Chapter 17

STEFANO Every Saturday morning, I go to the library to volunteer. It’s not really a requirement for a Head Boy like me, but I do enjoy the silence and the knowledge I get from Miss Sullivan very much. As someone who doesn’t really have a friend in the whole school, it’s comforting to have an older figure guiding me. I’m in her office right now, sorting through the labels that need to be put on the books in order for them to get shelved. It’s tedious, which is something I actually enjoy, so I don’t mind the monotony all that much. At least until I hear footsteps and a familiar voice approaching the doorway. “Miss, please, I really didn’t mean anything bad by it…” I sigh as soon as I recognize who it is. Valeria. I stop what I’m doing, thinking about everything that's happened between us so far. Even though the logical part of me doesn’t want to see her, this strange side of me is desperate to even get a glimpse of her face. I find myself staring at the door, anticipating her entrance like a dog left at home. But when the door does swing open, I snap to my senses and I stare at the labels with the concentration of a frustrated scientist, even though my face is red and slick with sweat. “Oh,” Valeria mutters when she sees me. I can feel her eyes on the back of my head. “He’s here.” “Yes,” Miss Sullivan says. “He’s the Head Boy and he likes to volunteer. His name is—” “We’re very well-acquainted,” I interject politely. “Yeah, unfortunately.” Valeria puts in with a look of distaste. A small smile appears on Miss Sullivan’s lips. She looks like she wants to say something about the whole thing, but she just turns to Valeria. “See? You’re not in trouble. I do have to keep you here to prevent you from doing something … possibly troublesome, though. I’m sure you would not mind. Besides, this will be lovely in your records.” She motions Valeria to sit beside me, and she does just that. “Okay, perfect.” Miss Sullivan claps her hands together and takes the cart full of books that I already labeled. “I will shelf all of these, and you two put labels on the rest of the books. Stefano will teach you, Valeria.” Without waiting for an answer, she turns around and leaves with a cart. But before she can get through the door, she looks back just a little and gives me this subtle wink—so subtle that I have to blink a million times to make sure I’m not dreaming. She closes the door behind her, and now Valeria and I are alone. “Hi,” I say lamely, and instantly I want to kick myself. She doesn’t answer to that. She just grabs the books and asks, “So what do I do with these?” “You just stick on the labels, they’re already arranged so don’t mess with that,” I say, and she quickly starts to work as though she wants to get out of here as soon as possible. To be fair, that is most likely the case. However, I find myself wishing she won’t finish early. Because I do want her here. I clear my throat, debating whether or not to tell her she’s doing it all wrong just to keep her here, but I realize how weird and quite evil that is. Instead, I just ask, “Why are you here?” “Because she told me to be,” she answers without missing a beat. I clamp my lips together. God, I wish I didn’t act all cool and aloof with her after I saved her and got her here. She wouldn’t have been so hard to talk to. But it was all my fault, and so I must reap the consequences. “I meant why she’s making you do a task. What was she talking about, when she referred to you not getting into something possibly troublesome?” Her face goes red. For a while, I can feel her hesitating, but then her eyes light up. “I told her that Celeste Andrich is a vampire.” I almost crack a smile, but when I see the thunderous glint in her gaze, I clamp my lips together. “The Head Girl. The siren.” “Yes,” she says through gritted teeth, rolling her eyes. “Look, I already know you’re not going to believe me. So you might as well just shut up so we can finish all of these books.” “Wait,” I say immediately. “I didn’t say I don’t believe you.” “Stefano, it’s all over your face.” Touche. I just sigh and stop talking. But she has different ideas, apparently. And in a mood to contradict herself, because she abandoned the books and is now staring at me. “So you work closely with her, huh?” “Well, she is the Head Girl, so yes.” I frown at her. “Why?” “Because then you can give me some insights about her,” she declares proudly. “Tell me everything you know about her.” I’m so baffled that for a whole minute, I go silent. Only when her eyes go wide do I remember that I need to say something. “Valeria, I’m going to try to be as gentle as possible,” I begin. “Celeste is not a vampire. She’s from a known family of sirens. There are very few of them here in America, so they travel a lot to their kin in Europe. She’s a...” “Then how do you explain what I saw last night?” Valeria interjects. When I just raise an eyebrow, she shakes her head. “Okay, so I was sneaking around last night because I wanted to leave this place. But I saw Celeste, and she was taking down a deer to drink its blood.” “Did you see her drink the blood?” “Well, no,” she says after a pause, then her face got all pink again. “But that’s only because Auric arrived and they had this weird quarrel about their old relationship!” I have to admit that at first, I thought she was lying. I mean, I know Celeste, and I’m perfectly certain that she’s not a vampire. But the last part of what Valeria talked about holds some truth, because she was indeed in a relationship with Auric before. I don’t think Eden would tell her that, because Celeste basically scared everyone into shutting up about their breakup. But the glaring thing is, Valeria does not have a single shred of proof about her claim. She didn’t even see the blood being drank. I shrug. “Well, you don’t really have an evidence. At this point, it’s all just speculation.” Valeria gets up from her seat and stands in front of me. “I know, that’s why you’re going to help me get evidence.” I almost laughed at her before, but this time, I can’t hold back anymore. I end up chuckling, and to my surprise, her expression doesn’t change. In fact, my laughter begins to peter out when I see that she’s smirking. “What?” I ask nervously. “What’s the matter?” She leans in closer. So close that I can smell her scent and see the yellow specks in her brown eyes. So close that I can kiss her if I want to. And a part of me wants to. I swallow hard and try to back away, but she closes the distance between us easily. “I know that the fire that night came from you,” she whispers. “I know there’s a reason why you want me to cover for you, and I can quickly find out with a single book in this place. In fact, I can even ask Miss Sullivan.” “You wouldn’t,” I whisper. “Oh, I won’t. But you have to promise me that you’ll help me investigate Celeste and find out if she’s a vampire once and for all.”