Page 54 of Cruel Destinies

I lifted one side of the basket, angling it at my friends. “Peace offering?”

Our chatter dissolved as we all tore into our food. And as delicious as my sandwich was, I couldn’t quite enjoy it around my burning curiosity for what Caesar’s text might have said.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I excused myself to the bathroom, both my friends too invested in their meals to notice my squirminess. As soon as I made it past the door, I pulled my phone out of my pants and swiped it open.

“I think we should talk. In person. Let me know when is a good time and I’ll try to get away.”

My heart thudded, my appetite thoroughly ruined by the pool of fear, curiosity and preemptive rejection that swirled in my stomach. When, in the history of human relationships, has the phrase “we need to talk” led to anything good?

Chapter 17

Tobias

With my height, I easily found the book I was looking for high on the top shelf:Skye Boarding House - The Original Shifter School: A History.It was thick, which was both good and really daunting. At least the massive size meant the answer I was looking for was likely to be in it.

After finally giving in to Arya and this imprint that made her irresistible to me, I needed to know more about the damned Dracul curse and if there was a way to lift it. I knew he wasn’t in love with her, but my feelings were definitely getting increasingly more complicated, and if we continued down this path, it was only a matter of time before one of us fell.

I walked to my study spot in the center of the school library and sat among my notes, pushing them aside to make room for the large book. The edges were decorated with flowery, silver leaf borders that reminded me of the old shifter fairy tale book my mother used to read from. It took a lot of years, but I was finally beginning to understand why her favorite was the tragic romance ofDante and Calliope, the immortal mer and harpy who fell in love and were forbidden to be together. It must’ve reminded Octavia of her own tragic romance with Arthur.

Carefully, I lifted the cover and flipped through the pictures and text that depicted the history of the boarding house. Located in Washington state, the house became a haven for shifters, and then a makeshift school before it was destroyedby vampires. I wasn’t interested in the founding of the boarding house, since it housed only humans for the first several decades, but I flipped through the beginning photos anyway.

I stopped at a picture, an old black-and-white that must’ve been taken in front of the house. Four people were in the picture—all simply dressed and looking like they ran the place. A middle-aged couple stood in the center; the man had a smiling sort of face, but the woman’s looked forced.

A young girl, a teenager probably close in age to me and most likely the daughter of the couple, stood next to the man. She smiled, but I could tell she was the skeptical type. The sort of person who would require a person to prove their worth before she gave them her loyalty. It was funny that I could tell that about her in a picture.

On the other side of the couple was a young man, maybe in his twenties. His hair was dark and was pulled back at the nape of his neck. His expression was a lot like the man’s: easy going, happy, and kind.

I wondered what type of shifters they were and glanced at their names listed at the bottom. The young girl, the skeptical one, was Camilla Skye. Next to her were James and Jane Skye—definitely her parents. The man in his twenties was named Julian Asher. None of the names were familiar shifter names, or otherwise known, so I continued to flip through the book.

I was looking for a specific name:Claudette Dracul.I didn’t know if I was a direct descendant of Claudette or a distant relative, but she was the supposed reason for the Dracul curse. I called my older sister, Tamara, to verify Claudette’s name—claiming it was for a school paper because I didn’t want her to know the real reason for my interest—and according to her, Claudette committed some inexplicable crime. As retaliation for her misdeed, a curse—the curse—was placed on the entire family line.

The curse stipulated that if ever a Dracul fell in love—and by association, anyone who loved a Dracul—the love would be forever unrequited. My mother loved my father deeply, but I’d witnessed Arthur’s flippant attitude toward her since I was a young child. I suspected he was still in love with his former mistress—my half-brothers Adam’s and Alex’s mother—but she only came around when it benefited her, offering false affection to raise her status.

They both loved but were not loved in return, though I couldn’t quite find it in me to pity Arthur.

I stopped on a page picturing a young woman. Her clothing wasn’t simple like the people in the first photo, and even in black and white, I could tell her dress was probably expensive. She wore a traditional head wrap, much like the ones my Romanian ancestors probably wore, and her features were familiar. In fact, her nose looked almost identical to Tamara’s.

Scanning her name, my suspicions were confirmed:Claudette Elana Dracul.

I’d found her.

The book slammed shut, pinching two of my fingers.

“Studying on a Saturday?” Brett asked, plopping down across from me at the table. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,man! And I swear half the student population has escaped to Christmas shop, so it wasn’t like I’ve had crowds to search through.”

“They’re letting students go topside?” I asked.Who would be stupid enough to go out after the attack?

“Yep.” Brett let out an exasperated breath and spun the book to read the title. Fortunately, it held no interest for him, and he turned it back with a raised eyebrow. “I’m bored. Wanna hit the sim?”

I almost asked Brett if he knew which students left the Dome, hoping he wouldn’t say Arya’s name, but he wasn’t that observant.

“Who’s still around?” I asked instead, attempting to sound only slightly curious.

Brett balked with an annoyed smile. “I didn’t take roll call, Tobias. But Niko’s not here.”

I flashed him an annoyed smile. “Yeah, I knew that,yadumb bird.”

He flipped me off. “C’mon. You’re a straight-A student. I need to blow off some steam. Let’s go fight computer vamps!”

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