Page 5 of Ava: Part Two

There was silence for a moment, and the dean said, “If you want to remain insolent, that’s your choice. The Council will be here later to ask you about Miss Claire Hubert's disappearance. I suggest you keep your tablet close for an appointment time. And don’t even dare bring up the subject of your enrolment with them, or you will suffer the consequences.”

That made her look up, but the dean was already walking out as he spoke. She didn’t know what to react to first. The fact that Claire was missing, or that she would finally come face to face with the people who had decided she belonged here.

But the images of how Claire had hurt her in town resurfaced. She had thought she would die until she heard Ezekiel’s growl. At the back of her mind, she knew. She knew Claire was dead. She had wanted to believe that he had left her alive the way he did the night of the party, but Ezekiel was dangerous. There had been too much blood on her to assume the wounds inflicted on her attacker hadn’t been fatal.

Her heart started beating again.

He was dangerous, but if he hadn’t stepped in both times, she would be dead. She was grateful she was alive, but could she ever live with this? Could she ever get over the fact that she was the cause of someone else’s death? She didn’t think so.

She swallowed hard as she picked her bag up and started walking towards her Textiles class. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t lie and say she had done it because they would never believe her, but she didn’t want to drop Ezekiel in it when he had saved her life.

She would just have to beg the Council to send her back home. When they saw her face-to-face, they would know they made a mistake. She could be on her way home by the end of the day, and this whole nightmare would be behind her.

Chapter 4

Avawashungry,soshe rushed to the dining hall for lunch, hoping Ezekiel wasn’t there. She didn’t want another repeat of what had happened in the morning. Though people had mostly left her alone, she seemed to have been branded as Ezekiel’s property.

Her heart fluttered stupidly at the thought, but she pushed it aside. She wasn’t property. She belonged to no one.

Besides, Claire mentioned that Ezekiel’s pack wouldn’t allow him to be with a human, so if anything did happen with him, she would be nothing but his plaything. Not that she was trying to be his Luna or his plaything.

Thinking about that brought her thoughts back to Claire again, and with that, all her guilt came flooding back.

What had she done? Ezekiel would never have had to do that if she hadn’t been so weak. And now the most fearsome people in their community were coming to ask her about that. How would they do it? Could they sense it if she lied? Did they use magic to read minds? Were they like Mr Patrick?

Would they know she had been in the restricted forest?

Shit.

“Hey.”

She looked up to see the young vampire walking beside her. Max. She hadn’t seen him since he had offered her his blood before Claire beat the crap out of her. She had been open to friendships back then, but she was over that now. She couldn’t trust anyone here.

“Hi,” she answered.

“You were out most of last week. Are you feeling better?” Max asked.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“The offer of my blood still stands. You could have got rid of the bug a lot quicker.”

“I was fine without it. Thank you.”

The vampire walked silently with her for a while despite her subtle attempt to push him away.

“Have I done something wrong?” he asked.

“No. I just have a lot on my mind. I’ll see you around, okay?”

She didn’t wait for an answer as she quickened her step. Max had been friendly to her from the beginning, but so had Emily and Jared.

She had left the classroom first to try and beat the lunch rush, but since all the students were faster than her, she’d expected to find more people heading to the dining hall already. They seemed to be taking their time today, which was great for her. She could just grab a sandwich and sit outside somewhere to eat it. Something quick in case she was called into the meeting with the Council before she could eat anything.

“Little Red.”

She tensed when she heard that voice behind her and then walked even faster.

“Ava, stop,” Jared sighed.

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