AS TABATHA AND SOPHIE strolled toward the library, they chatted about their lives.

Tabatha told her about the experiences she faced after leaving the academy. When she returned home to her grandmother, she attempted to pretend to be human at first. It took about three days for her grandmother to sit her down and coax Tabatha into revealing the truth. Her grandmother was incredibly understanding and accepting, which was a huge relief.

Her old friends, however, weren't. In the time she spent at home, she'd tried to reinsert herself into her normal life. Most of her friends had somewhat moved on without her though. Some of her friends had moved away to attend college. Some now had families of their own or full-time jobs. And some had all three. It was hard to get together and hang out like they had back in high school. Tabatha had tried to tell one of her old best friends about her newfound abilities, but it didn't go well. She didn't go too much into detail about that.

Being a vampire took a while for Tabatha to get used to as well. She initially wrestled with the idea of being immortal, of having to watch her human friends from childhood grow old without her. It was really hard to imagine that she wouldn't age, or live a normal human life like she'd expected. She also never liked the idea of hurting people or drinking blood from the humans around her. It helped that Aelia was able to convince the local hospital to give Tabatha donor bags to drink.

The whole vampire thing made dating a lot easier for her though.

"I literally have to fight them off with a broom," Tabatha said as they walked through the halls. She rolled her eyes. "I mean, I've always been hot stuff. But the sheer amount of thirsty boys on my doorstep and in my Instagram inbox is seriously ridiculous."

Sophie laughed. "I can only imagine."

Tabatha winked at her, toying with a strand of her curly hair between her fingers. "I will admit that it is a little fun at times. All the compliments are a real ego boost. Plus, some of the guys are actually really cute!"

"That's great!" Sophie giggled.

They entered the Great Hall. It was very crowded, a sea of faculty and staff surrounded them. Unintelligible chit-chat flooded their ears. Sophie did her best to listen to Tabatha as she gushed about a few of her romantic conquests. The further that they walked into the room, however, the harder it became. The conversations that surrounded them made it hard to concentrate. Even Tabatha couldn't help getting slightly distracted. Sophie's eyes scanned over the room. It wasn't normally this loud, this chaotic, even after a faculty meeting was released. Something was different.

Then she saw them.

Along the edges of the massive room, several unfamiliar men stood with their backs to the walls. Expressionless eyes stared out into the crowds, scanning over faces. Each one wore a stoic expression on their faces and held large guns in their hands. None of the guards said a word. Their presence sent waves of unease through the room.

Sophie pressed her lips together into a tight, wrinkled line. The sight of automatic weapons, held by complete strangers, inside a learning institution made her feel a bit uneasy. Even though she knew that they were hired by her mother and were meant to serve as an added layer of protection.

Tabatha reached out, her fingers curling around Sophie's wrist. She tugged her forward, weaving through the crowds at a brisk pace. Once they made it to the hallway that connected the Great Hall to the library, she whispered. "Dude, did you see all that crazy security?"

Sophie nodded.

Tabatha glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes wide. "I mean, I knew things were serious. But holy cow. There had to be at least ten or twelve guards in that room! And they had some serious looking guns!"

Sophie slowly felt herself start to relax. "I really wasn't expecting that either," she admitted quietly. She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's totally insane. I'm sure that it will be worth it though. We don't want to lose anymore students."

As they got closer to the entrance of the library, Tabatha and Sophie slowed down. Two men stood outside the library doors. Each wore darkly colored clothing, with military issued body armor and large, heavy guns in their hands. The expressions on their faces were unreadable. Sophie's stomach tightened.

Tabatha and Sophie shared an uneasy look as they approached the guards.

"Are we, like, allowed to actually go in?" Tabatha asked, pointing at the heavy library doors that they guarded.

One of the men cracked a small smile. "Of course," he said. "You can just ignore us. We are posted around the castle just to ensure safety. Nothing is off-limits or anything, at least to staff. Students are the only ones who need an escort."

"It's kind of hard to ignore you," Tabatha remarked. She folded her arms across her chest. "Y'all are like mosquitoes in the summer. Literally everywhere."

"Large, gun-wielding mosquitoes," Sophie muttered under her breath.

The guard chuckled. "Sorry about that. Unfortunately, there isn't much that I can do to change that. We have to keep to our orders."

"I understand," Tabatha said with a sigh.

His smile grew. He reached out and pushed open the library door, holding it open for them. "Have fun!" he chirped as they stepped into the massive room.

The moment the door shut behind them, Sophie turned to Tabatha with a sly grin. "Girl, you really do have boys eating out of your hand."

Tabatha rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop. He wasn't that interested."

"I beg to differ," Sophie said with a snicker. "He was absolutely interested. He even held open the door for you."

Mumbling under her breath and shaking her head, Tabatha started walking. The library was easily one of the largest rooms in the castle. It was bigger than both the Great Hall and the Dining Hall, combined. On the first level, it was filled with desks and couches and places to study. Two spiral staircases were situated on either side of the entrance, leading toward the other four levels. Just opposite of the entrance sat the librarian's desk. It was a massive crescent shaped desk that curved along the edges of the room. The other levels to the library held the books. Each floor was overflowing with bookshelves.

"I'll go talk to the librarian," Tabatha said. "You sneak into the restricted area and see what you can find."

Sophie laughed. "We're not students anymore," she reminded her. "We don't have to sneak into the restricted section. It's not restricted to us."

"You know what I mean," Tabatha said with a cheesy grin. "Let's plan to meet back at one of these tables in like thirty minutes. Sound good?"

Sophie nodded. She made her way toward one of the spiral staircases. The restricted section could be found on the third level, toward the back. It was separated from the rest of the library by a floor-to-ceiling iron gate, which required a classroom key in order to unlock.

As she unlocked the gate and entered the restricted section, she sighed. There was a lot of material available for her to sift through —and no actual guarantee that she'd find anything.

She looked skimmed through book after book, searching for anything that mentioned unusual creatures. It didn't have to name the creature, or completely describe them the way that Finn had. She was just looking for anything that might have a remote similarity.

Holding a small pile of promising books in her hands, Sophie paused, listening as the sound of footsteps approached her from behind. "What are you searching for?" a familiar voice asked. Sophie glanced back over her shoulder, not at all surprised to find Finn standing behind her.

He smiled cheerfully at her.

"Not sure yet," she responded. "What are you doing here?"

He glanced around at the books that surrounded them and shrugged. "I was hoping to find some more information about the Revenants, honestly. I've been searching through these archives for any sort of article that mentions creatures that are even remotely like them."

Sophie pursed her lips. "That's pretty much what we are looking for too," she admitted. "I feel like there is more to these creatures than what you said. There has to be some sort of mention of them throughout history. It's not like they just appeared. And I doubt that you are the only one who has encountered them."

"I absolutely agree," Finn said. He grinned down at her. "You are so smart. Most of the other staff have just accepted my accounts of them and have moved on for the day.

She laughed. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Not everyone is as curious about these creatures as we are."

Finn chuckled. His gaze floated downward, toward her neck. His gaze lingered on her throat and Sophie instantly became self-conscious.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, her fingertips pressing against her throat, rubbing against the ragged skin there.

"What is that on your neck?" he asked. He moved closer and reached out, his fingers touching her own. Curiosity shimmered within his eyes. Sophie hesitantly allowed him to move her hand away and examine her mark.

"It's kind of hard to explain," she said. "The old Headmaster carved it into my throat."

"It's a curse mark," he said. "Though I have to admit, I have never seen one like this before."

Finn's eyes narrowed. Both of his hands gently touched the sides of her face, tilting it upward and to the side so he could get a better look at the mark. He ran his fingertips over it and hummed. "I may be able to remove it. I just need to do some research first."

Sophie's heart skipped a beat. "Really?" she asked. She did her best not to sound too hopeful. The mark didn't bother her that much. For the most part, it was easy to forget about. But students asked about it a lot. And it just made her nervous, considering her crazy old uncle was the one who gave it to her.

"I will need to study it though," he murmured. He lowered his hands and took a step back. "I will need to run a few tests too —just to see if it has any sort of magic or effects over you. Once I can figure out exactly what it does or what it is meant for, I can try to remove it."

"Tests?" Sophie asked. Uncertainty overflowed within her voice. Thanks to the Mating Games, she'd had enough tests to last her for a lifetime. Maybe even longer than that.

Finn laughed. "Don't worry. Nothing serious nor immediate. And I'll walk you through everything."

She pursed her lips, still unsure about the idea.

He smiled warmly. "It's all up to you. In the meantime, I'll try to research the actual marking itself and see if I can find anything. I'll let you know!"

"Alright," she said. She glanced over her shoulder, toward the shelves that stretched on behind her. "I should probably get back to my friend. Thank you for your help," she said.

He nodded and chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you again, Sophie."

She smiled. She waved at him and started toward the gate with her small pile of books. Part of her was genuinely curious to see if Tabatha had found anything with the librarian. The other part of her was slightly unnerved by Finn.

It was kind of exciting to think that he might actually be able to get rid of her curse mark. And it was really hard not to get her hopes up about it.

hey babes!

Thank you so much for your continued patience and support!! I am still doing my best to get a set update schedule worked out. But at the very least, I should hopefully be updating at least once a week! Thank you for continuing to read this story!

I hope that everyone has had a great week so far ❤