Chapter One

Blackmore College

"I could have come alone," I said, using the plastic fork to root out the chicken from the box.

The cushion I was sitting on was doing a poor job keeping my backside from getting stiff and numb as Mom continued to search presses and drawers in search of plates. She was muttering something to herself, probably cursing her sister for auctioning off every last piece of furniture from the Rowan family house, Winter House. Thankfully it was still summer, so Blackmore and its surrounding estates were a comfortable temperature, but every now and then she could hear a sharp wind, rustling the nearby leaves of Blackmore Wood.

"The people in this town," she said, giving up and joining me on the hardwood floor of the lounge, "will eat you up, Charlie. I'm not about to let you have your first taste of independence in a lion's den." She grabbed up her box of takeout and started angrily stabbing vegetables.

"I'm sure Fredric would be happy to look out for me," I said, cautiously.

"So am I," she grumbled, "but he's constantly caught in his own little world when he starts experimenting. I just... want to make sure you have a support network." She continued into her long speech, the same one I'd heard over summer, about responsibility, confidence, and most of all avoiding peer pressure.

I tried not to roll my eyes when she touched on peer pressure.

"Don't," she said, pointing her fork at me. "The majority of boys at the college are Old Blood. They'll do whatever they have to to have sex with a girl they want."

Like your father. The words weren't said, but I knew they were there. I tried not to think too much about the circumstances I'd been conceived under. Mom usually made a point of avoiding the subject all together, but the moment I'd gotten a letter from Blackmore College – an acceptance letter – she'd been so upset she'd divulged the story.

Love potions. I shuddered as silence settled over us and a particularly harsh gust of wind made shutters bang against the old house.

"I'll be careful," I said softly. "I've been taking my supplements like you said. And Fredric gave me a new ward." Which was etched into the skin on my back, along with the other wards he'd gifted me – mostly for protection. The irony wasn't lost on me, that it would be my dad protecting me from others doing the very thing he'd done.

Mom sighed for a long time. "I know, I know. I just need you to remember, your father isn't the only reason I left here."

We finished our meal in silence and went to bed soon after.

I went to the window after rolling out my sleeping mat and duvet. Even the bedframes had been sold, after being in the family for years. I didn't doubt Mom would be having words with her younger sister. At least she hadn't sold the curtains. I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night with the window unveiled. They were heavy, so I heaved the first one closed.

I paused. Imagination. I could've sworn I saw something move on the back lawn. There were trees to the left and right of the house, but at the back there was a stretch of grass before Mistward Lake at the bottom of the garden. There was an island in the middle of the lake, and Mom had said an Old Blood family lived there.

The trees this side of the lake really couldn't count as Blackmore Wood, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything... spooky in the trees. I peered out, part of me begging me to just close the other curtain and go to bed. Pretend you didn't see anything. I opened the window a crack to see if I could hear anything moving. Nothing except a gentle wind through the trees. There was a kind of hum though. Like static electricity in the air. I shrugged and closed the window.

Maybe this place was creepier than I was willing to admit.