4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Wilder

"You seem distracted."

I blink, turning my attention back to Professor Morozov. As a second-year professor, this is my first time actually under his tutelage. The second-year students and professors and classes are kept in an entirely different building than the first years.

Although I wish that this was only our first meeting, Morozov has been my father's associate for years, and over this past break he became my associate as well.

I wonder if I saw him last year and didn't realize the role he would soon play in my life. I was unaware of the plans he and my father had for me until it was too late. How could I have known?

My father has so many business associates that it makes my head spin to even attempt to keep them straight. Which is probably why I never bothered to pay attention to this professor. After all, my father knows many people of prominence within this academy. It's one of the perks of being its primary benefactor.

My father, alongside other nobles with more money than they know to do with, pay for the academy to be able to keep running and capable of taking in students without fee or charge. In return, they get a special commendation from the king and enough moral superiority to sink a ship.

The professor reaches up, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and then mutters in a falsely patient tone, "Do pay attention, I only am speaking of your continued existence."

I reach up, playing with my cuffs. I nod, pretending interest and the professor begins speaking again. His words hit my ears like a buzz as my mind slips back to that hallway, to a moment frozen in time. To Bronwyn's sparking gaze and barely suppressed rage. Her skin flushed with the blood pumping through her veins. So very alive. Tan, imperfect, a merchant's daughter, but alive.

Which makes her better than me.

I turn my hand, studying my fingernail. My skin is nearly as pale as the small knicks on my nails. My mother always said that white marks on your nails mean that you have a liar's soul. I think she just said that because my father had them, but maybe it was a saying amongst her people. I can't very well ask her anymore.

"Are you even listening to me, boy?"

I blink and look up which seems to give Morozov the answer that he is looking for. He lets out a growl snapping his teeth together. I catch a flash of his fangs before he presses his lips together into a thin line changing from a monster to a tired looking professor in the blink of an eye. "Need I remind you of the importance of our mission? It hinges upon not only secrecy but all our abilities to play our parts."

I nod even though I'm only half listening again. I've heard this all from my father. This importance is why he justified forcing me to become a vampire. I'm still not entirely sure if I want the same thing he wants.

After all, it is for a greater freedom for vampires that we are doing this. I never would have cared about such a thing if I had not been forced to become a vampire myself over the last few months.

It seems to me that if this mission hadn't existed at all, I'd be in a better place. But now that I'm here, I have no choice but to succeed. With my father, failure has never been an option, and now that I'm working with Morozov, I doubt that the professor will take any more kindly to it.

But the secrecy bit I do find troubling.

What am I to do about Bronwyn, hmm?

When I first entered the academy, I was worried that my changed state would draw too much attention. I knew that vampires have been living in the academy unnoticed, Morozov for one. But when even the people who could even be remotely considered friends didn't notice, I was starting to feel more comfortable as a vampire.

People only see what they expect to see, and no one expects to see a bloodsucking monster from your nightmares in a library at your academy.

But not Bronwyn. She saw through my disguised mortality in a second.

The resentment was replaced by a spark of curiosity. If it wasn't such a dire situation, I would have even maybe appreciated seeing her look at me with something other than animosity. My heart stuttered and not just because of the fear of being found out.

Bronwyn has exceptional eyes, but they are always filled with fury when looking at me. Although I would rather die than admit it, I have always admired her intellectual curiosity. It's a bit flattering to be the focus of it.

If only her knowing didn't threaten all of my father's craftily laid plans. And I know enough about him to know that he, and his business partners would never allow that.

Which leaves me in a precarious situation and Bronwyn in a dangerous one. Because if they learn that she knows, the simplest and easiest solution would be to just make her disappear.

And obviously, I can't allow that to happen; otherwise, who else will glare at me from across the halls with those intelligent eyes?