Read Online Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon - Free Book Online Page B

her fingers into it and tapped each Monitor on the forehead, smearing a crimson streak just above their eyes.
    Then she spoke in Latin, her voice booming across the green.
    Nathaniel translated. “ ‘Blood from the oak tree, blood from our founders, resting in the roots beneath. May our minds be deciduous, constantly being reborn.’ ”
    The headmistress stopped speaking and turned to the new Board of Monitors. They looked frightening, almost biblical, with the sap dripping down their foreheads. I had never heard of a tree that bled red sap.
    “Gottfried Academy, I present to you the Board of Monitors. In celebration, I would like to invite you all to join us in the Megaron for the first-of-the-year feast.”
    And with that, the headmistress walked past the board, and one by one they filed off the green and back toward the dorms. The professors followed. No one clapped. No one spoke. The wind blew overhead, making the campus feel vacant.
    Once they were gone, everyone stood up. I glanced back at the front row, but Dante wasn’t there. Only Eleanor, talking to a group of girls. The rest of the students had already begun to head to the Megaron, which apparently meant great hall in Greek, for the feast. Everyone except for Nathaniel, who was hanging around the benches, as if he were waiting for something.
    “Are you going to the feast?” I said finally.
    Looking slightly surprised, he straightened his posture.
    “Yeah.” He fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt. Suddenly he slapped a mosquito off his arm.
    “Do you want to sit with me?” I asked. He was a bit weird, but seemed nice and sort of funny, and since he hadn’t left with friends, I was pretty sure he didn’t have anyone to sit with.
    He perked up and pushed his glasses closer to his face. “Really? I mean, yeah, sure.”
    We met up with Eleanor and her friends at a table in the Megaron. Eleanor’s friends were just like her: pretty, rich, and carefree. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised—the girls upon seeing Nathaniel trailing behind me, or Nathaniel upon realizing that he was sitting with some of the most popular girls in our year. Even though I tried to pay attention while everyone was catching up, I couldn’t help glancing around the dining hall, hoping to spot Dante beneath one of the iron chandeliers. But all I saw were the faces of strangers.
    Then suddenly I heard his name. I turned back to the table, where all the girls and Nathaniel were staring at me, waiting for me to answer.
    “Right, Renée?” Eleanor probed.
    “What? Sorry. I was just looking at the, um, the Board of Monitors table.”
    “I was just telling them that you got Dante Berlin to talk. I think he even laughed.”
    I blushed. “Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t a serious conversation or anything. He was actually sort of rude.”
    “Everything is serious with Dante. He never smiles or laughs,” said Greta, an athletic redhead.
    “He didn’t seem that bad,” I said, taking a bite of pasta. “He did have a sense of humor...kind of.”
    “He was different around you,” Eleanor said. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him talk to anyone for as long as he did with you. Since last spring, that is.”
    “What do you mean ‘last spring’? What happened?”
    Rebecca, a lithe girl with short black hair, interjected. “No one really knows,” she said, leaning on her elbows. “Just that Benjamin Gallow died. He disappeared, and then a few days later they found him in the woods. Dead.”
    Eleanor interrupted her. “You’re telling it completely wrong.” She waited until she had my full attention, and began. “So it was the middle of spring term, when one day Benjamin just didn’t show up for classes. Benjamin was the kind of guy who had no idea how hot he really was. He was a straight-A student, the best épée fencer on campus, and was friendly to everyone, even the cook staff. Basically everyone liked Benjamin, and Benjamin liked everyone. So when he didn’t