Stargazer (Evernight 2) by Claudia Gray

Author:Claudia Gray [Gray, Claudia]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-02-19T12:00:00+00:00

151

Chapter Thirteen

“YOU WOULD SAY THE EVENTS OF LAST NIGHT WERE similar to what you experienced before?” Mrs. Bethany took notes at her desk without ever looking down at what she was writing. Instead her clear eyes remained fixed on me.

“What I saw in the records room wasn’t as scary.” I realized that my comment wasn’t exactly helpful when Mrs. Bethany frowned. “It was cold, and there was an image in the frost—a man’s face, not words. And he spoke to me. He said, ‘Stop.’”

“Stop?” My father stood on one side of my chair; on the other, my mother sat next to me. They’d walked me over here for the conference and seemed even more freaked out by the apparition at the ball than I was, which was saying a lot. Dad gripped the arm of the chair so tightly I could see the tensed muscles in his hand. “What does that mean,

‘stop’?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

Mrs. Bethany lifted her pen to her lips, considering. “It wasn’t as if you were doing anything much up there. Only waiting for Mr. More. That’s correct, isn’t it?”

152

I’d need to tell more of the truth now; obviously, other people’s safety depended on it. “I was reading some letters while I was up there.”

“Letters?” Mrs. Bethany’s eyes narrowed.

“Just to pass the time.” Was that convincing? I’d have to hope so.

“And—Balthazar and I went back up there tonight.”

Fortunately, nobody asked why I’d done that. I guess they thought it was obvious; that, or they weren’t thinking straight. My parents were even more on edge about this than I would’ve anticipated. “What letters, honey?” Mom put a hand on my shoulder. “Tell us every detail. Everything you remember. It might all be important.”

“There’s not a lot to remember! I mean, I looked at some letters. None of them stood out. I don’t see why that would make the wraiths angry.”

Through gritted teeth, Dad said, “The question here is what set them off. We have to figure that out, and the sooner the better.”

“Forgive me, Adrian, but that is not the question.” Mrs. Bethany lay down her pen. “The question is how we rid ourselves of this wraith. There are, as you know, constructive ways of dealing with this problem.”

My mother’s grip tightened on my arm. Her hand shook. I shot her a curious glance, but her expression remained unreadable. Dad didn’t seem to have heard what Mrs. Bethany said. “The wraiths hate vampires. They’re hostile, and they’re dangerous. Last night should have proved that beyond any doubt.”

“I didn’t dispute that,” Mrs. Bethany said. “All I meant is that we must remain focused on our own goals instead of worrying overly about the wraiths’.”

153

My father’s words reminded me of a question I’d had since I’d first talked about ghosts with Balthazar. “Why do the wraiths hate vampires?”

Mom and Dad glanced at each other, obviously wondering what to say, if anything. Mrs. Bethany folded her hands together, and she was the one who replied. “We none of us know precisely where we come from: vampires, humans, or wraiths.

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