Maybe that’s why my fingers are paralyzed over my phone, my mind completely blank as I try to figure out how I should answer him. In the end, I leave the sentiment hanging and revert back to our former conversation. I tell myself it’s because I really don’t have anything to say to his assertion, but the truth is, I have too much to say.

And I’m afraid to say any of it.

Me: So what exactly is belfry duty?

Hudson: I’m in charge of the bell tower for the next few weeks

Hudson: And the chimes

Me: The chimes?

Me: Oh, you mean the songs? You get to pick?

Hudson: Maybe. Why?

Me: Because I’ve been dying to see what people would do if the chimes started playing Monster Mash

Me: Can you do that?

Hudson doesn’t reply.

Me: Can you?????

Still no reply.

Me: Helloooooo

Hudson: I think the question is, will I?

Hudson: Do you want me to play Five Little Pumpkins, too?

Me: Only if it’s the Disney version

He sends me the eye roll emoji.

Several seconds pass, and I settle back into bed, wondering if he’s done texting for a while. But just when I’m thinking about messaging Jaxon one more time to make sure he’s okay, too, my phone buzzes again.

Hudson: How about you? You good?

Me: I’m not the one who had to fight three werewolves today

Hudson: That wasn’t a fight. That was a bad day at the dog pound

Hudson: And that wasn’t an answer

Of course he picked up on my nonanswer. Hudson picks up on everything when it comes to me. He always has. Most of the time, it’s seriously inconvenient, but sometimes…sometimes it’s nice.

Me: I’m fine

Me: Did you hear about the vampires in the dining hall?

Hudson: Just spent the last several hours with them

Hudson: Absolutely cracking it was

Me: I bet

Me: What was going on with them anyway? Who would do that?

Hudson: It is kind of a defining factor of the species

It’s my turn to send him an eye roll emoji.

Me: You know what I mean

Hudson: Yeah

Hudson: Jaxon and I can’t figure out what caused it

My stomach flips at the mention of Jaxon. He still hasn’t texted me back.

Me: What’s going to happen?

Hudson: One of the younger vamps got the boot

Hudson: And everyone else is grounded

Me: Except for you

Hudson: Can’t take away what I don’t have. Hence, belfry duty

Hudson: C’est la vie

Me: What about Jaxon? Is he grounded, too?

I hold my breath, waiting for him to answer. But he doesn’t.

At first, I think he’s just become distracted by something, but as seconds become minutes, I decide he must have fallen asleep. Which makes sense. It is almost four in the morning, and we’ve got class in a few hours.

I tell myself I should get some sleep, too, but that doesn’t stop me from clutching my phone in my hand when I roll onto my side—just in case he decides to text back.

I’m almost asleep when my phone finally vibrates. It jolts me awake, and I nearly drop it on the floor in my rush to grab it. But this time, it’s not Hudson.

Jaxon: Everything’s fine

Oh, thank God. I clutch my phone and wait, heart pounding, for him to write more. But he doesn’t.

Finally, I break down and text:

Me: I’m glad

Me: Are you grounded?

He doesn’t answer.

A few minutes go by, and I’m starting to get annoyed. I know things are off between us, but he doesn’t need to act like this. He definitely doesn’t need to treat me like dirt when I’ve spent the last several hours worried about him.

Another text comes in, and my heart is pounding fast and hard as I swipe open my phone, only to realize that it’s Hudson again.

Hudson: Good night, Grace

Hudson: Don’t let the werewolves bite…

Me: Lol

Me: Never

Me: Good night, Hudson

It’s only after I put my phone down and curl up beneath my hot-pink comforter that I realize he never answered my question about Jaxon—almost like he already knew I’d gotten an answer.

42

It’s Not the Tower

That Makes

the Prince

The next couple of days pass in what feels like a kind of fugue state. Nothing feels right, everything is off, and tension in the halls—and classes—is off the charts.

The made vamps are pissed one of their own got kicked out. The born vamps are pissed they’re getting blamed for what the made vamps did (rightfully so). The witches are pissed the vampires attacked them (even more rightfully so). And the wolves…well, the wolves are just pissed in general (big freaking surprise).

So far, the dragons are okay, but I’ve got a feeling that’s about to change, since I saw a few of the freshman wolves starting something with one of the sophomore dragons on my way to class this morning. Mr. Damasen broke it up before things got too heated, but I don’t know how long that will last.

Uncle Finn’s got to be close to having the whole school grounded by now, which one would think would make a difference. But it’s, like, 60 percent of Katmere has gone aggro and the rest of us are just trying to figure out what’s happening—and how to stay out of the way and not get our own butts kicked by Uncle Finn, who is basically on the warpath hourly.

It’s even harder than it sounds.

Plus, there’s all the makeup work I still have to do and the fact that I might have ruined my relationship with Heather—who hasn’t answered a single one of my texts in days.

So when Macy texts the group that we should meet in Jaxon’s tower after school to study and strategize, I’m all in. At least until I remember what Jaxon has done to the tower. I don’t think anyone wants to try to do homework around his handy-dandy workout machines.

In the end, we settle for meeting in Hudson’s room—which turns out is in the castle’s old undercroft—because it’s bigger than any of the rest of our rooms. And also, it turns out, because it’s a lot more isolated than anywhere else in the castle.

I don’t think I had a clue just how isolated until I start to wind my way down to it. It’s above the tunnels but below Katmere’s official first floor, existing in a kind of no-man’s-land that you totally miss if you don’t know it’s there.

I’m not sure how I feel about that—that Jaxon has a tower and Hudson is practically in the basement—at least until I head down the only staircase that leads to the undercroft and realize it is the coolest room in the entire castle—and that includes the library.

To begin with, it’s huge. I mean, really, really huge—like runs-the-length-of-the-whole-castle huge. Sure, it’s narrower than a lot of the rooms above it, but who cares when everything about this place is incredible?

I thought it would be dark, but it’s at least partially aboveground, so there are a ton of windows lining three sides of the room. No wonder there are so many steps leading up to the front door of the castle if this is what’s underneath the first floor.

Not to mention that the room itself is filled from one end to the other with the most incredible carved stone arches, which gives the room a seriously amazing gothic vibe. The arches are only about two-thirds as wide as the room, which leaves a long, narrow strip along one side of the undercroft separated from the rest of it. Hudson has apparently turned this part into his own private library.

There are thousands—literally thousands—of books lining the walls and the backside of the arches, and they all look like they’ve been read about a hundred times each. And in the middle of all those books is a very comfortable, very well-worn-looking chair and ottoman.

I kind of want nothing more than to just dive into his shelves and see what’s there, but there’s so much more of the room to explore, I don’t know where to look first.

The arches themselves are elaborately carved, and each one is a little different. The first one is carved with scene after scene of dragons flying, while the second is filled with stars and moons and even full-on constellations. The third one goes back to dragons, but it’s all scenes of home and hearth and family. I want to look at them all, but there are probably twenty-five or thirty, and I don’t exactly have the time to examine each one. Or lust after the gorgeous jewels—some as big as a grapefruit—that are embedded in the arches and used to separate the different scenes.

I look for Hudson, but I must be the first one here. I know I’m fifteen minutes early, but I was hoping to talk to him for a few minutes before everyone else got here. Looks like that’s not going to happen, though, since he’s missing as well.

There’s a seating area farther down the main part of the room, and I head toward it, figuring that’s where we’re going to be studying. But I can’t help getting distracted by how cool this space is…not to mention how very cool the vampire who lives here is.