With Simon, who had switched the glass vials, Veteris was safe and saved from being exposed another day. Mr. and Mrs. Davis's attempt had been wasted, and receiving no reaction from anyone even after noon, they finally decided to leave the university.

  Conner met up with Melanie and Julie, who looked like they had come out from a war. He asked Melanie, "What were they doing here giving a surprise visit?"

  "Their suspicion is growing about Veteris holding vampires, and for now, it seems like that they aren't going to come here anytime soon," replied Melanie. She let out an exasperated sigh.

  "Looks like it was good that I showed up late in the lunchroom. Maximus came out of nowhere and dragged me out of the building," said Conner. "How are you doing?"

  "I was stressed, but I am good now," replied Melanie. "If it weren't for Simon and Roman, I think we would have been in trouble."

  Conner gave a slight nod before he asked Melanie, "How long do you think we'll need to hide it from them?"

  "We are going to be here only for a year more. Maybe we can take up the job of protecting this side…" suggested Melanie, but Conner wasn't exactly keen on it.

  He said, "I won't tell our parents, Mel. I know you are on good terms with them, but you need to know that I don't think I will be able to make peace with what they did to Reese." Though only one person killed her, the others were responsible for cleaning and hiding the truth. "Some are good, some are bad."

  Julie knew Conner was struggling with his thoughts, and if it weren't for Melanie and her in the picture, he would have probably drawn out the wooden stakes to attack the vampires in here. She asked him,

  "Do you want to go and visit her, Conner?"

  Conner gave it a thought before he replied, "Maybe later. Where is Roman and the others?"

  "They must be busy securing the walls of Veteris," replied Julie, and she said, "I will be going and visiting Willow Creek."

  "Now?" asked Melanie, and Julie nodded.

  "I haven't been able to contact Cillian since last evening. I wonder if he's probably hibernating in there," explained Julie, and she said, "I will catch up with you both later."

  Saying this, Julie left them and headed towards the town of Willow Creek.

  And while Julie did that, the same time Mr. and Mrs. Davis, who had left Veteris in their car on their way home. Mr. Davis asked his wife,

  "What was that about with the boy?"

  "I felt something was off about him today. As if he slipped the vial into his pocket to hide it and divert us from there," replied Mrs. Davis, who stared outside the car through the window. "Even more strange was that our daughter decided to tell her best friend about the existence of vampires, who looked not one bit shocked," she hummed.

  "Do you think the word has spread that humans know about vampires in this university?" questioned Mr. Davis, who was driving the car, his eyes on the road.

  Mrs. Davis shook her head, "That wouldn't be possible. You and I both know that the vampires have rules. A human cannot know about the existence of the vampires, and if they do, they are immediately killed or turned. And our daughter is not turned as she is very much a human."

  Back in Veteris, near Willow Creek, Julie walked on the bridge. The place continued to snow, and she had forgotten how cold the place was.

  "Cillian? Are you here?"

  Julie called the Corvin's name in hopes of finding him here. She walked around the place and after a while, she finally found him in one of the houses. He sat in the corner with his legs stretched and his hands on either side of his body covered in the cloaked sleeves.

  "What are you doing here by yourself?" asked Julie, coming to sit on the back of her heels near him. "I have been trying to contact you, but I wasn't able to reach you."

  Cillian turned his bird-like face to Julie and apologized, "Forgive me for not responding to you, I haven't been feeling myself."

  "What happened?" asked Julie in concern, and a subtle frown appeared on her forehead. "Did you stumble into a place you were not supposed to? Was it Griffin?" Wondering if Griffin had somehow harmed the Corvin, and that is why he was not his usual self.

  Before Julie could ask more, the Corvin's body trembled and shook as if he was coughing. He said, "I think last night, something was awakened and it affected me."

  "You mean our bond isn't there anymore?" inquired Julie and said, "We can always work on communication in other ways."

  "No, it isn't that," responded the Corvin. As the house was old, the windows were covered in dust, not letting light pass through from outside.

  "Light," said Julie, bringing her hand up, and a ball of light appeared that carefully moved to one of the old lanterns, lighting it up to bring in light in the room.

  When the light fell on the Corvin, a soft gasp escaped from Julie's lips and she asked in shock, "What is happening to you?!"

  The Corvin's bird-like head didn't look smooth as it usually did, and instead, it appeared as if it was decaying with spots on it. "I think my time is near," came the ragged words from him, and Julie continued to look at him with a look of disbelief.

  "That's not possible. Corvin's cannot die like that, and you have many years ahead of you," she said, while shaking her head. "It's probably just a temporary effect. Something did happen last night when we were in the restricted side of the forest. Let m—"

  She paused her words, when the Corvin raised one of its hands and showed three missing twig-like fingers and another one disintegrated right in front of her eyes, turning into dust.