MATTHEW TREMAIN WAS BURIED ON A BRIGHT SPRING MORNING, in the churchyard overlooking the river. Cassie stood at his graveside and watched the casket lower into the earth. They’d found his body in the rubble, along with the rest of the School of Night. A cave-in, the official report had said. Unsound foundations. A private supper club gone terribly wrong.
Nobody objected to the official investigation verdict, Charlie had made sure of that. The TV news networks ran glowing obituaries to Richard Mandeville, a promising politician whose great career had been cruelly cut short. There were murmurs about what exactly had led to his demise, but nobody wanted to raise any more questions about the goings-on at Raleigh College. Soon, attention turned to the next scandal: another government minister in a compromising position, a new celebrity feud to fill the column inches. The deaths faded to memories; they would not be mourned for long.
Except by her.
Cassie listened to the priest read and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She’d barely known him, but in his final moments, her father had proven his worth. He’d sacrificed himself to save her, just as her mother had done so many years before.
She hoped she had made their selflessness worthwhile.
The ceremony was small, just a collection of professors and students from the college come to pay their respects. There was to be a reception too, at a tutor’s house, but Cassie ducked away after the service, walking to meet Charlie on the edge of the graveyard.
“So what now?” he asked, as they strolled slowly toward the street.
“I could use a drink.” Cassie gave a rueful smile. “And wasn’t your mother promising to cook me Sunday roast?”
“I meant, after that.” Charlie stopped. “You’re all wrapped up here, aren’t you? I mean, the society is destroyed, isn’t it?”
She nodded slowly. “The hunger to feed, it’s fading every day. The members out there who weren’t at the ceremony should be weaker already. Eventually, their power will be gone.”
“They won’t be able to feed off anyone else?”
“I don’t think so. The connection is gone; it changed. I just hope it’s over for good.”
“So are you heading back home now, or what?” Charlie looked away, casually, but Cassie could see through his façade.
“I don’t think so,” she replied. “Not just yet. I have another semester of study on my scholarship. I figured I could stick around.”
Charlie grinned. “Admit it, babe. You can’t bear the thought of leaving me.”
She laughed. “Please. No, I just was thinking . . . I don’t know what I’m going to do next. I’ve spent so long focused on my mom, on this, that I never really considered my future.”
“And now?”
“Now I guess I’ll find out.” Cassie squeezed his hand. They stepped onto the sidewalk, and into the flow of people passing by. Tourists, pedestrians, and the surge of students. The bells rang out above them, and the spires loomed bright in the sky.
It was springtime in Oxford, and everything was in bloom.