“She’s not wrong,” Grace put in, and I glanced at her in annoyance.
Before I could reply, Rebecca reappeared with Principal Wolf at her side. His authoritative presence was a small relief as he placed his hand on the door handle. He took a quick look inside the classroom, his shoulders squaring, then turned back to us.
“All of you, go and wait outside my office,” he said before speaking to Rebecca. “Miss Cristescu, please call the Guard and inform them their presence is needed at the school.”
My sister nodded and went on her way while the rest of us started in the direction of Principal Wolf’s office. I walked next to Grace and Nic while Peter, Sophia, and Ren trailed behind us.
“You didn’t need to bite her head off,” Grace whispered to me. “She spoke before thinking, that’s all.”
“I just saw a dead body, so you’ll excuse me if I’m feeling tetchy.”
“We all just saw a dead body,” Grace responded.
“Well, you’re not the one people are going to think killed him.”
“How do you know? I have fangs, too, and he was clearly bitten.”
“Do you think we’ll have to be interviewed by members of the Guard?” I heard Sophia ask Peter as we reached the reception area next to Principal Wolf’s office.
“Possibly,” Peter replied.
“That makes me nervous. I’m terrible at interviews.”
“It’s not like there’s a whole lot they can ask us. The new boy opened the door and saw the body. Then we came along and saw the body, too,” Grace interjected.
Ren cleared his throat. “I have a name. It’s Ren, by the way.”
“A pleasure to meet you. Grace Jiang Forbes,” she replied with a smile. “Love the eyeliner.”
His lips twitched. “Thanks. Your boots are awesome.”
“Aren’t they, though?” she preened and tilted her foot to show off her calf-length black leather boots. They definitely wouldn’t have looked out of place on Ren.
Chloe was busy speaking to someone on the phone as we passed by her desk. My attention was drawn out the window where several SUVs with blacked-out windows were parking outside the school.
The Guard had arrived in record time.
I sat down next to Grace, my eyes briefly meeting Peter’s. I wondered if he was nervous about being interviewed like Sophia was. He didn’t look nervous, but then again, his face was always so impossible to read.
We fell into silence then, each of us retreating to our thoughts. I battled against the anxious part of my brain that wanted me to believe I’d somehow be wrongfully found guilty of murdering Mr Williams. I had to keep reminding myself to be logical. There were supernatural crime experts in the Guard who would surely find some evidence of the true suspect.
There was a commotion nearby, and we all lifted our heads just as Belinda came storming into the reception area. “It was you, wasn’t it! You did this to him!” she wailed, launching herself at me. I rose quickly, ready to defend myself, but before she could get to me, Peter stood in her way, his tall, broad shoulders completely blocking her view.
“Calm down, Belinda,” Peter instructed, his voice low and firm.
“Are you her protector now?” she challenged before her voice lowered. “I saw what you did earlier.”
“I would defend anyone from an unwarranted attack. And how you used your magic during our last class is forbidden in this school. You should know better.”
“She murdered my uncle!”
“No, she didn’t. Your uncle was killed while we were all still in class,” Peter shot back, his voice unwavering.
“What does he mean, how she used her magic?” Grace whispered to me.
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered back just as Principal Wolf, Rebecca, and several members of the Guard appeared in the doorway. They were shortly followed by my father and Grace’s dad, Gabriel, which wasn’t a surprise since they were on the Hawthorn Council. The Council was regularly responsible for handing down sentences to those who broke the city’s laws.
Principal Wolf’s attention immediately went to Belinda. “Miss Williams, may I ask what you’re doing here?”
She squared her shoulders. “Nothing. I was just leaving.”
I watched as she stormed from the room while my father strode towards me. “Darya, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I replied as he took me in and seemed to conclude that I wasn’t too distraught.
There was a swarm of activity then as we were each taken into the principal’s office and required to give a statement about what we saw. I was the first to speak with them, which meant I could leave soon after. I shared one final glance with Peter as I walked out, wondering how he felt about all this. Was he as distraught as I was about seeing Mr Williams dead? It was no secret that I wasn’t his biggest fan, but still, that didn’t mean I wanted the man to die.