Sana felt absolutely hideous in the morning. She hadn’t slept well; her arm burned, and her head ached. It didn’t help her outlook that Tzuyu’s face was smooth and remote as she kissed Sana’s forehead quickly and ducked out the window. Sana worried about the time she’d spent unconscious, afraid Tzuyu might have spent it thinking about right and wrong again while watching her sleep. The anxiety only seemed to intensify the pounding in her head.
Tzuyu was waiting for her at school, as usual, but her face was still wrong. There was something buried in her dark eyes—something Sana couldn’t quite place—and it scared her. She didn’t want to bring up last night, but avoiding the subject might make things worse.
Tzuyu opened her car door for her. “How do you feel?”
“Perfect,” Sana lied, cringing as the sound of the slamming door echoed painfully in her head.
They walked in silence, Tzuyu shortening her stride to match Sana’s slower pace. Sana’s mind was crowded with questions she wanted to ask, though most would have to wait. They were questions for Mina: How was Chaeyoung this morning? What had everyone said when she was gone? What had Momo said?
And most importantly—what could Mina see happening now in her strange, imperfect visions of the future? Could she guess what Tzuyu was thinking? Why Tzuyu was so gloomy? Was there a reason for the fears Sana couldn’t shake—an instinctive dread that clung to her no matter how hard she tried to brush it away?
The morning passed slowly. Sana was impatient to see Mina, though she knew she wouldn’t really be able to talk to her with Tzuyu there. Tzuyu remained distant, her expression guarded. Occasionally, she would ask about Sana’s arm, and Sana would lie—insisting it was fine.
Mina usually arrived at the cafeteria before them; she didn’t have to match the pace of a sloth. But when they walked in, Mina wasn’t waiting at their usual table with a tray of food she wouldn’t eat.
Tzuyu didn’t say anything about her absence. Sana tried to reassure herself that maybe Minae’s class was running late—until she spotted Eunsoo and Ben, who were in Mina’s fourth-hour French class.
“Where’s Mina?” Sana asked anxiously, turning to Tzuyu.
Tzuyu’s gaze dropped to the granola bar she was absentmindedly crushing between her fingertips. “She’s with Chaeyoung.”
“Is she okay?” Sana pressed.
Tzuyu’s face remained unreadable. “she’s gone away for a while.”
“What? Where?”
Tzuyu shrugged. “Nowhere in particular.”
“And Mina, too?” Sana asked quietly, her voice laced with desperation. Of course Mina would go—if Chaeyoung needed her, she wouldn’t hesitate.
“Yes. She’ll be gone for a while. She was trying to convince her to go to Denali.”
Sana knew Denali well by now—it was where another group of vampires, ones like the Yoos, lived. Tanya and her family. Tzuyu—Tzuyu’s counterpart in the Yoo family—had gone there last winter when Sana’s arrival in Dobong-gu had complicated things. Laurent, the more civilized member of Dawn's coven, had also chosen Denali instead of aligning with Dawn.
It made sense that Mina would encourage Chaeyoung to go there. But still, Sana’s heart sank. Mina and Chaeyoung were gone. And Tzuyu was still so distant—so unreadable.
Sana swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the sudden lump in her throat. The guilt weighed heavily, making her head bow and her shoulders slump. She’d driven them away—Mina and Chaeyoung, just like Momo and Dahyun. She felt like a plague.
