to realize how close this man was to the truth.

" No , I don't think it's acceptable for our honored professor to keep putting the actual subject of the seminar in the wrong light with his second degree."

Amber's jaw dropped, which gave me a lot of encouragement, and I looked ahead at the professor, who glared at me suspiciously.

"Neurobiology is not the study of mythological thinking."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying inside, because Mr. Suspicions' gaze buried itself in mine as if he could see straight into me.

And I regretted ever exposing this man like that as the cold spread through my hands and I felt them freeze...solid against the chair beneath my legs.

I had to calm down. And I could only do that by distracting myself, which worked best when I was dealing with scientific topics.

"Mythological stories merely serve as metaphors or allegorical representations of important human themes such as love , loss , heroism or moral dilemmas ."

You can do it Julie. Just keep talking.

" Science , on the other hand, should deal with demonstrable things because demonstrability is a fundamental principle of scientific thought. Objective knowledge based on observable facts and verifiable evidence ... These are the things you should be teaching us."

My hands became wet because the cold disappeared.

"Oh, shit..." I heard one of the human girls whisper. "She didn't just do that."

Sometimes I found it difficult to maintain eye contact, but the gaze of the man ten meters in front of me became fixed in my subconscious, and it was as if I wanted to detect every little facial expression and memorize it in order to understand what he was feeling.

The twitch of his left eyebrow, the pressed-together lips, the jaw grinding against his taut skin.

I found it difficult to interpret what was behind that complicated look, what thoughts were circulating behind those warm green eyes.

Had I revealed something? Did he already know what I was? And did he want me dead?

The professor cleared his throat and pushed himself away from his desk.

"I'm open to suggestions for improvement, Miss Blair," he said, finally cutting eye contact. " However , I will not stop combining my two favorite disciplines."

This time, I pressed my lips together.

And in that moment, I knew what he must have felt.

Inner tension.

For the rest of the seminar, I avoided his gaze and tried to ignore all sorts of comments about conspiracy theories and their supposed kernels of truth , drawing lines in the margin of my notepad for each of them, so that by ten minutes before the end of the seminar, I had drawn fifty-five lines and felt like a prison inmate.

As much as I disliked it, maybe Amber was right and letting him talk was the best way. He was a human being. Maybe I was overestimating his ability to reveal us.

And suddenly I felt nervous about the vial of forgetting serum that was in my backpack.

"Since time is almost up, and since you're probably all about to rush out, I'd like to take the last five minutes to announce that I have two internship positions available at the DeLoughrey Science Center ," Professor Tiberius explained. I listened and immediately felt conflicted. "The internship starts next semester, and you would be working with me and a colleague on a genetics experiment, which – unfortunately – I can't tell you more about." His gaze lingered on me, and the uneasy feeling in my chest intensified. "In order to qualify, I expect top grades in this semester, scientific commitment and written applications."

The girls to my left all began to whisper enthusiastically. They were probably all going to rip each other's heads off to get one of the two positions, if it wasn't already just the one left.

I looked over at David, who was packing up his iPad.

"Let me guess, you already have a position in the DLSC?"

He looked over at me and sighed, "I won't lie to you, Quatura ."

Of course, he would get that one spot. His family owned the labs.

And so, unofficially , there was only one position left.

I pressed my lips together again and started packing my things.

Before the semester started, I would have done anything for this internship, but thinking about working with this man now sent shivers down my spine.

"Miss Blair," My head shot up, and I looked at the front as I zipped up my backpack. Professor Tiberius looked at me with a serious expression. "Why don't you stay a minute?"

My fingers froze on the strap of my light gray leather backpack.

No. No, no, no, no, no...

Amber gave me a vicious smile as she strutted past me with Kelly, only to pause briefly beside me and whisper, "I hope he expels you from the seminar."

My heart froze, my fingers started to get cold again, and it was as if the temperature in the room dropped abruptly.

I tried to control my breathing while all the other students left the room one by one.

The professor did nothing, didn't pack up his stuff, didn't sort his papers... He stood there, ten meters away from me, leaning against his desk, twirling the gold ring on his right ring finger with his left hand.

Shortly after the door closed, and we were finally alone in the seminar room, he looked up. Two messy champagne-colored strands fell into his forehead.

"You've embarrassed me," he said, his eyes flashing dangerously and the right corner of his mouth turned upwards. "How very bold of you."

I'd never been to a zoo before, but this must be how the animal felt when it was put down in the lion cage to be fed.

I suppressed the urge to swallow and straightened my shoulders.

"You're talking about fairy tales and magic , Professor," I began. "Things that don't exist." His gaze studied me calmly. "Maybe it has something to do with your age."

He laughed softly, his look surprised, and... walked toward me. He stopped a meter in front of me. Once again, I caught a glimpse of his unusual green irises, which sparkled like exotic crystals.

"I usually get compliments on my age."

I couldn't help but make the next comment.

"From people who confuse intelligence with wisdom and don't actually attend your seminar to further their education ."

His smirk returned, and he walked past me on the left.

I didn't dare turn to the side. Not even when he stopped next to me.

"From humans , Miss Blair," he whispered, continuing to walk around me, and this time I had to swallow. "Don't you think you are a little close-minded about the truth?" He came to a halt on my right. "One might assume you know more than you're willing to admit." He stared at me, piercing me from the side with his gaze, and it was as if I felt him on my bare shoulder, especially when he leaned down toward me. "Is that why you get insulting?"

His whisper reached my ear and I thought I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin, causing goose bumps to spread up my neck.

And there it was again, the light citrus note mingling with his masculine scent.

I didn't know which Greek god was with me at the moment, but I found the courage to turn my head in his direction without being frightened by the proximity of his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

It was strangely mesmerizing to look up close at how his jawbones moved and how much masculinity the shimmering golden three-day beard gave him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Julie," I looked up automatically and our eyes met. That was the second he turned away from me and walked past me. " Blair... "

He headed for the windows facing the courtyard, where some stone Greek gods lounged in the center of a fountain.

"Let me guess." He stopped and turned back to me with his hands behind his back. "Earth Quatura?" I couldn't help my eyes widening. "No?" He smirked and came back. "Then all that's left is air ."

He stopped half a meter in front of me and looked down at me as if he wanted to humiliate me. As if he wanted this tingling sensation to spread through my stomach while I lost all control over my facial expressions.

"How..." I barely managed to get out.

I knew I had lost. And the only thing that could help me was the bottle in the top pocket of my rucksack.

"I would be lying if I said research ," he continued in a lowered, sharp voice, a slight smirk on his lips. "So, let me put it this way." He stepped toward me, but this time I stepped back, toward the table where my backpack was. He followed me. "Old unpleasant acquaintances..."

Without hesitation, I reached for my backpack, but someone placed his hand on the top pocket. A hand on which a ring I didn't recognize was enthroned. A signet ring with a snake and a raven, not the wedding ring.

"Did I say you could leave? "

I looked up from the bag and his defined hand at him, probably like an idiot, unable to defend herself.

He gave me a devastating smile, and immediately the chill from earlier shot back to my fingertips.

"Don't you even think about telling anyone about our little conversation."

So, he was actually planning to let me go?

This hope made me scrape together the last of the courage I needed to open the small side pocket of my backpack and pull out the transparent vial with the thorny rose seal. The symbol of the Councils...

I wanted to slip it unnoticed into my side pocket and continue walking backwards, but the professor was quicker and grabbed my wrist, freezing me in mid-motion.

His hands were incredibly warm. Or was I just... cold?

For a moment he stared concentrated at my wrist, then he lifted it.

"Open it, or I will!" he ordered in a calm voice, and I opened my hand.

It was too late anyway. I had lost.

If the Circle – or worse – the Councils, found out about this, they would take care of the professor, but I would also receive a suitable punishment for not reporting the problem immediately.

How could I have thought it would be a piece of cake to make this person forget?

Professor Tiberius took the vial from my hand and slipped it into his pocket before jerking me toward him and forcing me to look into his eyes.

"I can do things to you that will make you wish you had never challenged me, Julie." Heat shot through my body. "And don't you ever think of erasing my memory again." Another strand of hair fell into his forehead, right in front of his left eye. "I'll be able to erase yours before you take your next breath."

Wait...what? Was he joking right now? Was that an empty threat? How on earth... Did he really think he could use the forgetting serum on me that he had just stolen from me?

If only he knew that I drank it every week and that it had long since lost its effect.

His stare was too intense, his gaze so menacing that all my rational thoughts went into overdrive and his grip so firm and warm that my heartbeat started to go crazy.

Suddenly he pushed me off him and I stumbled back.

This was my chance.

In a hurry, I grabbed my backpack, trying to ignore my blue fingers, and dashed backwards across the room.

He remained standing there, his face as hostile as ever, as if he hated everything about me, as if he hated those like me.

But by then I was already wheeling around and sprinting out of the seminar room and into the corridors of the west wing of Vanderwood.