Balthazar’s dark eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Lucas’s name, and I knew he could sense my reaction to the memory of the hours Lucas and I had spent in that room. Warmth coursed through me as I recalled kissing Lucas, lying in his arms and biting down and drinking deeply of the blood he freely gave me. Did it really show on my face? Whatever it was, it made Balthazar’s voice rough as he said, “Good. That makes the story more believable. I’ll tell her—you don’t have to be there. I’ll say you’re too embarrassed to come to her yourself.”

“This much is true.”

“Afterward she’ll be on the lookout for the wraith, and she’ll probably pass word along to your parents about us. Two birds, one stone.”

“I guess that works.” Exhausted, I leaned against Balthazar’s shoulder again. “I didn’t sleep at all after that. I feel like I’m about to drop.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to sleep either.” He stroked my arm. “Why don’t you take a nap?”

“Calculus doesn’t start for another hour, but—I don’t want to go back to my room.”

I expected him to ask why, but instead Balthazar patted his leg, offering to serve as a pillow. At first I was uneasy as I lowered myself onto the ground and rested my cheek against his thigh, but his hand on my shoulder steadied me, and I was too tired to fight sleep for long. It was the first time in hours I’d felt safe.

During the next few days, word of my new “romance” spread throughout the school. Balthazar and I met up after our classes and hung out together to study in the library—all of which we’d done before, but add some hand-holding and apparently it looked just like a blazing-hot love affair. I could tell that most people were wondering what a mature, sexy guy like Balthazar was doing with the redheaded astronomy geek, but they didn’t seem to doubt the relationship was real. Courtney even started trying to put me down in classes again, which was too ridiculous to be very annoying.

I wondered if Raquel knew about it, but I couldn’t really ask. We were speaking, but since that night I saw the wraith, she wanted to be around me as little as possible. When I was in the room, she made an excuse to leave it, and when I tried to start conversation, she’d just say “yes” or “no” or “fine” until I finally gave up. It was funny, but I hadn’t realized how much time Raquel had spent skulking around in our room until this—too much, really. I knew she wasn’t okay, and something about what I’d said had made matters even worse, but there didn’t seem to be any way to reach out to her.

The one person I’d been most worried about turned out not to be a problem at all. One evening, when I went into the great hall, I saw the usual collection of people talking, loafing, and hanging out. Among them, sitting at one of the tables nearest the door, were Ranulf and Vic, who sat on opposite sides of a chessboard. Vic looked as serious as I’d ever seen him, even though he wore a Hawaiian shirt. He moved his knight, smacking it down on a new square with a thunk. “Do you feel the hurt? Oh, yeah, I think you do.”

“I feel no hurt from your clumsy play.” That was about the best Ranulf could do for trash talk. As Ranulf leaned over the board to consider his next move, Vic stretched in lazy satisfaction, then saw me standing there. I flinched and would’ve left, but Vic simply rose from the table and came to my side.

“Hey,” he began, shifting from foot to foot. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty well. I guess—I guess we kind of need to talk.” This was even harder than I’d thought it would be. “About Balthazar.”

“There’s just one thing I want to say, okay?” Vic put his hand on my shoulder. “You’re my friend, too. I want you to be happy.”

“Oh, Vic.” Too moved to say anything else, I hugged him tightly.

With his voice muffled against my shoulder, Vic said, “I like Balthazar. He’s okay.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“You’ve told Lucas, right? Or you’re gonna tell him soon? Because it’s not right, keeping it from him.”

“We’re supposed to talk before long.” I didn’t give any more details about our upcoming meeting in Riverton; doing that would only draw Vic in too far. “I thought it would be better if I could speak to him, not just send a letter or e-mail or something.”

“I guess it’s hard, being apart all the time.”

“It really is. If Lucas were still here, everything would be different.”

Vic’s smile turned smug. “Yeah, I’d have a roommate who could beat me at chess instead of the other way around.”

Ranulf never looked up from the chessboard. “I hear your insults and plan to silence them with my victory.”

“Keep dreaming,” Vic called.

What Vic didn’t know was that I’d tell Lucas the full truth about the game Balthazar and I were playing. Everything really would be fine. And now there was only one more hurdle to cross, the most important one of all: my parents.

Chapter Ten

THE CONFRONTATION I’D BEEN WAITING FOR CAME the next day, as I ducked out of the library, already running late. I started to jog down the hall, but her voice stopped me cold.

“What a hurry you’re in, Miss Olivier.” Mrs. Bethany’s sharp gaze took me in, head to foot. She wore a dress of crisp, dark-brown wool that made her appear as though she were carved into the very woodwork of Evernight itself. “You act as though you’ve seen a ghost.” Was that supposed to be funny? I could only stare at her.