Chapter Fourteen

Maureen

"Y ou're not listening. Someone tampered with my car." And by someone , I know that it's Riot, Atlas, and Valentin. I'm fuming as I stand in the dean's office, my cheeks burning, ready to punch someone in the throat.

The dean's assistant scrunches her pointy nose at me. "I'm sure no one would intentionally ruin your car, Miss Blackwell. Why don't we just call your parents and have them send you a new one?"

Fuck. "No. I don't want to bother them. Just forget it. Thanks for nothing." I get a few chuckles as I storm out of the dean's office with my luggage in tow. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

As I march back to the dorms, I pull out my phone to check my bank account. Maybe I can buy a cheap used one somewhere. There's gotta be a car lot in Raven's Gate.

"Hey, you okay?" Villette asks when I come to a dead stop in front of The Nest.

My hands start to shake as I scroll through my account. "What the actual fuck?"

"What?" She pinches her brows together, confused as all hell.

I hold up my phone and show her the screen. "That's a lot of fucking zeroes in my bank account."

She shrugs. "You're rich. So what?"

"Villette… I'm not rich. This deposit was made this morning by the Blackwell Family Trust. I don't know any of them. I don't want to owe them anything." I feel sick. Dizzy. I've never seen so much money in my life.

"It's probably an inheritance from your grandfather. He passed away this year. The more important question is what are you going to do about Nocturnus?"

An ache is kicking in between my shoulders and shooting straight up the back of my neck. I shake my head and massage my temples. "I'm going to get even. They want to fuck with me, I'll fuck with them right back."

Villette laughs. "You're not scared of them, are you?"

"Not much scares me, Villette. Not after the year I've had." If she only knew that I helped my best friend murder a man…

Something in my eyes must darken because she takes a step back and hugs her arms to her chest. "What are you going to do?"

An eye for an eye. The wind shifts and a chill creeps up my spine. The roar of an engine gets louder just as I lock eyes with Valentin driving by. He glares at me, and my stomach does a little somersault. "I'm going to get myself another car."

"Oh, fuck. You might be just as psycho as they are," Villette groans.

I can't help but laugh. "Girl, you have no idea."

After she helps me drag all my bags upstairs, I walk back to the main building for class. As much as I like Villette's company, I'm relieved when she tells me she's taking a sick day. I need some time alone to process everything.

The ravens squawk at me the whole way, and I do my best to ignore them. But the sound is unnerving, like nails on a chalkboard.

With each step I take, I try to focus my thoughts. I remind myself that I'm a fighter. That I don't run away. But I'm also drawn to them. As much as I protest, a part of me knows that I can't stay away from them. My body lights up like a beacon whenever they're near.

I keep replaying our conversations in my head. Riot killed those guys from the bathroom at Wickford Mansion. Was that for me? Or is he just a cold-blooded killer who murders without rhyme or reason?

Atlas has a few screws loose and it intrigues me. He's so beautiful that I lose my breath every time I see his perfectly asymmetrical face. Those blue-green eyes of his pull me in like the tide, striking and dangerous like the sea. I want to drown in them.

And then there's Valentin. He's so cold, he should be frozen like a block of solid ice. But he looks at me in a way that's so feral I can't help but imagine what his hands would feel like all over me. Would his touch be just as cold? Or would our bodies ignite and burst into flames?

They have a hold on me I can't explain. Maybe because our bloodlines have been connected for centuries. Tied together by hate and betrayal and deception. I wish I knew more. There are just these little bits and pieces, but I'm missing the whole picture. My mother never talked about Ever Graves or her family. But the vein in her neck would protrude any time they were brought up. It was definitely a sore spot.

Finding out that she was first engaged to Julian Erebus shocked me to my core. What made her leave him for my father when she clearly isn't happy with him either? I'll probably never know. That woman couldn't tell the truth if her life depended on it.

I'm so deep in thought that it takes me a minute to realize Jessamine is walking in step with me. She keeps quiet as if she knows I'm lost inside my own mind and can't be disturbed.

We walk in silence through the woods, and I relish the peacefulness of it. When she's not bouncing around shrieking, her presence is quite calming.

"Who killed you?" I blurt out without warning.

Her eyes glaze like her mind is in some far-off place. "It was an accident. He didn't mean to."

I glance at my phone to check the time. Class starts in twenty minutes, so I grab her elbow and pull her to a stop. I wait for a few groups of chatty students to pass us before launching back in.

"Who didn't mean to? I need to know what kind of danger I'm in."

Jessamine tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and looks up at the sky, as if there's something actually up there besides clouds and stars. "His name was Silas Graves. We were in love. But we should have been more careful. We were playing in the dark. With the ravens."

A shiver races up my back. "You mean dark, like evil stuff? What did the ravens do to you?"

She looks to the sky again. "Up there, we have the sun and the moon and the stars." Her gaze averts down to the muddy ground. She points to it. "And down there… we have decay and death and ravens. Do you understand?"

Heaven and Hell. I nod and shiver again as the hairs on the back of my arms prickle. "But you exist somewhere in between. Why?"

She shrugs, her eyes filling with sadness. "Neither wants to let me in. I'm tied to Tenebrose forever. Alone."

My heart aches for her. I clasp her hand and lace my fingers through hers. "You're not alone, Jess… What happened to you? To Silas?"

Her lower lip starts to quiver, and she swallows hard as if she's physically trying to shove the pain down. "He made a sacrifice to the ravens. They promised him power, and we trusted them. He loved me, but he was a silly boy. There was a ritual, and we drank too much poison. We both died, but I woke up like this, and he was just… gone."

I gasp and throw my arms around her. "Girl, I'm so sorry. Fuck." I'm sick for her. What a freakishly fucked up thing to happen.

Her body is rigid, and she doesn't hug me back. "I'd do anything to get him back, Maur. Anything."

A cold wind blows around us, and my mind clicks something else into place. I pull away to look into her eyes and try to put it all together. Her death. The timeline of it. The Graves family getting banished from Ever Graves. The curse. The ravens …

Fuck.

Fucking hell.

I clasp my hand to my mouth. "You… you're a Blackwell. You're the reason the Graves are cursed."

She sighs. "I'm the reason Nocturnus exists. And the reason they are making your life a living hell. Our family blames theirs for my death. But it wasn't Silas's fault."

I'm in shock. I can't keep my mouth from dropping open. "Jessamine…" I don't know what to say. This girl is my blood. My ancestor.

She squeezes my hand back. "It's okay, Maur. Things will be different this time. But I have to go now. The ravens are listening. They don't like me talking to you. I'll find you later."

Before I can utter another word, she pulls her usual ghost disappearing act.

I walk through the rest of the day like a zombie. I try my best to pay attention in class, but I can't stop thinking about my connection to Jessamine. I try to wrap my head around what happened to her and what it has to do with me.

But the air around me changes as I waltz into my last class—Tragic Music. The most haunting melody fills the room as I grab the nearest seat and search for the source. My heart skips a beat when I spot Valentin in the corner, playing the violin . For fuck's sake, as if he wasn't already ridiculously hot and mysterious.

His jet-black hair is tousled with a few strands hanging over his eyes. He doesn't seem to notice as his fingers seem to fly over the instrument. Beads of sweat drip from his temples while he works the bow over the strings faster than the human eye can comprehend.

My whole body vibrates with each unearthly note he creates. As the music builds, his whole body moves like a force of nature. I can't look away. It feels like nothing else exists but this. Like he's playing it just for me. The chatter around the room is distant, muffled, and all I hear is Valentin.

And all I want is for him to play me .

He strums one last powerful note, drawing it out until I think I might cry or suffocate. And in those few seconds between the silence and the applause, he lifts his head and looks only at me.

My breath catches in my throat and for a brief moment, the darkness in his eyes dissipates. A spark of light flickers around his pupils, and I have to resist the urge to go to him.

In a flash, the spell is broken by Professor Harker. "Excellent work, Valentin." He turns to the class. "The rest of us can only hope to have a sliver of that sort of talent."

I look back at Valentin and his face has hardened once again. He glares at me before returning to his seat.

We can go back to hating each other now. But in that moment, I had forgotten all about what he did to my car. What he did to me in the woods. He was just a beautiful boy with magic in his fingertips.

" Miss Blackwell ," Professor Harker hisses.

Oh, shit. That didn't sound like the first time he's called my name. "Y-yes, sorry. I was um—"

"Please, don't ramble. While I'm grateful that you are now paying attention to me, I am wondering where your instrument is?"

Fuck.

I forgot the flute Libra left for me. I don't have a musical bone in my body, but this class is required so I figured I could fake it till I make it. But with everything that's been going on with Nocturnus, a wind instrument was the last thing on my mind.

My palms sweat as all eyes land on me. "I'm sorry, Professor. I forgot it in my room."

He shakes his head. "Unacceptable. Well, would you at least share with the class what you chose and what you were planning on playing today?"

My stomach turns. "I… um. I have a flute. I've never played one before. So yeah, no song lined up. Sorry."

Valentin snickers. "Well, how hard can it be? I mean just wet your lips and blow. Isn't that what you're best at?"

I feel my cheeks burn as laughter erupts throughout the class. I slouch down in my chair, wishing I could disappear like Jessamine does.

Professor Harker raises his hand sternly, but he can't hide the smirk on his face. "Enough. Quiet down. I'll let it slide today, Miss Blackwell, but next time there will be consequences."

I nod and imagine shoving that flute up his ass. All the teachers here are fucking assholes.

As he continues on with the class, I feel Valentin's eyes burning a hole in me. When I finally muster the courage to look at him, all humor and teasing are gone. The look in his eyes is murderous and feral. It fuels my rage and only makes me more eager to get back at him.

When the last bell rings, I bolt for the exit before anyone else. I practically sprint across the grounds and through the woods. If I'm going to pull this off, I need every second to plan and prepare. There's a party at Nocturnus House tonight, and I have every intention of taking full advantage of it.