Chapter 1
The Transfer.
Vandermere University doesn’t look like a university.
It looks like a warning.
Black stone towers disappear into the fog, ivy crawls over walls older than most of the city, and every window seems designed to make you feel like someone is watching from the other side.
Maybe they are.
I tighten my grip on the strap of my bag as I walk through the iron gates.
Everyone here looks like they belong.
Expensive coats. Confident smiles. Families whose names are probably carved into buildings.
And then there’s me.
Elara Vane.
Scholarship transfer.
The girl who came to Vandermere for one reason.
My sister.
A year ago, she walked into this university.
She never came home…the same.
Everyone called it a withdrawal.
I call it a lie.
“Elara Vane?”
The registrar finally looks up.
Her expression is flat.
“You’re late.”
“Traffic from the station.”
She stares at me over her glasses.
“That excuse won’t survive long here.”
I take the folder she slides across the desk.
“English Literature. Scholarship transfer. Whitmore Hall.” She taps the papers. “Your advisor is Professor Thorne.”
My fingers stop moving.
Thorne.
The name my sister stopped saying three months before she disappeared.
I force my expression to remain neutral.
“Anything else?”
“Don’t be late to your meetings with him.”
“Why?”
The registrar gives me a strange look.
“Because Professor Thorne hates late students.”
She pauses.
“Especially Vane students.”
My stomach tightens.
Before I can ask what that means, she looks back at her computer.
Conversation over.
The archive is on the third floor.
I’m not supposed to be there.
Which is exactly why I went.
My sister’s thesis should still be somewhere inside. According to the university records, it was never submitted. But I remember her talking about it.
She was obsessed with it.
And then, suddenly, she wasn’t allowed to talk about it anymore.
The archive door is unlocked.
That’s my first mistake.
My second is walking inside.
Dust hangs in the air. Rows of old books disappear into the darkness, and the only sound is the ticking of an ancient clock.
Then I hear a voice.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
I turn.
A boy stands beside the restricted shelves.
Dark sweater. Messy black hair. Cold eyes.
Beautiful in the irritating sort of way.
The kind of beautiful that probably gets away with everything.
I’ve seen him before.
Julian Croft.
Vandermere’s golden boy.
Top student. Student council president. Winner of practically every academic award the university has.
And, apparently, guardian of the restricted archives.
He steps away from the shelf.
“Freshmen orientation is downstairs.”
“I’m not a freshman.”
“Then you’re lost.”
“I’m looking for something.”
His eyes narrow.
“What?”
“My sister’s thesis.”
Silence.
Just for a second.
Something changes in his face.
Recognition.
Fear?
No.
It’s gone too quickly.
He folds his arms.
“What’s your sister’s name?”
“You know exactly who she is.”
His jaw tightens.
“Vane.”
The way he says it makes my skin prickle.
“She was a member of The Quill, wasn’t she?”
My eyes narrow.
“Yes.”
“Then you should know better than to touch anything on that shelf.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s restricted.”
“This is a public archive.”
“Not that section.”
He moves in front of me.
Blocking my way.
“The thesis section is for Quill members only.”
“My sister was in The Quill.”
His expression hardens.
“Was.”
One word.
One ugly little word.
“What do you know about her?”
“Enough.”
“Then tell me.”
He studies me.
“Your sister left Vandermere without submitting her thesis.”
“I know.”
“She wasted a scholarship. A position. An opportunity.”
My hands curl into fists.
“You don’t know anything about her.”
His mouth curves into a humorless smile.
“Let me guess. You came here to prove she was brilliant. That everyone misunderstood her.”
He leans closer.
“That’s adorable.”
I want to slap him.
Instead, I stepped closer.
“Maybe I came here to find out why she disappeared.”
The smile disappears.
Completely.
Before either of us could speak, a voice came from the doorway.
“Mr. Croft.”
Julian straightens.
Professor Thorne stands there.
Young. Impeccably dressed. Calm enough to be dangerous.
His eyes move from Julian to me.
Then stopped.
On my face.
For a moment, he says nothing.
And I know.
He recognizes me.
Not as a transfer student.
As her sister.
“Miss Vane,” he says quietly.
My pulse jumps.
“You knew my sister.”
It isn’t a question.
His expression doesn’t change.
“Everyone at Vandermere knew your sister.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Julian looks between us.
Something passes silently between them.
Something I don’t understand.
Professor Thorne reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small slip of paper.
“Since you’re so interested in our archives, perhaps you’ll find this useful.”
I took it.
My eyes drop to the assignment.
WHITMORE ARCHIVE — MIDNIGHT TO 2 A.M.
PAIRED DUTY
My eyes move to the name underneath.
CROFT, J.
I look up.
Julian is already staring at me.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
Professor Thorne walks away.
Julian takes one slow step toward me.
“Welcome to Vandermere, little merit scholar.”
His voice drops.
“And if you really came here looking for your sister…”
He glances at the paper in my hand.
“…you should be careful what you find.”
He walked past me.
Then stops at the doorway.
Without turning around, he adds,
“Because the last person who went looking for the truth about her didn’t make it to graduation.”
And then he was gone.
I stared after him.
My heart was pounding.
Because suddenly, I had a new question.
What exactly happened to my sister at Vandermere?
