ã€ŠDescending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)ã€‹


 Chapter 1

    He tasted good, and I was ready to sink my fangs into his neck, but for some reason the urge wasn¡¯t as intense as I expected it to be. The heat rushed through my core. His pulse skyrocketed and I felt it, sensing his arousal. He brushed his fingers over my buttocks, pulling me closer to his body.

    Damn it, I had no idea what I was doing, but this felt so good. I could smell his blood when he was kissing me. I could tell, even now, that it was sweet and thick. I wanted to taste him so badly. His tongue was thoroughly exploring my mouth and I moaned when he pushed his hard erection against my navel.

    ¡°Hmm, Jay, you taste good for a vampire,¡± he muttered and then kissed me harder. My breath was shallow as desire overwhelmed me slowly. The heat from his body was addictive and with Jason, there were no shbacks, no nonsense like it was with ¡­

    Crap, I wasn¡¯t supposed to be thinking about pretty boy when I was making out with the hot shifter, but for some reason I couldn¡¯t help myself.

    Pressure started building inside of me that was ten times more powerful than when L made mee using his skilled fingers. I never cared much about the opposite sex, but since arriving to Moonlight, I had definitely changed my perspective. Jason pushed his hips tightly against mine. He was rubbing himself over my sex.

    However, I was distracted by the fact that we were so close to my dorm room. We were too exposed here, anyone could walk in on us, but maybe that¡¯s what made this whole thing much more exciting. His lips were smooth as his mouth ran down the side of my neck, then he started nting little kisses along my cor bone. I shut my eyes, imagining taking control, and moaned loudly, unable to form any other coherent response. Jason was a third year student; he was much more mature than I was.

    We had material art sses together. My friend Karina pushed me to talk to him. I wasn¡¯t particrly forward but I found him attractive, so I told myself that there nothing wrong with having a bit of fun. Jason must have thought the same thing, because he came over and started flirting with me almost straight away. Surprisingly we had a lot of things inmon, but making out in the corridors was by far the most entertaining experience. The dreams about the hot Scot were still haunting me most nights.

    Oldman hadn¡¯t revealed any further information about the undercover operation that I was supposed to go on with L. I was still waiting. It had been two months since we all returned from that mission in Moscow. I was trying to dive back into the new routine in school; attend all my sses and get used to the fact that pretty boy wasn¡¯t nning to leave me alone.

    I needed to taste Jason¡¯s blood. We hadn¡¯t discussed the boundaries yet but I was certain that he wouldn¡¯t mind. His hands cupped my breasts as I slid my hand down to his crotch, trying to undo his jeans. He was so damn hard.

    ¡°I need to taste you,¡± I whispered into his ear and his muscles tensed instantly. Was he a little afraid of me or of the unknown?

    I didn¡¯t sense any fear but he¡¯d probably never made out with a vampire before, so he must have been apprehensive.

    ¡°Fuck it, yeah, bite me Jaymin,¡± he said.

    He didn¡¯t have to tell me twice; I was so fucking aroused that my fangs descended instantly. My throat tickled and more heat rushed through my core. Momentster, I sunk my fangs into his neck, feeling his hard cock between my legs. At that point he started panting. There was only a thinyer of clothes now separating us.

    Jason tasted divine. I began drinking his blood while he growled and moaned. His blood tasted incredibly salty. I stopped for a moment, wondering if I was truly enjoying him.

    He growled again, encouraging me to keep going, and I still wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good idea. After a moment the blood tasted surprisingly better, but I couldn¡¯tpare it to L¡¯s. His was rich, silky and just addictive. I hadn¡¯t tasted anyone else since the pretty boy and right then my taste buds were going crazy. However, the fae part of me hated this whole act.

    The other part of me was afraid of these primal instincts. I was getting a little self-conscious, I wasn¡¯t that evil night creature that hunted humans.

    I was so aroused when he started rolling his finger over my pert nipple, my moaning in rhythm with his touch. I had to pull away for a moment to gather myself, then took a step back.

    My head was spinning a little too and Jason¡¯s pupils were fully dted. Blood was spilling down my mouth, so I quickly wiped it away. Damn it, I wasn¡¯t nning to do this at all. Now I felt a little embarrassed that I¡¯d lost control.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You didn¡¯t have to stop babe,¡± he said, trying to bring me closer to him again. I didn¡¯t know why I¡¯d stopped at first but then we both sensed someone else in the hall.

    ¡°I should go,¡± I said and then quickly added. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have bit you Jason, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    I rubbed my forehead, feeling silly that I decided to do this here, where anyone could have seen us. Karina may have encouraged me to go flirt with Jason but I didn¡¯t have to listen to her. I was socially awkward. I had no idea how these things worked exactly, but after I¡¯d pressed my lips to Jason¡¯s everything just came naturally.

    Karina was much more experienced than I was. She knew how to work men; she used her skills to make them do whatever she wanted. I couldn¡¯t have imagined being as confident as her.

    ¡°What? No, that¡¯s totally cool babe,¡± Jason answered, trying to grab my hand. I wanted to walk away. I quickly turned around and just then, in the distance, I saw L approaching.

    Damn it. He could probably sense my blood from here, probably from miles away.

    My knees nearly gave out under the weight of my body. What the hell was he doing here?

    His dorm was on the other side of the school, and luckily, he was far away from me. I hoped that Jason wasn¡¯t going to be stupid enough to try to catch up with me.

    ¡°Hey beautiful, having fun are we?¡± the handsome Scot asked, narrowing his eyes and ncing behind me. My insides started to turn and my heartbeat picked up instantly. Damn it, he obviously sensed that just a second ago I was making out with a shifter. I didn¡¯t have to exin myself to him, but I didn¡¯t want everyone within the academy building knowing my business either.

    ¡°Yes, always. What do you want L? I¡¯m kind of busy,¡± I told him, wanting to vanish inside my room just as Jason caught up with me.

    My lipstick was all over his neck, oh well, too bad. It was a done deal. I couldn¡¯t do anything else now. Pretty boy gave me a long intense look. He seemed annoyed. This wasn¡¯t the reaction that I expected from him.

    ¡°Alright bro,¡± Jason said, greeting him. The shifter winked at me and then moved past us. He didn¡¯t say anything else and I was so relieved that he¡¯d just walked away.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    An unexpected wave of heat rushed through my core. My breath was unsteady, and as a vampire L sensed everything. The awkward silence stretched for a little while. Heavy tension settled between us. I didn¡¯t know why he was here and I didn¡¯t care. We weren¡¯t an item, so I didn¡¯t have to exin myself to him. I¡¯d never promised him anything.

    ¡°So¡­you and the shifter. I thought you had standards, hen,¡± he said in the tone of voice that indicated that he was slightly jealous and possessive of me. L was so damned handsome I didn¡¯t want to take my eyes off him. His wide blue eyes were scanning my body and I was getting even more turned on.

    Earlier on Karina insisted that I wear this red lipstick and I¡¯d listened.

    ¡°It¡¯s really none of your business L. More to the point, what are you doing here? I thought your dorm was on the other side of the building,¡± I pointed out. He was standing too close to me. I inhaled his scent, thinking back to the time we¡¯d kissed.

    He took a step towards me and my back hit the wall. I wasn¡¯t afraid of him, but he was pushing me again. Our passionate kiss kept shing in front of my eyes.

    The craving for his blood came back.

    ¡°I want to know what are you doing with Riley inside that old gym ss. That fae is bad news and you¡¯re naive thinking that he¡¯s going to help you,¡± L said, standing way too close to me right now.

    He had no idea what was going on with me, but he was trying to figure it out. Oldman had insisted that professor Riley was the most qualified person to help me to deal with my magic. I was not prepared to share these details with anyone yet.

    The truth was that I hated these private sessions with Riley. He was very unpleasant and afterwards I could barely stand I was so drained of my energy. I figured that he didn¡¯t like me very much either because we weren¡¯t making much progress.

    L was worried about me and I appreciated that. There were a lot of rumours going around the school. Riley had a certain reputation and I was only first year student.

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you countless times that what I do is none of your business.¡±

    I was fed up telling him this over and over again.

    The problem was that my body was betraying me whenever he was near. I wanted to feel his lips on me once again, feel the throbbing between my legs when ¡­

    ¡°He¡¯s bad news and he¡¯s a fae. You¡¯re half vamp hen, so you shouldn¡¯t be hanging out with him. I don¡¯t understand why Oldman feels that you need to have private lessons with that clown,¡± L whispered to me, at the same time inhaling my scent.

    We were supposed to have been sent to Kildra Academy undercover, but months had gone by and nothing had happened so far.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d think you were jealous L¡± I stated, thinking that it was time for me to bail. The fae part of me was going crazy and the magic within me was rising fast. I was so afraid that something bad might happen, that I might explode again. That part of me was still so unpredictable.

    Six months ago I was homeless, living in Lviv in the Ukraine, and killing dangerous convicts that had escaped the justice system. I had no memories of my previous life as a human. Then my only source of ie was cut off and I was approached by Oldman on the street.

    Apparently she had been watching me for a while. She offered me a ce in Moonlight Academy in Kiev. I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to relocate and transform my life, but in the end I had no other tangible options. The High Council was after me, wanting to question me about my life as a rogue half vampire. I couldn¡¯t return to hunting convicts because Tristan (the contact in local authority for supernaturals) had betrayed me.

    When I thought about all the choices that I had made in the past six months, I decided that epting Oldman¡¯s offer was the best decision that I¡¯ve ever made. I finally had a ce that I could call home, people that cared about me and a career. Life was good, but my demons were still haunting me. The fact that I¡¯d killed dozens of vampires with my magic, along with a very powerful mage was giving me anxiety, especially when I couldn¡¯t really exin how it all happened.

    ¡°No hen, I¡¯m just concerned about you. More than you realise,¡± he said it more gently and then he brushed his hand over my cheek. I closed my eyes, when he brought his face closer to mine. It was difficult for me to control my vampire urges, when at that same moment my fangs descended. His scent was so damn tempting but I couldn¡¯t get involved with him, not until I figured out how he was linked to my past. ¡°And I still really, really want to drink from you. It¡¯s been months and you¡¯re driving me insane.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be concerned about me L,¡± I snapped, releasing myself out of his spell and then wriggling out of his clutches.

    The lust was making me weak and this whole situation was dangerous enough. I managed to free myself from his grip and ran back to my dorm. He was shouting after me but I wasn¡¯t listening anymore. I barged inside my door and kept taking long, deep breaths of air for a little while until I realised that Karina was sitting on the bed watching me.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Have you seen the demon that everyone keeps gossiping about?¡± she asked, sounding amused.

    ¡°No, I just saw L. He¡¯s annoying and way too interested in my personal life. It¡¯s my business what I do with Riley after sses and Jason too for that matter. He¡¯s getting way too involved,¡± I started ranting, pacing around the room, still pretty wound up. Afterwards, I continued talking, about Oldman, again about pretty boy and vented all my pent-up frustrations to Karina.

    This took a while and she sat there, quietly listening, not saying anything or trying to interrupt me at all. I never used to rant but I was disappointed with theck of progress, worried that my magic was getting out of control, and afraid that the group might reject me once they learned the truth about who I really was.

    ¡°He obviously cares about you more than he cares about anyone else in here. Stop burying your feelings and just open up your heart to him,¡± she said, after I was finally done.

    I looked at her,pletely taken back by her response, wondering what the hell happened to that confident Karina that I was used to. Then I realised that I¡¯d said too much, because she was giving me that look. She must have already figured out that I had a crush on him. Damn it, this wasn¡¯t going well.

    ¡°We are notpatible,¡± I muttered, thinking that I should have denied everything, but it was already toote. Karina had just discovered my embarrassing secret.

 Chapter 2

    I wanted to quickly change the subject, but Karina remarked that my bickering with pretty boy hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed. The other members of our team had probably already put two and two together. At that point, I didn¡¯t care anymore. My life was no one else¡¯s business. Over the next few days I tried to stay away from pretty boy. He somehow got the message and stopped bothering me.

    On Thursday evening, Karina announced that she had nned a trip to Bucharest for both of us. I got very excited about the possibility of leaving school. One of Karina¡¯s best friends lived there. A few months ago, after I¡¯d returned from Russia, Oldman had paid the whole group forpleting the mission, and for the first time in my life I had money. The very next day I went to town and set up a bank ount. Karina helped me with the paperwork and a weekter I received my first bank card in the post. I stared at it for a long time, wondering if this was happening for real.

    ¡°Are we even allowed to leave school?¡± I asked, staring at her after she mentioned that everything was already sorted.

    ¡°Of course. We just need to let Oldman know what we intend to do,¡± she exined, grinning and then added ¡°You deserve to have fun once in a while. Besides we are going to be back here by Monday.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything, but deep down I was thrilled that I could finally enjoy myself. Karina threw my backpack at me.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Pack your best clothes darling because are going to have a wild weekend.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile, agreeing wholeheartedly with her. We were all adults here and as long as we didn¡¯t miss any lectures, we still had the freedom to do exactly what we wanted.

    At the same time, I felt a little restricted, maybe because of what had happened in the past. I shook these tangling thoughts away and told myself that I had nothing to worry about.

    After struggling for so many years, I finally had funds to travel to another country. The airfare wasn¡¯t pricey. Karina said that she¡¯d found a very good deal for both of us.

    Around six am the taxi picked us up from outside the Moonlight Academy building and took us to the airport.

    Since my encounter with L, my magic had been a little unsettled, so I had to be careful. There was still a lot that I needed to learn about myself and about myplex abilities.

    For years Melody had been my only friend, so this whole situation was a little surreal.

    ¡°How is your witchy friend? Have you managed to finally get through to her?¡± Karina asked.

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t heard from her since ourst conversation. She¡¯s not allowed to have a phone,¡± I said, still thinking about her.

    Melody was going to be pissed off that I had never said goodbye, but deep down I knew that she was even happier that I was no longer homeless. I told her briefly about Moonlight and about my group. She promised me that she woulde visit me here in Kiev one day, but I wasn¡¯t sure how she would manage that. I was so happy when I¡¯d heard her voice. Witches never cared about technology, but Anna had a phone line in her house. I suspected that Melody only used it when her guardian wasn¡¯t around.

    ¡°Witches and their convents are cagey. They don¡¯t allow technology to interfere with their magic. I suspect that your friend doesn¡¯t have much of a voice,¡± Karina exined.

    She was right. Melody was restricted until she became a real witch. For now, she couldn¡¯t change her destiny even if she wanted to.

    ¡°I might go and visit her in Lviv if I don¡¯t hear back from her,¡± I muttered, feeling a little guilty.

    Melody was a good soul and we had always been close. She didn¡¯t deserve being controlled by Anna. At the same time, I didn¡¯t want to return to the ce where I was technically born as a half vampire, but Melody was the only person that I ever considered family.

    Karina mentioned that we were going to stay in a fancy apartment that she¡¯d found through some online website and I was looking forward to it.

    The flight to Bucharest was very short. I had a little panic attack on the ne, but somehow I managed to calm down. We both spotted several supernatural creatures on our flight.

    Leonidas was still out there. He had managed to escape and was probablyying low, nning his revenge. Dorothy had been rescued but I had a feeling that the ancient wasn¡¯t going to give up so easily.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get out of here. I¡¯m getting a migraine,¡± Karina said as we were walking through the terminal building. We located the exit doors quickly enough.

    ¡°There are a lot of supernaturals around here, way more than in Kiev,¡± I told her, seeing a group of vampires that were watching us from a distance.

    ¡°Bucharest is riddled with them. They are here because of Elite,¡± she exined when we finally got outside.

    It was cold and the rain was pouring down from the sky. Karina managed to get us a taxi quickly enough. I was looking forward to exploring the city and meeting Karina¡¯s friend.

    I still had no idea why Karina had been excluded from her pack back in Sweden but I had a feeling that I was going to find it out soon enough.

    Heavy dark clouds were hanging in the sky. It was probably going to snow too. It was the end of November and I¡¯d caught the end of the weather forecast. Apparently the whole of Eastern Europe was supposed to be hit with a snow storm that was approaching from the East. I¡¯d always hated the winters in Lviv.

    After Karina showed the taxi driver the address, the driver kept talking in fast Romanian throughout the whole journey. He didn¡¯t seem bothered that we didn¡¯t understand a thing he said.

    It was liberating to know that for the first time I didn¡¯t have to answer to anyone. That unexpected freedom scared me a little.

    The driver dropped us off by therge townhouse building. When I saw the apartment that we were going to stay in I was speechless. It was the most amazing ce that I had ever seen; with high ceilings, wooden floors and an ultra-modern kitchen. Karina had really outdone herself this time. I was walking around therge living room, imagining Melody¡¯s face when I showed her the photos of this ce. She would love it.

    ¡°Karina. This ce is absolutely amazing. This must have cost a fortune,¡± I said to her, looking out the window. The view of the city was spectacr too. She twisted her pink hair around her fingers and gave me a wink.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, it¡¯s cheap to rent something like this in Romania, besides I can always source a very good deal. Let¡¯s change and go out. Marisa said that she wants to meet up in the club in town,¡±

    It was still pretty early and I was way too excited to stay inside. I didn¡¯t even want to think about assignments or preparations for lessons with Riley. Pretty boy was a distant memory too.

    I needed to rx, enjoy myself to the fullest, and not worry about where I was going to sleep tonight or when could I have a warm meal next.

    ¡°All right,¡± I said, smiling. ¡°But you need to help me out with my clothes. You know I¡¯m useless at making myself look decent.¡±

    ¡°Stop it Jaymin. You¡¯re not useless, but of course girl. I¡¯ll hook you up,¡± she said, sounding annoyed that I didn¡¯t have much confidence in myself. I was very lucky to have that kind of friend in Karina.

    We left the apartment around six pm and headed straight into town. Karina was excited about seeing her friend. Apparently, Marisa had called her out of the blue and told her that she wanted to see her. She refused to reveal anything over the phone, but Karina didn¡¯t seem concerned about anything.

    The city was beaming, but it was so damn cold. After staying indoors throughout most of the summer and autumn I¡¯d kind of forgotten how hard it used to be in the past.

    ¡°You seem to know these streets very well, have you been here before?¡± I asked Karina, after we ended up in a very busy alley filled with shifters. Most of them were looking at me with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. Most of them had likely never seen a half breed before.

    ¡°Once or twice, but don¡¯t forget that I have photographic memory. The club is just around the corner, Marisa is waiting for us there,¡± Karina said. ¡°That girl always hangs around very handsome guys. I think you should borrow one and have fun tonight.¡±

    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right, I need to live a little,¡± I said, thinking about L. A cold shiver crawled over my spine when I thought about ourst encounter and that kiss.

    We walked through the crowd and shortly afterwards we got to the club. The temperature had dropped again and we were both d finally of getting inside. My fingers werepletely numb. There were a lot of supernaturals around, simr to the clubs in Russia and Ukraine. The music was loud, a lot of female vampires wore basically next to nothing. They probably didn¡¯t feel the cold like most of the other breeds there, but still, they should realise that there were humans amongst them.

    Karina dragged me to the bar and she quickly charmed the barman. We got our drinks before anyone else did. Some females in the queue didn¡¯t seem too happy.

    Momentster, I sensed the odour of blood and my magic prickled along my skin instantly. There were several vampires with humans in the corners. It was obvious that these people were their donors. In here, no one seemed to care about humans, no one bothered to be careful. Back in Ukraine, the High Council would have shut this ce down already.

    ¡°Marisa hasn¡¯t read myst text and that was an hour ago,¡± Karina said, frowning and staring at her fancy phone.

    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s just trying to get here and she¡¯s running a bitte,¡± I said, staring at the human girl that was attempting to flirt with one of the vampires.

    This seemedpletely surreal to me, but I kept telling myself that I had to be open minded. This was a different country, different culture and obviously things were set up differently too.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m slightly worried. Marisa hates beingte. She normally leaves an hour earlier just to make sure she is always on time,¡± Karina said, drinking her fancy cocktail. I went for a beer and as soon as I dipped my lips into the ss, the alcohol began messing around with my magic. I thought for a second that I sensed L nearby, but surely that was impossible. He was thousands of miles away from here.

    ¡°So, what do you want to do? The vibes in this club are odd. The humans seem to know what is going on here,¡± I muttered, not wanting to worry her, but too many breeds were staring at us, well specifically at me, as if they had never seen a half breed before.

    ¡°Hold on, I have another text from her,¡± Karina said, showing me the phone so we could both read it.

    Meet me in the park. Something happened and I think I was being followed. The usual ce. M

    Karina frowned and then nced at me. I was confused. I had no idea what to think.

    ¡°The usual ce, do you know what she means?¡± I asked her taking a deep breath in. Sudden waves of heat rushed through my veins. The magic around me was very intense. It started pumping through me. I knew that someone was trying to break my wards. Another fae or possibly an ancient vampire was nearby. I started ncing around, but there were so many supernatural beings standing so close to me that it was hard to tell who had a problem with me.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s that one ce where we used to like hanging around. Come on, let¡¯s get a move on, this is very strange,¡± Karina said, finishing her drink in one go and grabbing my hand.

    I didn¡¯t have time to question her as she dragged me outside. The magical energy was so apparent I had to take several long breaths of air. I felt a bit better after a while. Karina looked worried, so I just carried on following her. We crossed the road and headed away from the centre of the city.

    Within twenty minutes we were outside the tall metal gate. The streets around us were empty. It was pitch ck and I wasn¡¯t sensing anyone nearby, no pedestrians, shifters or even vampires.

    ¡°Karina, this ce is deserted. Maybe you should try calling her again,¡± I suggested, sensing her growing anxiety. Something was wrong and we both felt it. The sense of dread that hung over our heads mixed with freezing icy cold air. This wasn¡¯t a very nice feeling at all.

    I knelt down and took my knives out of my boot. I didn¡¯t expect to need them tonight, but I always liked to be prepared.

    ¡°Let¡¯s look around. We aren¡¯t far from the Elite territory. The academy is just behind this park,¡± Karina said. The gate was unlocked, my half breed eyes had adjusted to the darkness and Karina looked like she was ready to shift. I was a little taken back by the fact that we were so close to the Elite. I thought that the Academy was somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

    I used my hand to create a magical light, there weren¡¯t any humans around so we were safe for now. We entered the park and started walking along the dark path. Not all of themps were working, or maybe someone had made sure that we couldn¡¯t see anything here. I wasn¡¯t really sure what we were looking for until we came through to the open path. In the middle of it there was a small fountain, but then something by the bench caught my eye.

    ¡°Karina, there¡¯s something there,¡± I said it out loudly. It took us both a few seconds to figure out that what exactly we were staring at¨Ca corpse.

    ¡°Dear Lord, it¡¯s her, it¡¯s Marisa,¡± Karina whispered, going instantly pale.

 Chapter 3

    My heart elerated and I swallowed hard. Karina was in a state of shock and she wasn¡¯t moving. I didn¡¯t need to check if Marisa was truly dead. Her energy waspletely absent.

    I approached her slowly, instantly noticing arge knife that was stuck in her chest. Karina started pacing around, mumbling some incoherent words to herself. The faint scent of magic was making me a little dizzy. It was intense, raw, and even worse that it was faintly familiar. I just couldn¡¯t remember where I knew it from.

    We heard someone approaching, could see their shlightsing closer. I didn¡¯t even have time to gather my thoughts when we were suddenly surrounded by Mages, vampires and a few fae. They just seemed to havee out of nowhere.

    ¡°Stop where you are and don¡¯t move, you have trespassed on the Elite Academy territory and you¡¯re here illegally,¡± the loud voice said in English, although the male that had just spoken had a very thick Romanian ent.

    ¡°My friend was just murdered, we found her here just a few minutes ago, besides this is a public park,¡± Karina replied, sounding upset. Sudden beams of various energies started hitting me from different directions. I lifted my hands, still holding my knife as a fae approached me.

    He was very ancient wearing a long ck cloak, he also had a long snowy beard. Another cold shiver crawled over my spine. His hand started beaming with magical light. He quickly pointed it towards the corpse. Several whispers moved through the supernaturals that stood around us.

    ¡°Are there any witnesses?¡± someone else asked.

    ¡°No, we only just got here and we saw Marianne lying there,¡± Karina exined.

    ¡°You have been found here at the crime scene,¡± a female fae spoke, stepping forward. She too wore a long ck cloak and she gave me a hard look, injecting her fae magic into me. I knew how to keep my thoughts to myself ¨C it was one of the silver linings of training with Riley.

    ¡°No, hold on. We have done nothing wrong. We haven¡¯t killed this girl,¡± I shouted, losing control.

    ¡°Exactly. We demand to speak to the representative from Higher Authority,¡± Karina shouted. She was panicking now and she wasn¡¯t the only one.

    ¡°Marisa Foster was an Elite Academy student, so this matter shouldn¡¯t concern you nor it should concern Higher Authority,¡± another voice said, as we saw another supernatural appearing from the shadows. ¡°We have found you here, right at the crime scene, so we must treat you both as suspects until we learn otherwise.¡±

    This supernatural was very handsome, he must have been turned into a vampire when he was still pretty young. Karina was furious, she lookedpletely shocked by this unexpected news. I bet that she had no idea that her friend was a member of Elite.

    I was pissed too. It looked like someone was trying to frame us.

    ¡°What are you people talking about? Marisa couldn¡¯t have passed trials for Elite,¡± Karina said.

    This was the first time that I ever saw her so disturbed, but I wasn¡¯t surprised.

    We were being treated like street criminals and I was long past that now.

    I looked around, counting five supernaturals all together that were staring at us with suspicion. They were all wearing dark cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. I suspected that a lot of them were probably involved with Elite, a few looked like teachers and some were most likely on the board too. I was curious about why they were all here tonight though. If they sensed us on their territory, then they must have sensed the killer too. I didn¡¯t want to believe that Marisa had sent that text message to Karina. Someone else must¡¯ve known that we were going to be in Bucharest tonight. And that was very concerning indeed.

    ¡°We are not obligated to discuss the Academy business with some shifter,¡± the fae female spat, folding her arms over her chest and giving Karina a disgusted look. ¡°Tell us what happened here and who is responsible?¡±

    ¡°This is absurd. Don¡¯t you think that we would have tried to run if we killed her? She asked us to meet her here twenty minutes before we found her,¡± I barked back. Several sparks escaped through my fingertips and the handsome vampire noticed. His eyes shone and his fangs extended. He was giving me a seriously intense look. I wanted to look away, but couldn¡¯t. His eyes were so entrancing.

    ¡°ude, escort them to the academy building, I¡¯m not buying their story,¡± the fae with the thick Romanian ent spoken again. Within moments, two females approached her. One whispered something in her ear and the other handed her something, a book of some sort. I was ready to use my knives but Karina quickly grabbed my arms. I knew that getting violent wasn¡¯t the answer, so I had to stay calm for now.

    ¡°You need to call principle Oldman from Moonlight Academy, we are both her students. Marisa was my friend. We didn¡¯t kill her,¡± Karina said.

    ¡°Just keep quiet. You will have time to exin yourselfter on. Now ude, make sure that they are escorted to Elite. We are going to question them there.¡±

    There was no point discussing anything right now. ude, the handsome vampire nodded to the female fae and walked up to me and Karina. The fae female turned around abruptly and started marching away. I didn¡¯t know what to make of her at all.

    I could sense ude¡¯s energy, it was strong and it weakened me a little. Although he smelled nice, almost as nice as pretty boy. What the hell was happening to me?

    I really had to pull myself together. This was not the time or ce to fantasize about the opposite sex.

    ¡°Come on half breed. Let me show you the way to the Elite Academy,¡± he whispered in my ear. He had dark hair and darkish skin. Overall, he was my type but right now I had other, much more pressing matters on my mind.

    I needed to speak to Karina alone. How did she not know that her friend had gotten into Elite. This was a big fucking deal.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you call the High Council. A supernatural has been murdered. They¡¯ll need to investigate it,¡± I told him, wondering why the members of the High Council weren¡¯t around.

    ¡°It¡¯s private property. The High Council has nothing to do with this matter. I have no idea how you two got through the gate. I personally set up strong magical wards, no one should be able to trespass,¡± ude stated and quickly added. ¡°Besides, in Kildra we have our own rules.¡±

    I thought that the High Council owned Elite Academy, but of course I was wrong. I brought my hands together and started rubbing my palms. It was damn cold, my face, fingers and my whole body was almost numb.

    We kept walking in silence until we reached what appeared to be the academy buildings, surrounded by nicely trimmedwns. This whole ce was massive; there were several small buildings scattered around it.

    I couldn¡¯t believe that this was really the Elite Academy-the mysterious school that only certain supernaturals could attend. This school was only for the chosen ones. Even the trials weren¡¯t essible tomon folks. I had heard many stories about it over the years and now I was walking around it¡¯s grounds. Kildra was supposed to be heavily guarded, but somehow we just walked through the gate, entering this forbidden and magical ce like we belonged here. I should have sensed the wards outside the gate, but we both thought that we were just walking into a park. Karina even said that she knew this ce, so these circumstances were very odd.

    The vampire touched the base of my back, like he was trying to push me inside when we reached the heavy wooden door. Heat jolted through me and I nearly jumped away from him.

    His eyes twinkled at the corners and he smiled at me. He must have sensed it too. All the lights in the main building were still on. The door opened and we were greeted by a tall witch, holding a shlight in her right hand. She held a magic wand in her other hand.

    ¡°Master Thorthon, the room is ready, the wards have been set in ce,¡± she said to the vampire. Thorthon, what kind of surname was that? He wasn¡¯t from Romania¨Cthat I was sure about.

    ude Thorthon, that name rolled over my tongue nicely, sending tiny shivers through my core. I really needed to stop fantasising about bloodsuckers. Having a thing for a vampire has gotten me into too much trouble already.

    Ten minutester, Karina and I were taken into a room that looked like a ssroom.

    ¡°You two need to stay here for now and please don¡¯t try to escape. We have set up wards everywhere,¡± ude muttered, and then he left to go and talk to the witch.

    ¡°What the hell is going on in here?¡± I asked Karina as soon as he shut the door behind him.

    ¡°I have no clue. Marisa was a shifter but she never really embraced her shifting abilities. She couldn¡¯t have passed the trials to get into Elite. I don¡¯t believe in that for one second. We need to get in touch with Oldman,¡± Karina stated, looking around like she was nning to escape. The vampire was right though. I sensed the magical wards all around us. The energy in Kildra was thick and aggravating.

    ¡°And how exactly do you propose we do that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, let¡¯s just wait and see what these morons decide to do with us. I don¡¯t think they will keep us here all night long. I¡¯m starving.¡±

    My own stomach rumbled too. I knew what she meant. I wished we could go back to our stylish apartment in the city already.

    I started pacing around, attempting to kill some time and think on my feet. Karina was much calmer now. Around half an hourter, ude came back, this time he was with the female fae that had spoken to us in the park.

    ¡°It seems that your version of the story checks out. I have just spoken to principle Oldman. She believes that you two have nothing to do with Miss. Romanov¡¯s murder, but some of the board members still want to take some precautions,¡± she exined, sounding bored with it all.

    She obviously wasn¡¯t too happy with the fact that we weren¡¯t the killers.

    ¡°We told you we had nothing to do with Marisa¡¯s death,¡± Karina snapped, then she stood up and her eyes started shining with yellow light. Was she going to shift? I hope not, because this was going to cause a lot more problems for us. The vampire had already taken away my knife from earlier but I had another two hidden in my jacket.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Right now you are still being treated as suspects at least until the real killer is found. ude here is going to take you to your rooms,¡± the fae continued.

    ¡°So, are you arresting us?¡± I asked, thinking that this was bullshit. That snobby fae had no right to keep us here.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not under arrest, but we all need to take certain precautions to keep you both in one ce until we have further instructions. We can discuss this matter in the morning. Goodnight to you both,¡± the fae said, ending the conversation abruptly and walked away.

    She mmed the door and left us alone with the vampire. An awkward silence fell upon us. ude was staring at me with the same intensity as before. The warmth inside my body mixed with that unknown energy and began stirring inside my core.

    ¡°You have no right to keep us here. I don¡¯t get it how Marisa got into the Elite. There must have been some mistake,¡± Karina said, sounding pissed off. At least her energy was a bit less aggravating.

    ¡°I think you misunderstood principle Hond. Miss Romanov was just about to face trials for the Elite Academy. She wasn¡¯t a student yet, but that¡¯s all I am obligated to say at this stage. It¡¯s veryte and it has been a long day for all of us,¡± ude exined.

    That made more sense but I wasn¡¯t sure Karina was buying it at all. She exhaled sharply and gave him a sharp look.

    ¡°Show us where we are going to stay tonight,¡± I said to him as I nudged Karina to follow.

    ¡°Oldman is going to be here in the morning,¡± she said after a moment. I wasn¡¯t surprised to hear this. Oldman was the kind of person that needed to be wherever something was happening, especially when two of her own students were involved.

    The Elite Academy building was huge, filled with creepy and odd little details on the walls and ceilings. All the corridors were lit by med torches mounted on the walls.

    Moonlight academy was much more modern byparison, Oldman embraced the technology, but here it looked like time had stoppedpletely. There were antique furnishings all around. Old paintings hung on the walls, and we saw several statues that looked like they were guarding entrances to certain chambers.

    I felt like I was in some sort of spooky castle. ude took us three floors up to a small chamber with two basic single beds. My craving for vampire blood came back, and it tickled the back of my throat. I tried to ignore it, but I could smell it everywhere.

    ¡°These doors and the whole academy are heavily guarded by various wards, so you won¡¯t be able to shift and leave this room. Pleasedies, obey the rules. Principle Hond can be very difficult and trust me, you don¡¯t want to get on her bad side,¡± ude said when Karina jumped on the bed.

    It seemed that ude had just read her mind, because she looked annoyed.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry, can we get some food?¡± I asked, thinking more about the blood than anything else. I hated that side of me, hated that since L that odd craving kepting back.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.

    ude¡¯s fangs extended as soon as I said it and he seemed surprised, shocked even. My stomach tightened with a new wave of desire. Damn it, was he reacting to my scent?

    ¡°No, the kitchen is already closed, you¡¯ll have to wait until morning. You¡¯re a half breed, but what kind?¡± he asked, pinning me with his heavy dark eyes.

    ¡°Half vampire,¡± I quickly corrected him, aware that my dear friend was listening to every word. ude was obviously aware of the fact that I was more than just half breed. He could sense that something about me didn¡¯t quite fit about my magic, energy and aura.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re more than just a vampire, but that¡¯s impossible,¡± he muttered, inhaling my scent. He quickly backed away towards the door. ¡°Goodnightdies, try to get some rest. I will show you around tomorrow.¡±

    Then he was gone and the door was tightly shut, most probably locked, from the outside.

    ¡°He wants you Jaymin,¡± Karina said, like it was a cold hard fact. I sighed, tossed my hair behind me and took my jacket off.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what he wants. I¡¯m not interested,¡± I told her, having second thoughts about Elite. Everything about tonight stunk of horse shit. Someone must have led us all the way here, and I wondered who had send the text message from Marisa¡¯s phone. I was pretty sure that it wasn¡¯t the dead.

    ¡°We need to figure out who killed Marisa before they pin this whole thing on us,¡± Karina said, getting up from the bed and starting to pace. Her pink hair was messy. ¡°I can¡¯t shift, I tried earlier on.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, this whole situation is very suspicious. Did Marisa have any enemies that you know of, maybe a jealous ex or a friend. She was supposed to be facing trials, that might mean something,¡± I mused, trying toe up with some ideas and forget about this overwhelming craving for blood. Karina shook her head andughed.

    ¡°No Marisa was a gentle being, she didn¡¯t do rtionships and she wouldn¡¯t have any enemies that I know of. None of this makes any sense.¡±

    ¡°In that case, we have a long night ahead of us, trying to figure this out,¡± I said, looking out through the tiny window across therge estate. I still couldn¡¯t quite believe that I was in the Elite Academy.

 Chapter 4

    When the morning came I didn¡¯t even remember falling asleep. Karina seemed confused too. She was rubbing her eyes looking around and probably wondering if the Elite Academy magic had in fact knocked us out.

    I stretched my arms and after a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up, the doors to our sort of dorm opened up. A human woman stood there staring at us. She wore a long grey dress and heavy boots.

    ¡°I have been asked to bring you to the conference hall. My name is Lidia,¡± she said. She had a pleasant voice and it looked like Karina wasn¡¯t going to argue, because she got up smiling at the neer.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have anything better to do,¡± I muttered to her when we were leaving the room.

    Ten minutester, we walked into arge ss on the east side of the building. Elite Academy didn¡¯t seem much different than Moonlight. Obviously there were many skilled students here from all over the world. We saw several vampires and fae on the way, but not that many of them. I wondered what had happened to the rest of the students.

    Oldman was already waiting for us. She was sat at the desk, looking through some paperwork when we both walked in. She must have flown here the first thing this morning, probably arranged straight after the snobby fae informed her about the murder. I suspected that we would have to forget about our fun weekend away in Bucharest. We were back in the business.

    ¡°Ladies, have a seat. We have a lot to discuss,¡± she said, pointing at the chairs in front of her. The human woman left, so I released some of my magic. I felt like I needed to do it after meeting the vampirest night, his presence still gave me chills today.

    Oldman as usual looked immacte. Today she wore long ck trousers and a purple blouse. Karina and I hadn¡¯t even had a chance to shower since yesterday, which sucked.

    ude must have sensed L¡¯s scent on mest night, that¡¯s why his fangs had descended. It was hard to admit, but I kind of missed him.

    ¡°We had nothing to do with Marisa¡¯s murder. Someone is trying to set us up,¡± Karina blurted out. Oldman lifted her blue eyes off her paperwork and then exhaled sharply.

    ¡°I think you two were just in the wrong ce and at the wrong time. The Elite has always been very secretive. You were caught at the crime scene so the teachers automatically assumed that you were guilty, but don¡¯t worry. I have exined everything to principle Hond and he doesn¡¯t suspect you two anymore,¡± Oldman exined, folding her fingers together. ¡°There has been another murder though. A female student was found dead by the fountain this morning.¡±

    Karina and I looked at each other in shock. ude was right. The murderer must be part of Elite. There wasn¡¯t any other exnation for it.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why they let us go, because we were locked up when the other killing happened?¡± I asked, suddenly angry.

    ¡°And because you are from Moonlight. They shouldn¡¯t have used you in the first ce. Besides, there is an opportunity for us to find the person responsible for these terrible crimes. Someone obviously is targeting the Elite students. This is our chance to shine,¡± Oldman exined.

    ¡°What do you mean Madame Oldman?¡± Karina questioned her. I was a little confused too.

    ¡°The boys flew here with me this morning. They are staying at a hotel in the city, waiting for my instructions. Elite is still under threat. An ancient vampire that escaped a few months ago might have something to do with what happened herest night. Principle Hond isn¡¯t happy. He doesn¡¯t want anyone from the outside to interfere in academy business, but I guess right now he doesn¡¯t have any choice. I gave him an ultimatum, it¡¯s either us or it¡¯s the High Council.¡±

    ¡°That was smart,¡± I said, thinking about logistics. It looked like we were going to stay in Bucharest for a while.

    ¡°And she agreed? That snobby fae and principle Hond?¡± Karina asked, like she was reading my mind. I suspected Oldman hadn¡¯t had an easy job of convincing them.

    ¡°We are allowed to question students and ess main buildings, but we aren¡¯t allowed anywhere near where the trials are taking ce. Besides, there will be a vampire that will be keeping an eye on all of you. He¡¯s part of the faculty team and Hond trusts him.¡±

    Oldman was probably talking about ude. He seemed to be Hond¡¯s puppet.

    ¡°So, we will have a baby-sitter?¡± Karina asked.

    ¡°It looks that way,¡± Oldman said, standing up. That had been quicker than I expected it to be and I was somehow d that the rest of the team wasn¡¯t here. L wouldn¡¯t stop talking. It was still early and I wanted to have a shower. ¡°I¡¯m going to brief the boys in the local hotel, but Hond has promised to amodate us near the dorms. You two shoulde with me.¡±

    I was happy with that arrangement, knowing that soon enough I was going to be making myselffortable here in Elite Academy.

    * * *

    ¡°I bloody missed you darling.¡±

    These were the words that L whispered to my ear when we met the boyster on in the fancy hotel in the centre of Bucharest. We had stopped on the way to pick up our stuff from the apartment that Karina had rented for us in the city.

    ¡°Cut it out L, I¡¯m really not in the mood for your games,¡± I told him, ying with my phone, trying to read about any students that attended Elite. Karina was still a little upset over losing her friend.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    Everything was new here and I had to get used to a new routine. We obviously weren¡¯t going to attend sses. Finding a murderer was our only priority.

    His scent was making me weak and needy once again, but I was never going to admit to that.

    ¡°I¡¯m not ying any games beautiful. I simply want you to give me a chance. You can¡¯t deny the attraction between us,¡± he added, leaning over me and gently brushing his lips over my shoulder. Goosebumps appeared everywhere and I couldn¡¯t hide it. He knew that he had this strange effect on me. My energy was pulsating and the air between us started crackling until themp in the room exploded startling everyone.

    My palms were burning, there was something happening under my skin. Karina and Judas nced over in our direction.

    ¡°Was that you again Jaymin?¡± she asked, giving me a concerned look. Suddenly I remembered the conversation with Oldman when she said that I needed to be honest with everyone that I worked with. As a team, we all had to be in sync with each other and that meant that I had to tell them the truth about me, reveal who I truly was.

    This wasn¡¯t going to be easy for me, but I had been thinking about it for a while now.

    L gave me a long heated look, but his expression remained passive. I knew that there was never going to be a right moment to reveal that I was a freak of nature to the people that believed in me but I just had to get it out there once and for all.

    ¡°Yes, my magic is out of control again,¡± I said. ¡°Come on guys gather around. I have something important that I need to share with you. The timing cannot be any better.¡±

    This was it, finally the moment where I didn¡¯t have to lie to anyone any longer. They deserved to know who I was.

    ¡°Go on love, no one is going to judge you if you say you prefer women, but I am at your service Jaymin. No one has ever resisted me before,¡± Marco said, winking at me. Karina giggled and I had to roll my eyes. The pressure was intense, but if I wanted to be part of the group and if I wanted to graduate then I had to share my story.

    ¡°Well, as all of you probably know, a few years ago I woke up on the street with no recollection of who I was, bing a half vampire,¡± I began, folding my palms together. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, that wasn¡¯t easy. I was suddenly in a foreignnd. I didn¡¯t understand thenguage, couldn¡¯t remember what had happened to me and on top of everything else I had these new abilities that I had to deal with. Since then, I always thought that I was just a half breed ¨C half vampire and half human until Madame Oldman approached me in Lviv.¡±

    I recalled the moment when Oldman had walked into that cafe in the city.

    ¡°What do you mean you always thought, so now are you saying that this might not be the case?¡± L asked.

    ¡°If you¡¯ll let her continue then she can tell us exactly what she means,¡± Judas injected, sounding annoyed. I kept on breathing, knowing that I had done nothing wrong.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not only a half vampire, there is also fae magic inside me too. And before you all start bombarding me with questions, I have to tell you that I don¡¯t know very much about this yet. I have only learnt about my true nature recently. I managed to regain certain memories from the past and that night when I saved Dorothy¡­ well that was me. My magic exploded, I lost control and killed all the vampires and the mage,¡± I said, pausing, staring at everyone, waiting for the bacsh.

    That didn¡¯t happen. They were all staring at each other baffled and confused apart from L. He looked outraged.

    ¡°Impossible, you cannot be half vampire and half fae. You wouldn¡¯t have survived such a transformation,¡± L said, standing up and dragging his hand through his hair. I didn¡¯t understand how he was suddenly so worked up about this.

    ¡°Principle Oldman confirmed who I was. When I was in Moonlight, I had a test performed on me. I remembered what had happened to me in the fae court. Oldman believed that you all should be told the truth because of my magic. It can be unpredictable, I¡¯m craving blood, but for now, I can control it, but the magic, the fae abilities, this is something that I haven¡¯t really mastered yet,¡± I exined.

    Marco¡¯s jaw was literally on the ground.

    ¡°You killed all those vampires with your magic?¡± he repeated after a moment. ¡°I bloody sensed that there was something special about you from the beginning. Vamps just don¡¯t carry that kind of energy, no offence bro.¡±

    L gave him an annoyed look, but didn¡¯t say anything. Karina walked up to me and embraced me with a well needed hug.

    ¡°I¡¯m with you girl, I never realised how hard this must have been for you. Thank you for sharing your story with us,¡± she said. Her energy always calmed me down, it was like I was getting injected with calming drugs. It looked like L wasn¡¯t processing this news very well though.

    I would have to talk to him privately. Although, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was ready to share with him that he had been the cause of my shbacks from the past. I still didn¡¯t know how or even why he was involved.

    ¡°Half vampire and half fae. I¡¯m surprised that I hadn¡¯t scouted you first,¡± he finally said.

    ¡°I learnt how to survive on the streets of Lviv. I started tracking and killing escaped convicts. I found a contact in the council who paid for a job well done, but one day he dragged another vampire in and that supernatural started asking too many questions. That¡¯s when I had to disappear. I was so lucky to have been approached by Oldman that day, because I don¡¯t think I could have survived on my own after losing my only source of ie.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s have a drink tonight, you¡¯re fucking awesome and we are lucky to have you in our team,¡± Marco said, then his mobile started ringing. When he nced at the screen his face brightened instantly. ¡°Sorry, one of my dates is calling. I need to take this.¡±

    ¡°I need to talk to you in private,¡± the pretty boy muttered, grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the group. This is what I was afraid of. My feelings for him were so confusing. My breathing sped up when he shut the door behind him and gave me a long lustful look.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be acting like that in front of them. Karina already suspects that there is something going on between us,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Fuck beautiful, I have no idea what are you so scared of. Your vampire nature is responding to me. We have something between us here Jaymin, we both know we do,¡± he said, dragging his hand through his hair. ¡°And you being a half breed doesn¡¯t change anything. You should have told me the truth from the very beginning.¡±

    I started chewing on my bottom lip, thinking about that day in Lviv when I saw him for the first time. He was in that basement, talking about the Elite. I didn¡¯t know what to think. I knew that I wasn¡¯t ready to trust him just yet.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid of everything L, this isn¡¯t easy for me and you¡¯re forgetting that we work together. My magices alive when I start being intimate with you. That day when you kissed me, some of my memories came back. I saw shbacks from my past. That day I learnt that I was a human, a normal human girl that had a family before I was turned.¡±

    Silence fell between us as he stared at me in shock. Then he went pale, like he was still trying to digest everything I had said. I wasn¡¯t nning to share this with him, especially now, but maybe it was better that the truth was out there.

    Now I didn¡¯t have to worry about being epted by the group.

    ¡°This could only mean one thing hen,¡± He finally said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about this before and it can only happen in one very special situation. Do you realise what that means? I have found my mate. This only happens to vampires that are destined to be together forever,¡± he said and Iughed thinking that this was the best joke that I heard for a long time. After a while I realised that he wasn¡¯t in fact joking. He was bloody serious.

 Chapter 5

    For a long moment I just stared at him, trying to digest what he¡¯d said. None of this was funny. My heart was pounding inside my chest. He was looking at me so intensely. I almost felt like he was seeing through me, reading my thoughts.

    Then Iughed, because I just couldn¡¯t help myself.

    ¡°A mate?¡± I repeated. An image from prehistoric times shed when a man was dragging a woman by her hair shed through my mind. ¡°You cannot be serious?¡±

    Obviously, it wasn¡¯t the reaction that pretty boy expected from me, but he did smile eventually. Then he took a step towards me and I saw brewing heat in his eyes.

    At that point my heart was pounding uncontrobly inside my chest.

    ¡°I¡¯m the reason that you have these memories about your past. Maybe you don¡¯t know this because you haven¡¯t been brought up around any vampires but we can only have one true mate during our lifetime. I¡¯m old, very old Jaymin. Ramona was always just a fling, a way to pass the time until I found my mate ¨C you¡­.¡±

    It was time to exin a few things to him.

    ¡°Listen L, I appreciate everything that you have done for me, but I don¡¯t think we are on the same page. Could perhaps you or your family have something to do with my past? Maybe this has nothing to do with lust or being destined to be together,¡± I told him, stillughing.

    This whole thing was just too funny. I had no idea that vampires were supposed to have only one mate over the span of their life. We barely knew each other and right then he was stepping into very dangerous territory. On top of everything, his father was involved with the High Council.

    ¡°You¡¯re very special Jaymin and you will need protection once others find out what you are,¡± he continued and quickly added. ¡°Besides, there is an attraction between us. You cannot deny it.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re way too sure of yourself,¡± I told him. I was d to see that Karina had just arrived and interrupted this conversation where L had basically implied that he thought that we were fated mates.

    ¡°Sorry for the intrusion, but that vampire ude is here. He wants to have a chat with all of us,¡± she said. giving me ¡°the look.¡±

    She must have sensed the tension between us and the strong energy that was turning me on. Damn it, I really had to start controlling myself better when I was around pretty boy. Lately my libido was out of control. I didn¡¯t need to be distracted by my emotions, I had a job to do.

    We all needed to find Marisa¡¯s killer and of course, Leonidas was still out there, probably plotting his revenge. L could maybe have found a better time to bring this up.

    ¡°ude? Who is he?¡± L asked, looking unhappy that we had been interrupted.

    ¡°Our babysitter,¡± I muttered, wondering why Kildra insisted that we needed a nanny. Karina winked at me, she probably thought the same thing.

    ¡°He¡¯s the vampire that we¡¯re supposed to report to,¡± Karina exined. L didn¡¯t look happy, but we had no more time to discuss this right now.

    We followed Karina, walking back to the main room. Marco was still on the phone, talking in rapid Italian. ude stood by the door and my stomach turned a little when I saw him without his cloak. He was very handsome and looked almost like a human in the daylight. His dark skin shone a little, but humans probably wouldn¡¯t notice it and his ck hair was very curly.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to have everyone together now, so let me begin,¡± he said addressing everyone, but he was staring at me.

    Pretty boy must have noticed, because he instantly inched a bit closer, invading my personal space. He was breathing onto my neck and I felt that heat embracing my core yet again. This definitely wasn¡¯t what I wanted to focus on right now. Karina pulled Marco¡¯s coat, pointing at the vampire in the room. He finally put the phone down and frowned seeing ude. Judas looked bored. ¡°My name is ude and I am going to be your guide here in Kildra. Principle Hond asked me to show you around the school. I believe that some of the areas aren¡¯t essible.¡±

    ¡°Who exactly is this clown?¡± L asked in a hushed tone of voice, knowing that ude could hear him perfectly well.

    I didn¡¯t answer, but I noticed that ude looked in my direction again.

    ¡°We are professionals mate, so we don¡¯t need your guidance,¡± L said out loud and then added ¡°We can conduct our own investigation.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that without me, there won¡¯t be any investigation. Principle Hond has given Madame Oldman specific instructions. I have been a member of the faculty for a very long time and I shall guide you, make introductions to the students and make sure that you don¡¯t cross any lines,¡± he said, clearly confirming that our movements within the Elite were indeed restricted.

    Judas snorted, and when I nced at pretty boy I could see that he was ready to argue with ude. He didn¡¯t look happy at all.

    ¡°All right, as long as I can chat to thedies, I don¡¯t really care,¡± Marco said, giving Karina his usual wink.

    ¡°This is a fucking joke. The murderer is trying to disrupt the trials. We need to question everyone that was out that night as soon as possible and we don¡¯t need your help with that mate,¡± L said, emphasising thest word.

    ¡°Tonight there will be an initiation ceremony, well most students are calling it a party. This will be the opportunity for all of you to conduct your investigation,¡± ude said, remaining very calm andposed despite L¡¯s attempts to make him lose his cool.

    Marisa had died in very strange circumstances. I had a feeling that this had something to do with what happened to me a few months ago.

    Leonidas had a master. I was certain that it was another mage from my brief vision of the past. That mage had talked about the vampire that created me, the ancient that then handed me to the fae court. I still had no answers, I needed to find him.

    ¡°Party, that sounds good,¡± Marco muttered, scrolling through his phone. I sensed Marco¡¯s magic. His energy was intense and I wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it.

    ¡°Where exactly is this party?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It starts at midnight in the old chapel that has been converted into a social club. It¡¯s an old Academy tradition and it always takes ce after Halloween. I¡¯m sure that Mr. L here can exin the initiation ceremony to the rest of you. After all, it was his father that came up with the idea,¡± ude said, then he bowed his head in the old fashion manner and quickly left the room.

    I was gobsmacked and looked at pretty boy, wondering if this was true. L dragged his hand through his hair and exhaled sharply. I was right all along.

    L¡¯s father was pretty important.

    ¡°Is that true what he said about your father?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Yeah, probably.¡±

    ¡°Then, maybe you should speak to him,¡± Judas said, jumping off the table.

    ¡°He won¡¯t tell me anything. My father is on the board, but he isn¡¯t allowed to talk about Elite business and that moron knows that,¡± he said.

    ¡°So, what kind of party is this?¡± I asked wanting to know what to expect. After all we were in one of the most exclusive supernatural schools in the world.

    ¡°The vampires like to exchange blood during these parties. We should be able to find out a few interesting things during this initiation,¡± L exined.

    ¡°Is ude going to be there,¡± I asked.

    ¡°I hope not. The faculty shouldn¡¯t have ess to it, the party is organised by the Elite student union,¡± L added, giving me an angry look. What was his problem?

    I ignored him and followed Karina out.

    ¡°That was strange wasn¡¯t it?¡± I said, thinking about this evening and our ruined weekend.

    ¡°Well actually, it was kind of expected. Elite doesn¡¯t like sharing it¡¯s secrets. I will be d to get the hell out of here. The sooner we find the killer the better,¡± she told me. ¡°Besides, we¡¯re probably going to be moved to the dorms near the Elite. Oldman wants us close. We need to grab our stuff from the hotel in town.¡±

    ¡°We do, let¡¯s go¡± I admitted. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re all right? I know that Marisa was your friend.¡±

    I was a little worried about her. Karina was my friend. We¡¯d bonded from the minute I had arrived at Moonlight, and I noticed that in the past several hours she had been lost in her own thoughts.¡±

    A little whileter, we were outside the hotel on the busy street. It was still bitterly cold.

    ¡°Sort of, but to be honest none of this makes any sense to me,¡± she muttered.

    Then she suddenly stopped, like she recognised someone, and stared ahead in shock.

    There were a group of girls that noticed Karina and I too. One of them, a very tall blond one whispered something to the other one. I felt Karina¡¯s energy spiking. All the girls were staring at Karina with daggers in their eyes. The girl was a half vampire like me.

    ¡°P? festen v?ntar jag p? dig. Var inte en feg den h?r g?ngen,¡± one of them said, still looking at Karina.Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get the hell out of here,¡± she said, pulling my hand and going very pale. Her energy was aggressive as we crossed the road.

    It seemed that she was trying to get us away from these girls as fast as she could.

    ¡°What was that all about? What did she say to you?¡± I asked, knowing that this was really none of my business, but I had never seen Karina reacting this way.

    ¡°I know her from Sweden¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter. She¡¯s just pissed off that I haven¡¯t kept in touch,¡± Karina exined. It wasn¡¯t in my nature to press on. Besides, I still didn¡¯t know much about her past. She was born and brought up in Sweden, whereas I still had no idea who I truly was.

    Karina was still silent and I knew that something was wrong. Normally she would have been chatting away, but her aura seemedpletely off. Oldman had already arranged for all of us to be moved to the dorms in Elite. And apparently the Elite Academy van was waiting for us downstairs.

    I figured that we would be staying together like we did in Moscow. This wasn¡¯t ideal, especially now after L announced that he wanted to mate with me.

    When we arrived at Elite we headed upstairs straight away. ude returned an hourter after I had finished unpacking. I really needed to have a serious conversation with L. He couldn¡¯t truly believe in such nonsense. True love was just a myth.

    ude gave us a mini tour around the Elite Academy. The whole ce had been built in the heart of the city, sort of hidden around thisrge park. The magical wards were powerful and I doubted very much that any human could cross over here.

    Something happened that night when Karina and I hade through that gate.

    Someone must have deactivated the wards, leading us inside. As we walked around the grounds, everything seemed ordinary. Even the magic felt practically non-existent.

    I realised that studying here would be like a dreame true. If I had it on my resume that I graduated from Elite, then I could pick and choose from any job offers. Elite Academy student have been headhunted for various different supernatural projects all over the world. I would never have to worry about getting a job or surviving, even as a half breed.

    ude showed us around and then left us alone. L insisted that we all head out in the evening to discuss our next move. Apparently, Oldman had already returned back to Moonlight. I was a little surprised, because I was certain that she was going to stay at least a little longer. I supposed that she trusted us to get the job done.

    This was an important job for all of us and I suspected that the financial rewards could also be significant.

    ¡°Right, so we finally got the files for both students. One was a shifter from Sweden and the other was a witch. Are there any simrities between the two or maybe they both have been hanging out around the same groups?¡± L asked, spreading the files around the table.

    I couldn¡¯t understand why he wanted to have this conversation in the restaurant, maybe he just wanted to stay away from Elite. This ce was obscure and definitely low key, filled mostly with humans. Most of the tables were empty, which was good. I was pretty certain we wouldn¡¯t be overheard by anyone in here. We all ordered some gosh with dumplings.

    I started reading Marisa¡¯s file. It stated there that she was part of the pack from Sweden. I widened my eyes, seeing that she was the Alpha¡¯s daughter. Apparently in the past several months, she had shown tremendous improvements in her abilities, so her parents wanted her to try for Elite. I nced back at Karina. She was moving her eyes over the file, looking surprised. The other girl was a dark-haired witch from Switzend. Her magical skills were impressive and it said in the file that she had already passed the Elite trials.

    ¡°They have nothing inmon. It seems to me that the attack was random. Maybe they were just in the wrong ce at the wrong time. The killer must be a student from the Elite or someone that has ess to all the buildings,¡± Judas said, throwing the file on the table.

    The waiter brought our food and my magic spiked. The lights in the restaurant began shing when L nced at me.

    ¡°We will split up tonight and start asking questions. We need the killer¡¯s profile by tomorrow,¡± L said.

    ¡°The sooner we have a suspect the better. Besides I have a feeling that ude will be a huge pain in our backsides. We have restricted ess to certain ces because of the academy business,¡± Marco added, taking a huge bite of his dumpling.

    ¡°We should hopefully find some leads at the party,¡± Karina said. She hadn¡¯t been herself since we found Marisa and I had a feeling that she knew more about her than she was willing to share with the group. Rumour had it that magic in Elite was strong enough to influence humans too, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I was ready to believe in that. Little did I realise that I would soon be thrown into the centre of an international murder investigation and that was just the beginning¡­

 Chapter 6

    I decided to wear a fitted ck dress and my new boots that I¡¯d bought at the airport. Karina had left earlier on with Marco. I was d to be alone for a little while. My steaming energy was giving me a headache tonight. We were moved to arge t situated just above the dorms. We all had separate small rooms with a view of the grounds. This still felt surreal: that I was staying within Elite Academy.

    The wards around the whole academy were overwhelming. I had a feeling that all the students were having a hard time with adjusting to this ce because of the way their auras shone. I knew that I was struggling with the strong energy that drifted around the corridors.

    I decided to take my special knife with me that I had charmed. I hid it snuggly in the leg of my boot. The party was just about to start after eleven pm and I was getting a little nervous for some reason.

    I kept reminding myself that this wasn¡¯t Moonlight. My routine was different there. Back home I was there to study and soak in all the knowledge I could. I spent most of my time in the library, going over the material, but in here I had to solve a crime.

    I had a job to do, so I had to clear my mind and just focus. There was another thing that made me a little suspicious. Our group had barely seen any students in the corridors, and the supernaturals that we dide across avoided us like the gue. I saw two very pale male vampires that radiated with enormous power and my chest tightened. It seemed like they were loaded with fae energy too. I had a feeling that solving these murders wasn¡¯t going to be easy, because we could hardly find anyone willing to talk to us.

    ¡°Jesus, how long have you been standing here?¡± I shouted, spotting ude by the door. I would recognise his scent anywhere and he¡¯d startled me. He wore a ck fitted shirt and brown pants. The scent of his blood awakened some kind of urgent craving inside me.

    Desire rushed through my core. This normally only ever happened when I was close to L.

    ¡°I wanted to take you to the party Jaymin and I have been only standing here a few minutes,¡± he said.

    ¡°I think the idea is that we should be arriving alone,¡± I told him, knowing that I needed to find out tonight who was running this show and where most students liked to hang out. And I couldn¡¯t do that if ude was nning to stalk me the whole evening.

    ¡°Well, most vampire females that are going to be there will be arriving with someone, a male partner,¡± he stated, giving me a smile and my heart vibrated.

    ¡°Fine, whatever, let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t want to bete,¡± I told him, finally locking the damn door, feeling a little irritated with myself. He obviously must have taken an interest in me and I didn¡¯t know how to act around him. ¡°How long have you worked for Kildra?¡±

    ¡°Over ten years,¡± he answered when we left the building. It was a full moon and the sky was scattered with stars. Despite that it was damn cold and my fingers went instantly numb. ¡°What about you? How long have you been a student of Moonlight?¡±

    ¡°I have been there for several months, principle Oldman offered me a way out. I had been living on the streets of Lviv for years,¡± I told him. This wasn¡¯t a secret.

    ¡°Interesting, your energy is very unique and you¡¯re not like any other half breed that I¡¯ve ever met.¡±

    ¡°I hear that often,¡± I muttered, not wanting to talk about myself too much. ¡°Tell me something interesting about yourself. Why is a vampire like you teaching here?¡±

    ¡°This ce is filled with very powerful magic and I constantly want to improve my skills. I was working in Egypt when the position here opened up. I had been teaching supernaturalw at the university there,¡± he told me.

    ¡°How old are you?¡± I blurted out when we got to the gate. The craving for blood came back. It was overwhelming again and my fangs descended. I didn¡¯t want him to notice it.

    ¡°I¡¯m an ancient vampire if you really want to know,¡± he said. I should have figured this out from the start, he was very, very old and even more experienced. ¡°We are near the entrance now and I must give you a warning. You will recognise many different scents of blood out there and it would be better if you kept close to me. Sometimes these parties get a little out of control.¡±

    A cold shiver crawled down my spine. ude was right. The smell of blood was bing very intense and I was already struggling to control myself around him.

    We walked inside the chapel that was pitch ck and my fingertips were sparkling with electricity. Deep down I kept telling myself that I wasn¡¯t supposed to be trusting this guy, but on the other hand he was from Elite, a faculty member so he shouldn¡¯t harm me in any way.

    He had plenty of opportunities to get rid of me, but he didn¡¯t.

    ¡°So, the academy is allowing these parties to go on? How are you even able to attend them?¡± I asked, trying to focus on something other than blood, but that was proving extremely difficult. My mouth was watering.

    ¡°Faculty doesn¡¯t care as long as no oneins and no one dies. After all, the students here are adults, and as far as Hond is concerned they are all responsible for their own actions,¡± ude said and ced the palm of his hand on my back.

    The tingles spread over my body and I inhaled deeply as he unlocked a heavy wooden door that led into a narrow corridor. I wondered if Karina and the rest of the team had gone in this way too. Maybe I should have waited for L. I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect. This whole set up was very mysterious and cryptic.

    ¡°So, the party is that way?¡± I asked him, considering turning around. I still didn¡¯t trust him.

    I had a feeling that he was leading me there because he was going to usepulsion on me. Damn I really needed to get a grip.

    ¡°Are you scared mysterious half breed?¡± ude asked, whispering in my ear. He was teasing me and the fire inside me was brewing. He was turning me on.

    ¡°Maybe, but let¡¯s get on with this. I want to see what¡¯s on the other side,¡± I replied, but my voice was hoarse. As I took a few steps forward my energy spiked again. I could hear the loud music on the other side.

    It was a whole new world out there, but it was just the start. I truly wanted to know everything about this ancient school for supernaturals.

    ¡°Wee to Elite half breed,¡± ude whispered again and then opened yet another door. We had ended up underground, in a veryrge basement that had been transformed into a disco. It only took me a few seconds to figure out that this wasn¡¯t the party that I expected.

    No one was trying to hide anything and the smell of blood hit me hard. The vampires were exchanging it and I could smell it everywhere. Males and females were walking around wearing very provocative outfits. I could see vampires making out in the corners drinking from each other. I wasn¡¯t a prude, well far from it, but it was surprising that the Elite allowed something like this to go on.

    When I turned to look at ude, his eyes were filled with lust, twinkling at the corners. In the far end of the room I saw Judas. He was staring at me and he was alone. If we wanted to make any kind of progress, I had to figure out who Marissa liked hanging out with the most and why she was out on the grounds in the middle of the night.

    ¡°It¡¯s more of an orgy than a party, but I guess I have to blend in,¡± I muttered to myself.

    ¡°Let me get you some blood, that should rx you straight away,¡± ude said, pointing towards the bar that had been set up in the back of the room. My pulse sped up and my core tightened with unease. He was awakening the desire inside me that had been silent until L told me to drink from him.

    I didn¡¯t want to drink blood from anyone, but vampires were staring at me. I scrubbed up pretty well, choosing the right kind of outfit, but they still saw me as the outsider. And where the hell was L when I needed him?

    This was exciting and my energy was rising. I didn¡¯t want to feel this way, but I couldn¡¯t help myself. Especially when ude was trying to fulfil all my desires.

    I spotted Marco in the distance, and of course he was talking to a very tall and very long legged vampire. It didn¡¯t seem to bother him that everyone around them were making out. It was probably his kind of party.

    Momentster, my guard in a shining silver armour returned with the ss of blood. It smelled delicious and for the first time I didn¡¯t feel repulsed by it. I was ready to drink it all in one go. ude¡¯s eyes were shining at me. In the past fae and vampires had always been enemies but as the times shifted, we managed to adapt.

    However, many still believed that the fae energies were intoxicating to vampires. It was in their nature to drain their precious blood. Many believed that it could make them immortal, but those were just rumours. I was taking long deep breaths.

    Then a momentter, I took a sip of the blood and my taste buds exploded. The blood tasted unbelievably good, and I had to stop myself from drinking more. In the back of my mind I still sort of knew that I had get close to someone in order to find out more about Marisa and the other girl that had been killed.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s sit down and enjoy ourselves for a little while,¡± ude whispered, as he grabbed my left arm. Before long, I was sitting on the sofa and he was so close. My fingers were sparkling and a zing fire brewed inside my stomach when his body pressed over mine. ¡°I would love to know more about your past.¡±

    I was ready to tell him to get lost when thoughts about L began circting inside my head, but then this warm feeling embraced my lungs. The couple next to us was kissing, well actually almost having sex. The male vampire had his hand under the girl¡¯s skirt. I said to myself that I wasn¡¯t going to judge them.

    ¡°And what is it that you would like to know?¡± I asked him, barely recognising my own voice. It was low and seductive and before I knew what was happening, I brushed his dark hair away from his forehead.

    ¡°Everything my queen, for some reason I feel drawn to you,¡± he said it, brushing his lips over my earlobe. This caused a crazy sensation between my legs. My energy kept growing inside me, connecting with his. He brought my ss to my lips and tilted, so I could drink it.

    His eyes were burning through me; his fangs were descended. I took several deep gulps as the blood spread inside me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember much from my previous human life. I have been a half breed for over four years. I woke up on the streets with no memories, already turned,¡± I exined as his palm squeezed my thigh. The tension inside my core grew and I wanted it to be released.

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s interesting, and what about the other part of you¨Cthe other magic?¡± he asked, brushing his hand slightly further up my thigh. I wanted him to fuck me, to rip my clothes off, he could make me scream. The lights above us started shing again when his face was only inches away from mine. His fangs were bloodied and the music loud.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Jaymin, what the fuck are you doing?¡± a familiar voice quickly brought me back to reality. I shook my head and then nced at L who was standing by the sofa, staring at me with fury. I swallowed hard, then stood up abruptly. My mind wasn¡¯t foggy anymore and I was very much alert. I didn¡¯t even remember walking over to the sofa.

    For a split second I had no idea why I was so close to ude. He smiled at me and then drunk some more of his blood. My whole body was still on fire.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I responded scratching my head. ¡°What do you want L?¡±

    ¡°We were having fun until you rudely interrupted us,¡± ude pointed out, and the corner of his lip tilted in a mocking smile.

    Split secondster the furious Scot was dragging me away from the sofa, I didn¡¯t know what was going on. I smelled his scent, it was erotic and damn, I like it better than ude¡¯s. I must have lost my head for a moment. That had never happened before. Was I ready to kiss a member of the faculty? Crap, that was a big mistake on my part.

    ¡°L, calm the hell down. Nothing was going to happen between ude and me. I was just ying along to get information out of him,¡± I told him, trying tough this off, but he was breathing hard. His fists were clenched tightly and if I didn¡¯t know him better, I would have thought he was about ready to hit me.

    ¡°He was usingpulsion on you, the bastard, and you didn¡¯t even notice,¡± pretty boy said, grabbing my cheeks. ¡°He was only using you to get inside information about our group. You shouldn¡¯t havee to the party with him in the first ce. He was trying to get under my skin and he found the weakest link. It¡¯s his only purpose hen.¡±

 Chapter 7

    L was trying to get inside my head and I couldn¡¯t let him. He was treating me like some kind of idiot. That fucking hurt.

    In a way he was right. I¡¯d lost my head for a moment and forgotten why I was here.

    We were all trying to gather enough intel to charge someone. The investigation wasn¡¯t moving forward. I wasn¡¯t here to enjoy myself. I took several long deep breaths and then dragged my hand through my hair. L stood too close to me and his scent was driving me insane.

    ¡°I don¡¯t owe you any exnations L,¡± I snapped at him. I looked around and in the distance I saw a girl wearing a red scarf. She was making out in the corner with another girl. That shouldn¡¯t really surprise me. I figured that they were both shifters.

    ¡°We have a connection hen,¡± he replied. ¡°That moron is not going to taste your blood. It¡¯s obvious what happened here. He was enticed by your fae energy. That¡¯s what made him lose control. Now that I know everything, I suspect that this must have happened to you in the past.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t think straight right now. He needed to give me some space.

    ¡°L, we are not here to discuss our connection,¡± I said, taking long pulls of air. I was still turned on and my heart was jackhammering inside my chest.

    Something had happened, ude must have used hispulsion and I hadn¡¯t even noticed. Maybe L was right and maybe ude had used his abilities when he showed up in my room to convince me toe here with him.

    ¡°You¡¯re half fae and your magic reacts to us. I¡¯ve experienced this before with others of your kind. You¡¯re more attracted to vampires because of your genes,¡± he kept exining.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Bullshit,¡± I said out loud, shaking my head.

    I didn¡¯t believe that L knew what he was talking about. This had never happened to me before, although the more I started to think about this, the more I began to realise that maybe it could have.

    ¡°We can talk about this another time, right now we have job to do. As much as I want to enjoy this party, I can¡¯t right now. I can barely restrain myself when I am around you,¡± he added, leaning over me and then brushing his lips over the nape of my neck. I shuddered, letting a small moan escape me. He heard it and instantly smiled. ¡°See, you cannot resist me. You can¡¯t stay away from me.¡±

    He was infuriating, but I was losing my head when he was around me. Then he turned around and left me alone once again. What the hell was that about?

    Was he trying to make a point or just making sure that ude realised that L somehow controlled me.

    ude was still watching me from the sofa. He seemedfortable and I needed to get out of here.

    I left the suffocating room and started to look for a bathroom. Inside several fae students were chatting in anothernguage. I quickly sshed my face with cold water. That helped a little.

    Karina, Marco and Judas were around, and hopefully they were having a bit more luck than me. I left the bathroom and got a little lost. The smell of blood was very intense and it made me hungry. After another ten minutes of endless wandering around and trying to return to the basement I saw Judas. He was standing with a group of vampires.

    I was just about to approach him when I heard someone talking behind me.

    ¡°Apparently the academy hired outside investigators,¡± said the voice. I didn¡¯t dare to move. Two young vampires one female and one male walked ahead of me. They looked like the types that were very much involved in Elite business.

    ¡°They won¡¯t find anything specific. Marisa was weak and most of the time she had no idea what was going on within the circles. There was no way that she could have passed the trials,¡± another voice eximed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Mathias. Sooner orter they will figure out that we were on the grounds that night. That will spoil everything, our entire n,¡± the other female said. Right, this was beginning to get interesting. I was just about to turn around and ask them if they saw anyone else that night when we all heard a loud bang.

    Split secondster, someone crashed into the table, making a hell of a racket. I watched, frozen to the spot in what felt like slow motion as a female was thrown across the room.

    My heart skipped a beat then raced triple time when I realised that the female was Karina. She was coughing, trying to lift herself up off the ground. There was smoke drifting around. Someone was trying to charm her. Magic danced at each corner of the basement. Most of the vampires moved away towards the back of the room.

    ¡°Karina, are you all right?¡± I shouted, rushing up to her and sensing growing power.

    It was overwhelmingly strong.

    ¡°Get the fuck away from her half breed!¡± someone shouted from the other side of the room when I reached her side.

    She was moving, but she was disorientated and her hair was a little burned.

    The violent energy raised every small hair on the back of my neck.

    ¡°Leave it Jaymin, you¡¯re only going to make it worse. This has something to do with my ugly past,¡± Karina mumbled, trying to lift herself up.

    Then it hit me and I nearly lost my bnce when I realised that the girl wearing the red scarf had been making out with Karina. Damn that was unexpected, but I didn¡¯t want to judge her just yet. She hadn¡¯t told me much about her past life. The magic was rising fast and my friend was in trouble.

    ¡°Get up you scum, it¡¯s time to pay for your sins,¡± the girl shouted. She was bncing a ball of fire over her palm. I narrowed my eyes at her and then she attacked, throwing the ball in our direction. Were shifters able to do that? I didn¡¯t think so, but within Elite walls everything was possible.

    She was lucky that she just missed us and that made me freaking mad as hell. Secondster, her body started convulsing, changing and shifting. She was trying to shift into an animal.

    The smell of blood was getting stronger and her energy seemed toxic. I looked around, searching for my friends, but I couldn¡¯t see them in the crowd of supernaturals that were suddenly there. Everyone was staring at us.

    ¡°You need to calm down, my magic can be really unpredictable,¡± I shouted, releasing the energy that was brewing inside me.

    ¡°This is none of your business Jaymin, stay out of it,¡± Karina shouted at me, trying to pull away. I wanted to roll my eyes. I wasn¡¯t going anywhere. I could already sense that she was trying to shift while the other girl had two bncing balls of fire on her hand. We could all hear the music from the other room.

    Before I could react, Karina had shifted into her wolf and attacked the girl with the red scarf. It all happened so quickly.

    Someone shouted a disabling charm from the crowd and the magic embraced me. Karina¡¯s beast was frozen. I knew she was going to be dead within moments, because the girl that attacked her had used deadly fire magic.

    She was clearly a very advanced student of the academy because she was using the kind of spells that I had never seen before. On top of it she was a fae.

    I didn¡¯t have to think about this twice. I jumped forward blocking her spells with every ounce of magic that was inside me, creating an invisible shield. I reacted with instinct, half of the time not knowing what I was really doing.

    The girls fire balls hit the shield and then bounced back towards her. She was frozen in shock as her own energy hit her directly in the chest. The impact threw her body backwards. She crashed right through the wall. Karina¡¯s animal crashed onto the ground at the same time. Someone screamed and then the exit door opened up. This new energy drained me, and my knees gave up. The lights were shing, the cracks of electricity danced around me.

    When I nced back at the girl she wasn¡¯t moving, a few other supernaturals were surrounding her. Karina transformed back into her human form. Marco quickly covered her with his coat. My heart felt like it was going to explode inside my chest.

    ¡°She used illegal magic and she will get punished for attacking another Academy member,¡± a familiar voice said. I turned around, seeing ude appearing by the door. Where did hee from?

    Then I sensed L¡¯s scent. He was helping me to get up, but I was fine. It was Karina that needed a hand.

    ¡°Is she okay? The other girl,¡± I asked, a little worried about my outburst of magic. Karina looked disorientated and angry.

    ¡°She¡¯s unconscious for now, that spell knocks you out for good few days. Are you all right shifter girl?¡± L replied. The lights were shing and everyone were still staring at us. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have interfered.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, excuse me. I need some air,¡± Karina said, putting a coat around her naked body. She looked embarrassed. I hadn¡¯t even noticed how she¡¯d managed to get rid of her clothes so quickly. She vanished before I even had a chance to ask her if she was all right. My energy was diminishing when L forced a ss of blood into my mouth.

    ¡°Drink it, this should sort you out in a moment,¡± he said. I didn¡¯t want to drink anything, not when everyone was still staring¨Call the academy students.

    My lips were dry, so I gave in and drank the blood. Once again, the pretty boy was right. The blood injected me with very much needed energy almost instantly. I rose to my feet, staring at the other girl in the red scarf. I hadn¡¯t intended to kill her.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I told him, looking around. My hands were sparkling like crazy with fire and electricity. The fae energy was pounding in my pores.

    ¡°Are you all right Jaymin?¡± another voice asked and L growled when I realised that ude had walked up to us.

    ¡°She¡¯s fine, so get lost,¡± L snapped at him.

    ¡°I¡¯m good, but none of you should be worrying about me right now, what about that other student? I really need to speak to Karina, so if you¡¯ll excuse me,¡± I snapped and moved past them.

    Just by the door I saw Juda. He was talking to a few female vampires, so maybe at least he was going to make some sort of progress tonight. I lost my shit once again and it didn¡¯t look good. Either way, I had to speak to Karina about what had happened. She needed to know that I was there for her no matter what.

    It took me a while to find the way out. I found Karina standing outside the chapel and it was damn freezing. She was smoking.

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing up there on your own?¡± I asked her, sensing that she was still filled with adrenaline. She gave me a weak smile.

    ¡°I just needed some air. Thank you for interfering. I owe you one,¡± she said.

    Silence stretched between us for some time. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was supposed to say something about her kissing that shifter girl.

    I hated mingling in someone else¡¯s business, but it was obvious to me that Karina needed a shoulder to cry on or at least someone to talk to.

    ¡°Listen, I saw you earlier on with this girl that attacked you. What happened? Did you two have a fight?¡±

    She looked at me and smiled again. Secondster, she finished smoking the cigarette and then stubbed it out. Her makeup was messed up and her energy was filled with such sad emotions. This wasn¡¯t the Karina that I knew and respected.

    ¡°This girl Mia, the one that attacked me ¡­ well we knew each other very well in the past. She was the member of the opposite pack, sort of like the rival pack. I have never told this to anyone, but I¡¯m bisexual. We hooked up a few times in Sweden at various parties and when I saw her there something snapped inside me. It was like I was reliving the past,¡± Karina started saying. ¡°I think I need to tell you what happened back home and why I was excluded from my pack.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything. I won¡¯t judge but I am here for you if you need me,¡± I muttered, not having much experience in that sort of thing. I¡¯d never had sex with anyone, so I wasn¡¯t the best person to give advice but I could listen. ¡°Besides, you might as well be staring at a virgin. I have no idea if I was ever in a rtionship before as a human. I had no memories of it. And in this life, well, I just stayed away from the opposite sex. It¡¯s pathetic really.¡±

    She grabbed my hand and frowned.

    ¡°Jaymin rence, don¡¯t be stupid. It¡¯s not pathetic. You¡¯re amazing and it¡¯s not your fault that someone took advantage of you,¡± she said, firmly. ¡°I had an affair with the Alpha¡¯s mate, so that¡¯s the reason that I was kicked out of my pack. Her name was Caroline and we just fell for each other. It wasn¡¯t romantic trust me, but Mia¡¯s friend Samantha found out about us and told the others. I think she was jealous of Caroline. The alpha was furious. I barely escaped alive that night. He was ready to kill me.¡±

    My jaw dropped and for a moment I just stared at her with my eyes wide open. I couldn¡¯t believe that Karina was so brave. She must have been through a lot.

    ¡°All right, so why did this girl Mia attack you? I saw you guys making out earlier on,¡± I asked.

    ¡°I have been a little naughty. I knew that Mia was still attracted to me, so I took advantage of her in order to find out more about Marisa as they both came from the same pack,¡± Karina exined. ¡°Obviously she must have figured out that I wasn¡¯t very interested and she got mad.¡±

    ¡°All right, I get it now.¡±

    ¡°But I did manage to find out something very interesting. Marisa was involved with a vampire and apparently they broke up the night she was killed.¡±

 Chapter 8

    ¡°Well, this wasn¡¯t all for nothing. I overheard something really important right before Mia attacked you,¡± I said, thinking that it was time to change the subject. I quickly exined everything to her.

    Karina widened her eyes at me. At least she seemed in a much better mood now. She was a tough cookie with a jaded past.

    ¡°That makes sense now,¡± she said, still thinking. ¡°Marisa¡¯s father was an alpha in a rival pack in Sweden. She was always a quiet girl, but I suspect that her father must have paid someone off so she could be allowed to go through trials. I don¡¯t see any other exnation.¡±

    ¡°I think Judas made a few connections. I saw him earlier on, hopefully we will be able to identify this guy sooner rather thanter,¡± I said. ¡°So, have you seen her again ¡­ you know that shifter with whom you had an affair with?¡±

    ¡°No, but afterwards the male shifters of the pack came after me for a long while. She stayed with the alpha ¡­ I think she had no other choice. At that point I relocated to Norway and this is where Oldman scouted me. To be honest with you I was lucky enough that I survived. My heart was so weak. I was in love with her.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever been in love,¡± I sighed. I didn¡¯t know why I was suddenly so nostalgic. ¡°Anyway, I think you should get dressed. It¡¯s bloody freezing and I guess this party is done and dusted.¡±

    Karinaughed.

    ¡°I¡¯m a shifter dear, we don¡¯t get cold, but you¡¯re right it¡¯s a little nippy. I keep forgetting that you¡¯re only half vamp. And why was L so pissed off earlier on?¡±

    ¡°Because I showed up at the party with ude,¡± I said, looking down to my feet. ¡°And apparently he usedpulsion on me and I didn¡¯t even notice.¡±

    ¡°Uhmmm, so he¡¯s jealous of the big new vampire, that¡¯s interesting,¡± she said, nudging me with her arm. ¡°How do you feel about him? He didn¡¯t used to like you, but then something changed.¡±

    She was right. L had wanted to crush me. Maybe he¡¯d felt threatened by me until I saved him in Russia.

    I had no idea how to answer her.

    It was true that I was attracted to him, but this whole thing about me being a fae was so damnplicated. Besides, right now I couldn¡¯tmit to anyone, especially L.

    ¡°He wants me to be Ramona, but rtionships areplicated, especially in our settings. It¡¯s too much and all too soon,¡± I sighed, wanting to be honest with her.

    Then, more and more students started toing out of the chapel. I¡¯d had enough for tonight and Karina looked worn out. ¡°Let¡¯s go, ude and the rest of them can clean up. I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°Thank you Jaymin,¡± Karina stopped me and touched my hand again. She looked troubled. ¡°I appreciate you listening and not judging me. I fucked up, really really fucked up in my life and now I¡¯m trying to make amends. I hope I haven¡¯t screwed our investigation. This girl is still an academy student.¡±

    ¡°She must have passed the trials,¡± I said and then I realised that I was much stronger than before. I¡¯d kicked the ass of a very mature Elite student. That was impressive even if I did think so myself.

    ¡°She was always talented, but I still had no idea how she did it. To me it wouldn¡¯t have been obvious that she could get in. Now all the supernaturals are going to talk about you. This is huge.¡±

    ¡°What is?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°The fact that you kicked Mia¡¯s ass and sent her to hospital,¡± Karina snorted. She obviously found this hrious like me, but on the other hand, now we needed to avoid all the attention as much as physically possible. At the same time, I was filled with pride. It seemed that my magic was developing and increasing exponentially.

    We headed towards our dorms. My heart was still jackhammering inside my chest. Karina embraced me and gave me a warm smile.

    ¡°Seriously I feel like I have gained a real sister. You¡¯re awesome Jaymin rence I want you to remember that,¡± she whispered to my ear.

    The warmth spread through me and I instantly felt better. That night, for the first time in a long time, I went to sleep feeling calm. I wasn¡¯t doubting myself anymore. Karina built me up and she made me feel like I finally belonged somewhere. And it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

    * * *

    The next morning, I woke up feeling very sore, my muscles and my head hurt. These were the side effects of my magic. Karina seemed in a much better mood too and I was relieved.

    Oldman told us all that we were supposed to blend into Academy life, that meant we ate breakfast in the cafeteria, so we decided to head downstairs and do exactly that.

    When we showed up everything about the Academy seemed suddenly very ordinary. I felt like we were back in Moonlight once again. Students were eating, well vampires were drinking blood, but we couldn¡¯t feel any tension. Everyone seemed rxed. A few students nced at us as we sat down.

    Obviously, the ess to the faculty and advanced magic area was limited. ude mentioned that it was only for selected students. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the world, but being here now it certainly didn¡¯t feel this way.

    ¡°And why are you two are in such a good mood this morning?¡± Marco asked when he approached uster on. He picked up my toast and shoved it in his mouth.

    I was outraged that he took my food, but he was right. I was chatting andughing with Karina and I hadn¡¯t even noticed that everyone was staring at us. We heard snippets and whispers. A lot of them were staring at me. I didn¡¯t understand what was going on. My energy was calm, so I figured it was the gossip fromst night¡¯s events.

    ¡°We are just happy,¡± I said, grinning at him, trying to ignore the students that were still staring.

    ¡°Did you make any progressst night?¡± Karina answered, winking at me.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.

    The magic began rising slowly around us, lifting and shifting in the air. These were the little things that I had started to pick up on. The new magical energy was getting into my bloodstream. I had a feeling that this had something to do with the academy wards. The protection spells around this ce were very advance.

    ¡°Yeah, I hooked up with that witch. She was intense and I barely felt like myself this morning,¡± Marco said, stretching his arms. Two female vampires, two tables ahead of us giggled, staring at him.

    I had to roll my eyes.

    ¡°That is not what we were asking and you know it,¡± I muttered, wondering what the hell had happened to L this morning.

    Marco gave us one of his most devilish smiles and sat down.

    ¡°Well, we need to track the boyfriend of your friend,¡± he said.

    ¡°We know that Marco, so did you do anything elsest night apart from making out with some hot chick?¡± I asked him.

    That partyst night was filled with lust and sex. Marco felt like a fish in the water. He had obviously decided to get to know all the students around the academy on much deeper level.

    ¡°Of course,¡± he muttered. ¡°So, what are you actually insinuating? That I don¡¯t do shit, that I just shag?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what you do Marco,¡± Karina snorted and I giggled. He knew that we were messing with him.

    ¡°What can I say, most girls love me and just can¡¯t resist me,¡± Marco added, puffing up his chest and then dragging his hand through his hair. He truly wasn¡¯t that vain, he just liked winding us up.

    Momentster, L strolled through the room and he didn¡¯t look like himself. He was much paler than usual. His aura was off too. It appeared that he was still pissed off about something.

    ¡°Morning sunshine,¡± Karina greeted him, nudging me with her elbow. Juda was right behind him, appearing to be much more alert.

    L gave her annoyed look and then sat down.

    ¡°So, did anyone find out anything usefulst night?¡± Juda asked. Most vampires didn¡¯t need to eat, but this morning there was more than enough students at breakfast. Most of them drank donor¡¯s blood. I didn¡¯t want to ask any questions. It was easier if I appeared clueless.

    ¡°Marisa had a boyfriend and apparently she broke up with him the night she was killed,¡± I said, trying to put my wild emotions and feelings aside. L was probably still pissed off with me that I¡¯d showed up at the party with ude. I¡¯d let him manipte me a little and that was a big mistake on my part.

    ¡°Good, then we have to talk to him. We should ask ude¨C¡±

    ¡°We are not asking him shit. That clown has his own agenda. Let¡¯s finish up our business here and then do our own thing. Vampires are obliged to help us with this damn investigation,¡± L said, looking around. He instantly frowned, because he must have noticed that everyone was staring at us.

    We hadn¡¯t had a chance to talk since the party. I didn¡¯t owe him any exnation.

    We weren¡¯t together and he had to finally understand that little fact.

    ¡°Good call, but the guy isn¡¯t in here. The girl that I was withst night said that he hasn¡¯t been seen since that night when the bodies were discovered,¡± Marco said, which put all of us in difficult position.

    We really needed to make better progress.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start asking questions. I have a feeling that supernaturals here don¡¯t want us to find the truth,¡± Juda stated. Everyone was nodding and L gave me a long look. He didn¡¯t say anything. I suspected that he was waiting to speak to me in private.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just split up and start hanging around with other students. We won¡¯t find anything by sitting around together,¡± Karina stated.

    The main academy building was filled with gothic features. I didn¡¯t know when exactly the academy had been set up, but the rules had certainly changed in that time.

    I nodded to Karina and took my tray back. We all went in different directions. I wasn¡¯t certain if this was such a good idea, but we needed a breakthrough, any kind of progress or possibly a strong lead.

    I approached two fae that were siting by the door and just started talking to them about the sses. I wasn¡¯t very good at making small talk, but I realised that I had to build rapport in order to get something.

    This didn¡¯t go well. They bluntly refused to tell me anything. Their energies were overwhelmingly strong and they were both very pretty girls. I needed to figure out another way.

    After a while it looked like none of us had much luck, but we were getting used to it.

    I had a feeling that the all the teachers were working against us, so we really had our work cut out for us.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to ude about this whole situation. Elite must have files that we could ess,¡± I told Karinater on when we returned to our amodation.

    No one wanted to say anything. I¡¯d even gone to the library, hoping to make some kind of connection with someone there, but without any luck. The word had spread fast. Many must have heard about what happenedst night, because supernaturals were deliberately avoiding me.

    The academy had a truly incredible collections of books. There were several vaults on many different levels. This was my idea of heaven.

    Sadly, I was only here to solve this damn murder and figure out who was helping Leonidas.

    I sat down in the corner and for a minute, I studied a few ancient magical records of previous Elite students, trying to figure out if Marisa¡¯s rtives had been students here when someone approached me.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t been cleared to look through these books,¡± the older Librarian said. She was a vampire too, a full blooded one.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning to take anything out of the library, I¡¯m trying to work,¡± I told her, pissed off that things around here were so difficult at every turn.

    ¡°I have my orders, you need to take this up with principle Hond,¡± she barked and then walked away. Suddenly there were magical wards everywhere and I felt like I was being pulled away. Damn it. Hond was making this very difficult for us. What the hell was going on?

    What was Hond so afraid of? We were only trying to help him and discover who had killed his students.

    I thanked her, shook my head and then left. There was no point arguing the point any further. Momentster, I was climbing the stairs, heading towards the exit. I passed a few students on the way, as usual, they stared at me whispering between themselves.

    I turned round the corner and headed through a long dark corridor. The silence was unnerving and all of a sudden I felt a dark twisted energy pound through me. Someone¡¯s fear radiated through my veins. It was their aura, sometimes I could sense it around other supernaturals, but only sometimes.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing man? We were only talking,¡± I heard someone¡¯s voice and stopped abruptly. The magic was so potent coursing through my veins that it took my breath away. In the corner, just by the wall, I saw Marco. I knew that I had recognised that voice somewhere before.

    He was with two vampires. One of them was a young female. She looked very frightened. The other one was a male, but I couldn¡¯t see his face.

    ¡°Leave Maureen. I need to have a serious conversation with this fae,¡± the male vampire snapped. The female nodded obediently and then vanished leaving Marco alone. ¡°Now, tell me what were you trying to find out from her?¡±

    The male approached the light and then I saw his face clearly. My stomach made a funny jolt because I realised that it was L¡¯s father. What the hell was he doing in here in the academy?

    And on top of that, he was usingpulsion on Marco. This was very curious indeed.

 Chapter 9

    L¡¯s father could sense me, so I had to be careful. I didn¡¯t bloody care that he was a member of the academy board and the council. The rules were supposed to be the same for everyone and now he was breaking them. Vampires weren¡¯t supposed to usepulsion on other creatures, but I didn¡¯t think anyone particrly cared or followed them.

    ¡°We had to find a few things about two students. We are conducting our investigation,¡± Marco replied mechanically. He was supposed to be resistant to vampire charms, but it was Jonathan¨Cthis vampire was much more powerful than any of us realised.

    Anger rose inside me and I took a step forward, sensing I was going through a moment of deja-vu.

    Then Jonathan turned around and must have sensed me. His expression changed, growing tense and heavy. He must have recognised my magic. I wasn¡¯t nning to be seen around here.

    ¡°Well, well, well¡­ who do we have here. Isn¡¯t this Mrs. remont?¡± L¡¯s father said. It was strange calling him that, because at the end of the day, Jonathan was L¡¯s maker. I had been told many many times before, that vampires couldn¡¯t conceive children.

    ¡°Hello Mr. Moore,¡± I said, smiling, knowing well enough that I couldn¡¯t hide here.

    In an instant, Marco was released from thepulsion spell. For a moment he looked a little disorientated, then he saw me and Moore.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on here Jaymin?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Maybe Mr. Moore can tell us that,¡± I said, folding my arms over my chest and giving Moore a stinky look. His authority didn¡¯t scare me, but the way my magic reacted to his was very odd and worrying. It almost felt like my blood had started to boil. My energy was shifting and circling around me.

    Moore looked annoyed, probably because I had interfered in his spell, but whatever. He wasn¡¯t supposed to be here, taking advantage of Marco. He looked at me and an instant painnced through my head. It felt like someone had just sliced a knife through my brain. I thought I was going to pass out.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to exin myself to you two, but if you must know, I just arrived and I was heading to speak to Principle Hond. You should not have ess to these parts of the building,¡± he said.

    I wasn¡¯t really listening. My head was hurting now.

    ¡°We are here because of the murders and I was doing research in the library earlier on. I don¡¯t understand how we are supposed to solve this murder if everywhere we go we have restricted ess. Maybe you can help us Mr. Moore. We need a file for one student ¨C our potential suspect,¡± I told him, although my voice was uneven.

    Something was going on with me and I didn¡¯t know what it was. Moore¡¯s presence made me a little weak.

    That vampire radiated with powerful magic, it was something that I had never sensed in anyone else previously. My pulse was sky-rocketing and my fingers were sparkling. Both Marco and Moore noticed straight away of course.

    ¡°This institution was established thousands of years ago and Principle Hond has a responsibility to protect it. Moonlight has an excellent reputation, so work up to it if you really want to get in here. Ovee obstacles that are put in front of you Miss remont,¡± he said,pletely dismissing everything I had said.

    We all needed that file, and I didn¡¯t understand why they were refusing to give it to us.

    ¡°Mr. Moore, it¡¯s just one file and we can sign a none disclosure agreement. We all want the same thing right? Essentially we want to find the killer before someone else gets hurt,¡± Marco said, sounding pissed off.

    Someone was approaching, but Moore kept staring at me the entire time. My headache was intensifying.

    ¡°Father? What are you doing here?¡± the familiar voice asked. The pain stopped as quickly as it had appeared. L seemed as surprised as we all were. Karina and Juda were right behind him. Jonathan¡¯s energy took over, it spread around the room pulsating with steady beats.

    At least I could breathe normally again.

    ¡°You do not need to ask such silly questions L. You knew that I was nning to visit and evaluate your work. I see that your team has not made much progress, all I hear is excuses,¡± the ancient vampire stated, putting emphasis on thest sentence.

    I was ready to punch him.

    L pinched his eyebrows, and then he nced over at me. All of a sudden, the lights in the corridor came on, and they began shing every few seconds. The energy was active, but the intensity of it took my breath away. It immediately started raining outside, I could sense it.

    Was it possible that I had brought on this sudden change of weather? I didn¡¯t think that I was that powerful.

    Yes¨Cmy own inner voice answered.

    ¡°We have made progress father and I will exin everything tomorrow¨C¡±

    ¡°L, I haven¡¯t got time for chit chat. I must head over to see Principle Hond right away. Remind your team about the rules son,¡± Jonathan said cutting him off and then the lights around us stopped shing. He moved passed me, touching me with his arm.

    In that moment another spasm of pain rushed through my core and I reached out to catch my bnce against the wall. The tension eased as soon as he vanished and I have never felt more relieved.

    I had no idea how that vampire had affected me in such a way.

    ¡°No offence L, but your old man is a dick,¡± Karina stated and it seemed that everyone was ready to agree with her. Pretty boy looked very disturbed and he was clenching his fists. I didn¡¯t know what kind of rtionship he had with his father, but I had a feeling that it wasplex.

    ¡°He¡¯s not going to help us at all, that¡¯s for sure ¡­. on contrary he will make this more difficult for me,¡± L answered with a heavy voice.

    ¡°Well, I went to the library earlier on and the librarian asked me to leave. She said that I wasn¡¯t allowed to be in that section,¡± I exined.

    ¡°Everything is in that file and we have to get our hands on it. Did anyone manage to find out why that vampire has vanished?¡± Juda asked, looking around. We all shook our heads.

    It seemed that someone, in fact everyone, was trying to hinder our investigation rather than help. What the hell was going on in here?

    ¡°No sweat. We will get to that file somehow, but for now, we need to figure out what the hell had happened to that vampire. Someone was bound to know something. We just need to be more vignt now too, because my father has influence over Hond,¡± L stated.

    ¡°I was making progress with that vampire girl when he showed up. I don¡¯t even remember her leaving,¡± Marco muttered, scratching his head with confusion. He had no idea that Moore had usedpulsion on him. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll see you guyster, I need to find her again.¡±

    Karina nudged me and we started walking away. Now the back of my head was hurting. The boys were right behind us. I wanted to ask L what his deal was when it came to his father. It seemed that the two of them didn¡¯t truly get on.

    It seemed that Moore was a difficult person to get on with for everyone. I nned to bring this subject up with L sooner rather thanter, but right then I felt so drained. He had been avoiding me since that party.

    That night we all had dinner together in ourmon room. Marco cooked some delicious smelling oriental dish. L was very quiet, he seemed lost in his own thoughts. He didn¡¯t even try to make eye contact with anyone.

    Around midnight, I felt so tired, so I headed over to my bedroom. On top of that my head was still hurting like hell and I just wanted to lie down in the darkened room. At least the craving for blood had gone away, even with L being in the next room until I drifted awaypletely.

    I must have been around twelve. It was strange staring at myself. I was in my own room in the other life¨Cthe one before this one that I knew.

    There were some posters on the wall and my younger self was sitting on the bed, writing something in a notepad. There were headphones over my ears.

    The music was loud and it was probably rock. I was tapping my foot on the floor at the same time.

    Just then, a woman walked into the room. She had a kind face and I remembered her from the van. She tapped me on the shoulder.

    ¡°There¡¯s a phone call for you. It¡¯s Jess,¡± my mother told me.

    I took the phone off her and put the headphones away.

    My mother had dark hair, but we had the same eyes. Pure green with sparkles in them that lightened when something or someone made us angry.

    ¡°Hey Jess, what¡¯s up? Did you find out anything?¡± I asked, squeezing the phone around my fingers. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest.

    This boy that I liked in school was supposed to ask me out to this party. Mum didn¡¯t know and I knew that she wouldn¡¯t let me go anyway. I loved her to pieces, but sometimes she was very uptight. I was nning to tell her that Jess was organising a sleepover. I hated lying to her.

    I didn¡¯t even know how I knew it, but I was feeling all these emotions swirling inside me.

    She wouldn¡¯t understand if I told her the truth. Michael was so handsome and he was on the basketball team. Mum thought that I wasn¡¯t old enough for dating.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have good news. Apparently he asked Madeline to the party,¡± Jess said and my heart sunk inside my chest.

    ¡°What? You¡¯re lying to me, he couldn¡¯t have. He told me how much he liked me,¡± I cried, talking to her as the tears started streaming down my face. Jess was my best friend and I knew that she would have never lied, but I was heartbroken. There was silence on the other side of the phone for a moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jaymin, but Tara saw them together. He¡¯s not worth it, Tom is much nicer,¡± Jess was saying, but I wasn¡¯t listening to her anymore. I threw the phone down and then got up. My blood pressure was rising fast. I started breathing really really hard, looking around.

    I wanted to trash everything, my things, my entire room.

    Jess was still on the phone; I could hear her asking if I was still there.

    This wasn¡¯t fair, I liked him and this hurt. My whole body suddenly hurt. Every cell was pounding with energy.Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    Tears forced their way from my eyes and something started happening to me. The air was suddenly thicker and that long electric current rushed through my spine. I was crying, feeling so lost and betrayed.

    I remembered him telling me that I was special and that he couldn¡¯t wait to kiss me. Stupid, stupid girl and now he was saying all these things to someone else.

    Secondster, all the things in the room started levitating above the floor. Books, clothes, and other bits were swirling all around me while my heart was jackhammering inside my chest. My jaw dropped and my stomach tightened. I didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Electricity rushed through my fingers. Was it me?

    Was I responsible for this mess?

    I felt a cold draft, the wind picked up but none of my windows were open and the doors downstairs were shut too. More things started to move on their own, swirling around me. It was some invisible force that was doing this, it couldn¡¯t be me. Magic? no, magic didn¡¯t exist. This was impossible.

    Books, clothes, make up, and everything that was lying loose was being lifted above the floor.

    ¡°Jaymin, what the hell is¨C¡±

    It was mum and she didn¡¯t finish her sentence as she opened the door to my room. Her eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. For a long moment she just stood there watching, then moved her hand and everything stopped. All my things fell back on the ground.

    She got to me before I could say anything and embraced me. I was so confused I stopped crying, now wondering what had just happened here.

    ¡°Jaymin, don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re okay. It was just an ident. This happened to me too,¡± she was saying to me.

    ¡°Mum I cannot breathe, mum,¡± I said as then she finally let go of me and I looked at her with confusion. ¡°What do you mean that this happened to you too?¡±

    She looked quickly away and smiled. My room was in aplete mess.

    ¡°Nothing hun, this was nothing. It was probably wind from downstairs,¡± she said, still dismissing my question. I could tell when she was lying to me.

    ¡°Mum, what¡¯s going on? It wasn¡¯t wind, please exin. Is there anything wrong with me?¡± I asked her, thinking about other times when something strange happened. There were little things that I had noticed in the past, but I never really paid any attention to them before now.

    She bit her bottom lip and her eyes soared with light or maybe I was imagining things again.

    ¡°It¡¯s your magic, you have my genes, but I want you to forget about it. No one cannot know and this shouldn¡¯t happen again. If you won¡¯t use the magic it won¡¯t bother you. Darling please let¡¯s pretend that this never happened. You were upset and your emotions took over. Trust me it¡¯s better this way.¡±

 Chapter 10

    I woke up in the morning, instantly remembering every detail of this vivid dream. At least my migraine was gone. I felt fine, but that dream kept ying on a loop in my memories. Karina¡¯s bed was empty, which meant that she was already up and ready.

    The sun was streaming into the room as I was looking out the window. The weather was improving.

    I slowly began to realise that Jonathan Moore¡¯s magic was trying to influence me, but why?

    L was obviously clueless about his father. Their rtionship was for sureplex.

    My mother must have had some fae genes. It was a memory from the past, not simply a dream. I was around twelve in that vision and my anger had triggered the magic inside me.

    Was it possible that my mother had been trying to hide the fact that she was a fae?

    I had so many questions in my head. She was so beautiful and she looked like a human. I was sure she didn¡¯t have any typical fae features.

    I rubbed my face and decided that I had to speak to L about his father today. There was something off about him, but pretty boy wouldn¡¯t see it.

    After breakfast, I went downstairs to hang around the grounds for a little bit. I was certain that we must have missed something there. The weather was cold. It was the end of November, so I was used to it by now.

    On the other side of the grounds there was a building where trials were taking ce. I could see the radiating light around it. Someone was creating very serious magic there. From the distance, I could see the whole ce lit up by this golden aura.

    I walked around the crime scene for a few more minutes and then went back to speak to the vampire that was responsible for clearing up the site. I knew that his statement was important too.

    I walked inside another building and headed to the third floor where his office was located. I must have gotten slightly lost on the way because I heard someone shouting in the room to my right, the door was slightly ajar. Not thinking much of it I was just about to walk away when the same strong magic as yesterday hit me hard. And I lost my breath for a moment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why do you want to continue working for Oldman. You¡¯re wasting your talent in that academy¡­ up here,¡± the familiar voice was shouting. I recognised that voice instantly. Jonathan was in the other room and he was probably with L.

    Pretty boy wasn¡¯t in the dorm when I¡¯d left this morning. Marco didn¡¯t see him and I didn¡¯t want to ask too many questions. Karina already knew that there was something going on between us. I backed away, thinking that I should give them some privacy.

    Their conversation was none of my business.

    ¡°Yes, you have been telling me this for quite some time. I don¡¯t like the structure of the council; we both know that. Besides, I need to graduate andplete my education in Moonlight,¡± L stated, sounding confident. The memories from the earlier dream were so vivid.

    It was strange that I remembered so much. The warmth was travelling down my spine.

    ¡°You won¡¯t get to Elite if you keep hanging with Oldman. You¡¯re ancient, a member of the n of the most pure-blooded vampires in the world L, but you¡¯re not living up to these standards,¡± Jonathan said with a mocking tone of voice. My heart elerated, well I knew that L was old, but I didn¡¯t suspect that he belonged to some kind of n. ¡°Your mother is ashamed of you. Now you¡¯re proving to me that you don¡¯t have it what it takes. It appears that I need to lower my expectations.¡±

    That vampire was an arsehole. I finally began to understand what kind of rtionship L had with his own father. Jonathan expected L to follow his path and pretty boy was having none of it. Damn it, maybe I had been wrong about him from the start. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he was ready to distance himself from his own family. That was interesting.

    ¡°Father, Moonlight offers the same level of education as other schools in the country. I like what I do,¡± he said, sounding bored.

    ¡°It¡¯s not good enough for me and it shouldn¡¯t be good enough for you either. As the only male member of this family you have a certain reputation to uphold,¡± his father continued.

    L sighed loudly and ced his hand over his son¡¯s neck so quickly that I didn¡¯t even see how he got to him so fast.

    Then he pushed him against the wall. Moore leaned over and said.

    ¡°Remember the family tradition son. I don¡¯t like to repeat myself.¡±

    It was time for me to bail, because my magic was rising fast and I didn¡¯t want Moore seeing me here.

    Something was going on with me and this sudden pain around my forehead was building again.

    I rushed back to the dorm, feeling a little sick. This was none of my business, so why was I taking it so personally. L underestimated me in the beginning and now his own father was questioning his integrity. I didn¡¯t know much about his past, but I suspected that it was probably hard enough to having Moore for a sire. He could never meet Moore¡¯s expectations but I didn¡¯t think he particrly cared about it either.

    I was suddenly d that there was nothing serious between us. Melody had warned me about powerful family ns. She said that these vampires were expected to follow the rules or die. Jonathan Moore didn¡¯t want L to associate himself with the lower ss.

    The rest of the group was still out when I came back, but I saw them again right after lunch. This time L was with them. He looked paler than usual.

    ¡°I need to talk to you beautiful,¡± he said when he saw me on the sofa, reading a book about spells.

    He sat next to me, and heat rushed through me instantly. I was trying to do some research using my fancy phone, but the swirling energy inside was very distracting.

    I knew this wasing and we truly needed to talk. He probably wanted to bring up the subject of mating again.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to your room. Karina is fooling around with Marco and Juda is in his room,¡± L muttered.

    Damn it, so this was serious. I got up and strolled in the direction of my small bedroom, wondering if I could convince him that it was best if we just stayed friends.

    Maybe he realised that us getting together would end badly for both of us, but we couldn¡¯t avoid each other forever.

    I stood by the wall, sensing the tension rising between us. L gave me a long look that reminded me a little of the time when ude was staring at me when I first arrived here. It was strange that I hadn¡¯t seen him around today. I was nning to ask him about that file. I had a feeling that he wouldn¡¯t have said no to me.

    ¡°I want you to go with me to a dinner that my father is hosting in the cityter tonight,¡± L said unexpectedly.

    Hepletely caught me off guard. This wasn¡¯t what I expected to hear.

    ¡°A party?¡± I repeated.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s this boring family thing that my father has done countless times in the past. I usually have someone with me, welltely it was Ramona,¡± L replied with a bored tone of voice. I ced my hands on my hips. I couldn¡¯t stand seeing him with that bitch, even now. She¡¯d got what she deserved in the end and the tiny voice inside my head reminded me that I couldn¡¯t let her get to me. L could sense when my pulse changed its pace.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is such a good idea. Your father is intense; why don¡¯t you take Karina?¡±

    ¡°Karina? No. She¡¯s a shifter and that would just get me into trouble. I have to show up with a vampire,¡± he said, putting emphasis on thest word. I hated the fact that this sudden heat made me forget my carefully prepared speech as soon I was near him.

    ¡°And I¡¯m a half vampire man, I don¡¯t do official parties. I just wouldn¡¯t fit in there,¡± I said. It was a straight no, because this was thest thing that I truly wanted to do.

    ¡°Shut up hen. You owe me this after showing up at the party with that clown. It will be over before you know it, and in a way I do want to annoy my father,¡± he exined, only confirming the fact that this was very bad idea.

    ¡°Is Jonathan your father or your maker? I thought vampires couldn¡¯t father children,¡± I asked. In a way I needed to figure out how I was connected to pretty boy¡¯s bloodline.

    I wanted to gain my memories back, all of them, and find the damn vampire that had ruined my life. Deep down it was the revenge that burned my insides¨Cthe fact that he turned me into a freak.

    ¡°He¡¯s my maker, but that means that he is my father¨C my sire. I don¡¯t really want to exin it all, it¡¯splicated,¡± he said. ¡°Olympia is my mother, she¡¯s ancient, but she knows a lot of witches.¡±

    ¡°And what does this have to do with me?¡±

    ¡°I just thought she might help you to get your memories back.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want you to say anything to them about what I am. Oldman said that I was supposed to keep it to myself. She¡¯s an ancient fae,¡± I exined, panicking that he was taking this too far. He got up and walked up to me, then touched my hand.

    ¡°Chill hen, I only thought that my mother could reach out to some of her contacts,¡± he said it gently, giving me a heated look. My heart elerated and it wasn¡¯t because of what he said. My feelings for him hadn¡¯t just faded.

    ¡°No, no one was supposed to know about me and I want to keep it that way,¡± I said, firmly, now afraid that too many people knew about my secret. Oldman warned me that I wasn¡¯t supposed to advertise the fact that I was a freak.

    ¡°All right, so we have a deal,¡± L muttered and then leaned over. ¡°I still want to shag you and now we have an opportunity.¡±Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.

    I pped his arm and push him off, but the smilested on my face when he left. My body desired his and there was no doubt about that.

    Later on, when Karina arrived, I told her what L had proposed. She didn¡¯t seem surprised at all.

    ¡°He wants you, it¡¯s obvious, and that has nothing to do with his father,¡± she said, taking off severalyers of clothing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why he needs me there. We aren¡¯t going to be an item. This whole thing is too risky,¡± I said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure about that. L is persistent and he won¡¯t just give up. You might as well go with the flow and see how it goes,¡± Karina said, winking at me. My jaw dropped. I couldn¡¯t believe that she was actually advising me to go out with pretty boy. ¡°And you need to look amazing for this dinner to impress his posh family. Have you thought about what are you going to wear?¡±

    I shook my head, realising that she was right. I needed to be elegant as it was some kind of official dinner. Facing Jonathan Moore wasn¡¯t going to be easy at all.

    She gave me a big smile.

    ¡°In that case I might have something perfect,¡± she said, sounding excited. We were supposed to be brainstorming ideas, trying to figure out how to track Marisa¡¯s boyfriend, but instead we were focusing on girly things.

    I was surprised that she wasn¡¯t worried.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked her. She was giggling to herself and I couldn¡¯t help to smile. Momentster, she took out from the wardrobe, the most beautiful dress that I had ever seen. It was long, ck and shiny.

    I stared at it, thinking that she was joking. That dress was too much. I couldn¡¯t possibly pull of that kind of look off.

    ¡°I brought this with me, hoping that I would be able to wear it to some kind of party, but obviously then we found Marisa and everything changed. We have the same build and I think this dress will look amazing on you. It¡¯s exactly the thing you need to impress everyone at that fancy dinner.¡±

    She was right. The dress was stunning, and I had never worn anything like that before. My heart started to beat faster.

    ¡°All right let me try it on,¡± I said, thinking that this was crazy. I couldn¡¯t truly be considering attending that special dinner.

    Karina squeaked with excitement, jumping up and down like a little child. She quickly rushed me to the bathroom and handed me the dress.

    As I was staring at myself in the mirror, trying to process what was happening, the tiny voice in my head whispered that L was going to love it when he saw meter. As crazy as it sounded, I was going to rock that dress tonight.

 Chapter 11

    ¡°Oh my fucking God, you look stunning girl! I want to see L¡¯s face when he sees youter,¡± Karina shouted when I was all dressed up and ready to go.

    I smiled, still not believing that this was really me. I looked ssically beautiful.

    ¡°Sorrydies, but the Scot already left. He said he was going to call you Jaymin,¡± Marco said, walking into our bedroom but stopped when he saw me, his jaw dropped. Then he whistled. ¡°Damn it girl, you scrub up well!¡±

    His eyes zoomed me over like he still wasn¡¯t sure if this was really me. My face heated up a little. Even my breasts looked bigger than expected.

    ¡°Yes, she looks so hot and sexy. Right, let me take a picture and where the hell has L gone?¡± Karina asked, sounding annoyed. I was a little disappointed too.

    Why did he leave so suddenly? It seemed that all this effort had been for nothing.

    ¡°He had a family thing, but he said that he¡¯s going to see you by the chapel Jaymin. He asked me to pass on the message,¡± Marco said, scratching his chin.

    ¡°Well, in that case, we have a bit more time to perfect your make up,¡± Karina said, rubbing her hands together.

    An hourter, I was staring at the mirror still, pretty much speechless, not recognising myself at all. It was all rather overwhelming, but also very satisfying. Karina was very good with all this girly stuff. She¡¯d used at least five different brushes on my face.

    Two years ago I would never have hoped or dreamed of being in this position, agreeing to apany a pure blooded vampire to some fancy dinner. Well, things had certainly changed, and I¡¯d changed too.

    ¡°You must give me all the juicy detailster dear. Remember, don¡¯t let his father intimidate you. You¡¯re amazing,¡± Karina kept saying when she was rushing me off towards the door. The heels were high and I was struggling to walk in them.

    I was sure that I was going to break an ankle.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, suddenly having second thoughts. I needed to hush that other doubting voice in my head and just get on with it. The night had drawn in when I stepped outside the building, the sky was scattered with stars. It was freezing cold. My cheeks felt like they were made of ice, but I started walking towards the chapel.

    I kept telling myself that maybe this wasn¡¯t such a good idea after all.

    ¡°Hello mysterious half breed. Can I just say that you look absolutely stunning this evening,¡± a familiar voice startled me and I nearly jumped out my skin.

    I turned around, seeing ude approaching from the opposite direction. His eyes appeared red in the moonlight. A cold shiver crawled down my spine. Damn it, just my luck. Right now I didn¡¯t need to have any confrontations between him and the pretty boy.

    ¡°Thank you ude,¡± I answered. ¡°I really need to get going, I¡¯ll catch up with you another time.¡±

    ¡°Hold on, what¡¯s the rush. I thought we could discuss some business, but you¡¯re distracting me too much,¡± he whispered. His eyes were binding into mine, and I suddenly forgotten about the Scot. I just wanted to stay with ude.

    ¡°What business? We still need that file that I told you about before, Marrisa¡¯s boyfriend is still missing,¡± I said, reminding myself that my magic could be resistant to ude¡¯spulsion. I just needed to focus.

    ¡°Then you need to apany me to my office. We could talk there,¡± he said, and I was truly ready to follow him.

    ¡°What the hell is going on here? Jaymin, is this clown bothering you?¡±

    L appeared out of nowhere. The anger was radiating from him. He was staring at ude with daggers in his eyes.

    Damn. He did look so handsome. He was wearing a suit and his fangs were out. ude smiled, at the same time my magic soared through my core. They were measuring each other in silence while my heart was beating loudly inside my chest.

    ¡°Hello L. Me and the lovely Jaymin were having a conversation. Are you insinuating that she isn¡¯t allowed talk to anyone here? I was also admiring how stunning she looks this evening,¡± ude exined politely, but he was winding pretty boy up. I just knew it.

    ¡°She can talk to whoever she wants unless that person is you. Can you just fuck off and leave us be,¡± L barked, cing his hand on my arm. Another shot of electric current jolted through me and my knees nearly gave up on me. ude narrowed his eyes at my cleavage, then licked his lips. I could feel his desire embracing me like an invisible light.

    ¡°Vampires like you shouldn¡¯t im something that doesn¡¯t belong to you,¡± ude said and L moved towards him so fast that I didn¡¯t even have time to react. Luckily for me that I stood so close and something happened. My magic reacted before me. It stopped him. He made this specific hissing sound and appeared to be surprised.

    I had a feeling that he was ready to rip ude¡¯s face off.

    ¡°Right, both of you need to cut it out,¡± I shouted as the tension skyrocketed

    between all of us and the magic was zooming around. ude was ready to throw himself back at L too. None of this was good.

    ¡°She¡¯s mine,¡± L growled and I looked at him like he was speaking in anothernguage. We needed to have a serious conversation about the way he was speaking about me. No one owned me, but right now I had to keep him calm.

    I wasn¡¯t a thing that he could own.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t appear to agree with that,¡± ude snapped, sounding amused, but appearances were often deceiving. Right then, we truly needed to get out of here. ude was testing pretty boy, he was trying to figure out how hard he could press his buttons, and he was very close to the limit.

    ¡°This is the end of this discussion. Let¡¯s go L,¡± I said firmly, grabbing his elbow and dragging him away. I¡¯d had enough of his mood swings. Both vampires were just about to go for each other¡¯s throats for sure. I shot ude an angry look and then dragged L in the opposite direction.

    The Scot was raging and my thoughts were racing. He finally pulled away from me, breathing hard.

    ¡°What the hell was that about?¡± he asked, looking confused himself, then his eyes started moving downwards. He must not have paid any attention to the way I was dressed when he first saw me with ude, and now he finally noticed Karina¡¯s hard work.

    His pupils instantly dted and he forgot all about ude because he was in my space.

    ¡°What are you wearing, you look so incredibly sexy,¡± he growled, turning me into a big pile of goo. Was it possible that ude had usedpulsion on L earlier on?

    I was told that that ability didn¡¯t work on vampires. My core was suddenly inmed and my fangs extended. I was so embarrassed.

    ¡°Karina made me wear it, I thought you wanted me to impress your father,¡± I saidughing, but I was so bloody turned on. It was a bit out of control. We needed to be careful, maybe my team didn¡¯t really care that we were dating, but this whole memory recall game scared the shit out of me.

    ¡°And you certainly live up to it, you¡¯re fucking gorgeous and I¡¯m nning to im you as my mate Jaymin. I don¡¯t take no for an answer,¡± he said, and then he kissed me so hard that it took mepletely by surprise that I lost my breath. His lips were tender and soft, and he smelled of whiskey. His hand squeezed my buttocks and for a moment I was lost in these incredible sensations. The tip of his tongue grazed my left fang and my heart elerated.

    L was hard and by the time he pulled away from me I didn¡¯t know my own name. My skin itched for more. I tried to breathe in, telling myself that it was ude¡¯s fault. We haven¡¯t even gotten to that dinner and I was already losing control of myself imagining him as my delicious dessert.

    ¡°All right, all right. Let¡¯s just go. I don¡¯t know what is going on here but your aura seems off,¡± I mumbled, trying to put a coherent sentence together.

    L¡¯s blue eyes were so wide, sparkling with magical energy. It seemed like he was almost high on something. He nced at his watch and nodded.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We arete, this won¡¯t look good. Fuck hen, you¡¯re driving me crazy. I don¡¯t think I will be able to keep my hands off you during dinner,¡± he growled.

    He grabbed my hand and we started walking pretty fast. We left the Elite territory, walking through the same gate where Karina and I happened to cross the night Marissa was killed. L got us a taxi, the ride took another fifteen minutes. Since I¡¯d gotten to Bucharest, I hadn¡¯t even had the time to visit the city.

    The taxi driver was a human, he kept staring at me through the back mirror the entire drive. He was scared, I sensed it. Maybe he was afraid of L¡¯s aura, which seemed very forceful tonight. Something was going on with him.

    I was d when the car finally stopped and we were dropped off in an obviously very posh area. There was a row of townhouses lined up on either side. The whole neighbourhood was filled with supernaturals. I could always tell. The magic drifted around the streets, vibrating over my skin like an invisible mist.

    ¡°Come on, but remember, let me do the talking at first,¡± L said sounding nervous. Hmm, that was odd, because he was never nervous. I needed to rx a little too. I looked good and Jonathan Moore wasn¡¯t going to intimidate me.

    We climbed the stairs until we reached the third floor. I instantly felt numbing pain in my temple and took a deep breath. L knocked. Jeremy was back in the city, because he was the one that opened the door. He gave me a warm smile and then before I could say anything at all he embraced me.

    ¡°Master Moore, wee and Miss irmont. It¡¯s so good to see you again. I hope master L had been looking after you very well?¡± he asked. I did like Jeremy. I liked when his magic brushed over mine gently. Only afterwards, I noticed that he was dressed in a suit.

    ¡°He is definitely trying to, how have you been Jeremy?¡± I asked him as he took the coat that Karina had loaned me too. The corridor wasrge and very modernly designed. Another source of energy took my breath away. The windows were shaded with heavy curtains. We could hearughter in another room. I really didn¡¯t want to go in there.

    ¡°Excellent Miss, and I heard that you have done very well since joining Moonlight academy. Madame Oldman is very proud of your progress,¡± he praised me and my skin heated up slightly. Jeremy was kind and made me feel like I was important.

    ¡°She¡¯s one tough cookie alright, I expect my parents are already in the dining room?¡± L asked, and I sensed that he was a little nervous.

    ¡°Yes, everyone is waiting,¡± Jeremy answered and then gestured for both of us to follow him. My stomach started tightening with unease.

    The energy was growing, rushing through my veins once again so that I was having trouble with my breathing. The dining room was huge, set with darker but elegant colours. Several vampires were sitting at the long wooden table filled with all sort of dishes and obviously plenty of blood too. This was going to be a very strange dinner indeed.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.

    Jonathan was sitting at the head of the table, next to him there was a beautiful blond vampire. I didn¡¯t know the rest of the supernaturals. There were around five others, all dressed up looking immacte too. It was obviously a very sophisticated kind of event.

    ¡°Hello father, mother. This is Jaymin everyone, my girlfriend,¡± L introduced me. I gave him a shocking nce, wondering what to say or how to react. Jonathan Moore¡¯s jaw twitched slightly when L said that, he looked at me frowning, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Oh hello darling. It¡¯s so good to finally meet you. We have heard such a lot of wonderful things about you,¡± the female that had been introduced as L¡¯s mother got up. She was very tall and had a thick Scottish ent. She was lean and looked maybe a little older than me. In any otherpany, it would be difficult to say if she was Jonathan¡¯s wife or a daughter.

    She gave me a kiss on the cheek and fussed over me and L for a little while. This wasn¡¯t what I expected at all. I didn¡¯t feel right being here, pretending that me and L were together.

    ¡°I thought you were going to show up alone son?¡± Moore asked.

    ¡°That was never the n. Jaymin these are my parents¡¯ friends and colleagues. My mother Catherine and my father Jonathan. Here is Roger, John and Thea,¡± L said, pointing at the other vampires at the table. I felt a little suffocated with the mixture of all these energies. They all smiled, but I knew that Moore didn¡¯t look happy that L had brought me here.

    Pretty boy whispered to sit down, pointing to the chair by his mother. She had grey eyes, immacte make up and skin that was radiating like diamonds. I never really understood how vampires reproduced, but L had some of her features. She couldn¡¯t have been his sire.

    Jonathan picked up a fork and then waved his hand. Momentster two maids brought us tes, as the blood was being poured.

    ¡°So Jaymin right, tell us more about you. It always baffles me how my son chooses his partners,¡± Moore spoke, and a corner of his lip lifted up in what I could only presume was a mocking smile. I felt L stiffen next to me. I knew it was bad ideaing in here.

    ¡°There is not much to say, I don¡¯t remember much from my previous life as a human,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Well in that case, maybe you could convince L to ept my proposition and mate with the female that I picked out for him,¡± Moore said, throwing this statement out there and probably wondering if it would stick. L looked at him with the mixture of dread and anger. It was official, Moore never believed that I was good enough for his son¨Chis only son.

 Chapter 12

    ¡°Father, this isn¡¯t a good time. We¡¯ve discussed this before and I¡¯m not interested. Jaymin is going to be my mate,¡± L announced, standing up and I wanted to hide under the table.

    What the hell was wrong with him? This wasn¡¯t the time or ce to announce something like that. It seemed that he wanted to anger his own father. Something happened as soon as he said it. This odd energy started swirling around the room now and all the lights began shing. I felt so embarrassed.

    Moore and his guests noticed this strange urrence too. I didn¡¯t think that this magic had anything to do with me.

    ¡°What about Elizabeth? No disrespect, but Jaymin is a half breed and before Moonlight she lived on the streets¨C¡±

    ¡°Father, enough!¡± L shouted, his eyes were filled with fire and my own face heated up. I felt sick all of a sudden. Mating¨C this subject was too farfetched.

    I had never been in a rtionship before and L wanted to mate with me?

    Maybe that¡¯s why L dragged me here, because he wanted to mess up his father¡¯s ns. I wasn¡¯t going to be his mate. This notion waspletely foreign to me.

    ¡°You¡¯re insulting Jaymin. We have discussed this before. I¡¯m not interested in Elizabeth,¡± L said, clenching his fists.

    ¡°She is perfectly suited to you son. Your mother and I agree on this. She¡¯s an ancient vampire, pure blooded and she graduated from South American Academy that is the equivalent to Elite in Bucharest,¡± Moore was saying,pletely ignoring the fact that I was even in the room.

    We hadn¡¯t even sat down properly and he was stabbing the knife right inside my gut. I felt worthless. It was all my fault. I should have seen thising. Moore would want to embarrass me. It didn¡¯t matter how smart or beautiful I was. Either way I could never be good enough for this Scottish God. Then, all of a sudden one of the light bulbs exploded. I flinched having a real headache now. Moore frowned and exhaled.

    ¡°Jonathan, I¡¯m sure you and L can discuss this another time. We have guests and we would all like to enjoy this dinner,¡± L¡¯s mother spoke, giving Moore a stern look. It seemed she didn¡¯t really care about her son¡¯s future mate or maybe she was just trying to be polite. Secondster, Moore mmed his hand onto the table, spilling the blood from the ss all over the white table cloth.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Silence! ¨C or do I need to remind everyone their ce in this household?¡± Moore shouted. The vein on his neck was throbbing, his piercing dark eyes made me nauseous. Anothermp bulb exploded then and a few vampires around the table flinched. I needed to get out of here. This was escting way too fast and obviously Moore believed that he was the master of everyone.

    I had a feeling that L was just about to lose his shit too. He must have been putting up with his sire for a very long time. Moore was obviously much more powerful and experienced than anyone here. L had to be careful. I heard once what could happen to a vampire that disobeyed his sire.

    An awkward silence filled the room.

    ¡°L invited me here Mr. Moore and I don¡¯t appreciate when someone insults me¡±

    ¡°Jaymin, let me deal with this,¡± L snapped.

    I was regretting every second of being here. Moore had made me feel worthless from the moment I stepped inside his residence. ¡°Father, Elizabeth is your choice. Jaymin and I are already connected and I chose her as my mate. Nothing is going to change my mind.¡±

    More awkward silence filled the space and for a moment I thought that everyone was aware of my heavy breathing. At the same time, I was trying to deal with controlling my overwhelming magic. It felt like someone had switched me on to high power. My skin tingled and soared. The pressure around my temples grew and I didn¡¯t know how to deal with it.

    Moore was very pale and he looked seriously shut down by his anger. The dark, twisted energy felt suffocating. I started getting shbacks from the past, bits and pieces of the memories that I had gained between my moments with L. This wasn¡¯t right. I needed to ask the question, I had to know how were they all involved in my previous life.

    Then Roger, the vampire that was sitting to my right started choking. He got up and touched his throat, stumbling to the back.

    ¡°Roger, are you all right?¡± Catherine asked. Roger¡¯s eyes were big, bloodshot and he was pointing at his throat. Blood started dripping around his mouth. The other vampire stood up abruptly too. Jonathan and L went to him, everyone seemed disorientated. Roger copsed and his body started convulsing.

    My magic pounded through me while my heart was jackhammering inside my chest.

    They were all surrounding him, trying to help. Moore started shouting something about spells, he called out for Jeremy. I had no idea what to do, but this anger kept umting inside me, spreading down my bones through my blood stream.

    Shortly after, the warlock barged inside the room. He nced at me briefly and then went to Roger. I was still breathing heavily, trying to control my magic. Roger sounded like he was choking, but that wasn¡¯t possible for a vampire. The tingling around my arms intensified, the magic spread around the room. Jeremy was trying to use his own magic to help Roger, but he was struggling. Catherine was screaming hysterically.

    The vampire was breathing again, the magic, the energy that I felt a split second ago, was gone. My body was shaking a little when I nced at Roger.

    He was breathing in and out, there was blood everywhere and the other two vampires were reassuring him that everything was all right.

    ¡°What the hell was that? I have never seen anything like that in my life!¡± L asked, then he walked up to me.

    ¡°No idea master L, but it seems that someone was trying to poison master Roger using a very strong spell,¡± Jeremy answered and his eyes shone, he gave me a long intense look. Damn it, was it even possible that I was responsible for this? Moore¡¯s hands were covered in blood. For some reason I wasn¡¯t craving any of it.

    He disgusted me.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s very interesting,¡± Moore said, and his eyes narrowed at me then. The numbing pain around my forehead came back. ¡°Call the maids, he needs to be taken care of.¡±

    ¡°Come on Jaymin, you look pale. I think you need to get out of here,¡± L muttered.

    ¡°And where do you think you¡¯re going son?¡± Moore asked him.

    ¡°We are going back to Elite. You have your hands full here father,¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but this conversation isn¡¯t over son,¡± Moore barked, but he was still looking at me.

    It was best for us to leave. I had to get out of here. My hands were shaking a little as we were walking out. This normally happened after I cast a spell or used my abilities.

    ¡°L, I need to tell you something,¡± I said, feeling torn when we were finally out of that room. Oldman promised me that I would have more control. The night outside the club started moving in front of my eyes again.

    ¡°Not now and not here. Father has eyes and ears everywhere,¡± pretty boy muttered. I grabbed his arm.

    ¡°I don¡¯t bloody care. It was me again. I¡¯ve done this to Roger when your father said that I was not fucking good enough for you,¡± I said, louder than I intended. He finally stopped and looked at me, dragging his hand through his hair.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just felt this anger and maybe the magic was supposed to work as a distraction. I¡¯m not sure, but this felt exactly like it did the night I killed everyone,¡± I exined, feeling drained all of a sudden.

    ¡°Come on,¡± L said, and then pointed upstairs. I followed him, although at this point I really wanted to get back to academy. I wasn¡¯t really sure where he was taking me to now.

    I did feel sorry for L. I thought my life was tough without a family, but his was even worse with one. His father had nned his entire future for him and he was just expected to obey. I wouldn¡¯t want to be locked in a golden cage, even if I had everything that I could ever wish for.

    L was dragging me upstairs to another section of the apartment. Soon we ended up on the third floor and went to the room at the end of the corridor.

    We entered a bedroom set in dark tones. L¡¯s clothes were on the chair. It was probably his room. I had no idea that he lived in Bucharest, but he never said much about himself.

    ¡°Hen, I think you might be wrong. What happened to Roger wasn¡¯t your fault. You were angry¨C¡±

    ¡°L, you have no idea what happened with me that night. I¡¯m like a ticking bomb, I can¡¯t deal with this extra fae magic, plus I¡¯m not your girlfriend. Why did you even introduce me like that?¡± I asked, feeling angry that he¡¯d put me in that position. We needed to discuss this and now I realised that I shouldn¡¯t have told him about my memories.

    He gave me azy smile.

    ¡°Because we are fucking linked, so stop denying this. We are going to figure out your magic together. I¡¯m here for you and I don¡¯t care what my father says,¡± L said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you have any choice in that matter. He¡¯s your sire,¡± I muttered, feeling overwhelmed with this whole thing.

    ¡°I have been distancing myself from the family over decades. Trust me I know how to handle my father,¡± he said. ¡°Wait for me here. I¡¯m going to check on Roger.¡±

    The Scot was frustrating, but he made the right decision. Right now I didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near Jonathan Moore. My fingertips were painfully sensitive and the air inside the room was charged with electricity. I sat down on thefortable bed and started looking around.

    I couldn¡¯t fathom how, but I felt like I had been in this room before. There was nothing in the drawers in the bedside cabs. L couldn¡¯t have stayed here often. It was a very spooky and very creepy feeling.

    I was bored, frustrated and still pretty angry about what happened earlier on. Even Catherine his mother, didn¡¯t have much to say. Jonathan Moore ruled the whole family with an iron fist.

    Momentster, some other energy pulled me towards the attic. The door was unlocked, the aroma of burning sage was enticing enough for me to follow it. I didn¡¯t even remember leaving the room in the first ce. Jonathan Moore was an ancient and very wealthy vampire, but like everyone in this world he had secrets.

    The space wasrge, it doubled the size of mine and Karina¡¯s room in Moonlight. I started walking around, telling myself that there was nothing here, just another dumping ce for crap. Several paintings were packed in the corner inrge boxes. There was arge table with a pile of books in the centre.

    I kept having an odd feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. I felt like I had definitely been there before, which was impossible ¨C or was it?

    L¡¯s whole family must have been somehow linked to mine. This was the only logical exnation.

    I didn¡¯t want to waste too much time, so I started looking through the books, seeing my mother¡¯s face from thattest memory. She was a fae, there was no doubt about it.

    I moved to a box on the floor. The dust started itching my nose. Vampires had many photographs but I didn¡¯t recognise any of them. Then some other photos on the bottom of the box caught my eye. The oldest ones were ck and white; many were worn out. I started looking through them. The people in them looked like humans not vampires but I couldn¡¯t be so sure as these photos weren¡¯t preserved well. My heart started beating faster when I notice a woman in one photograph. And then it struck me. It was my aunt, the woman from my memory in the van. I remembered her clearly now.

    I turned the picture around, but there was no description. My stomach tightened but I couldn¡¯t find any more. My aunt was smiling and she looked happy.

    ¡°What the hell are you up to Moore?¡± I whispered to myself and then some papers dropped on the floor. I picked them up and was just about to put them away when I realised that I was holding some sort of file. I looked inside and my heart elerated.

    It was the file of Christopher Nn, Marisa¡¯s boyfriend and it looked like it hade directly from the academy. I opened it, my pulse skipping a beat, then raced triple time. Some of the pages, well everything what was important or useful was gone. There were just some bits of information about his grades and trials for the academy. Why would Moore have this?

    We needed his address at least. He had vanished for a reason. I was confused, looking through the rest of the paperwork, but there was nothing relevant there.

    Then someone cleared his throat and I dropped the file on the floor, spreading more dust everywhere.

    ¡°Is everything all right Miss?¡±

    It was Jeremy and I was suddenly relieved that it wasn¡¯t anyone else.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m good,¡± I replied, turning around. Jeremy¡¯s magic drifted around, calming me. He was a powerful warlock and I wondered why he worked for Oldman or Moore.

    ¡°Master L is looking for you, he¡¯s ready to leave,¡± he said. I nodded and walked up to him, but he stopped me. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find this useful.¡±

    Then he handed me a piece of paper. I looked at it wondering what he was talking about.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the location of Christopher Nn, it¡¯s his parents address in the heart of Romania.¡±

 Chapter 13

    My jaw dropped and I stared at the piece of paper for a long while, wondering if he was joking.

    ¡°Why? I mean why do you have this, but more importantly why are you helping me?¡± I asked, right before he was just about to walked away. L was going to ask me the same questionster.

    Jeremy smiled at me.

    ¡°A very good friend of mine asked me to give this to you,¡± he said, although that confused me even more. ¡°And please watch out for master Moore. He¡¯s dangerous Miss.¡±

    My thoughts started racing. Jeremy was a great guy, but he couldn¡¯t just expect me to believe him.

    ¡°What friend?¡± I snapped, annoying little irritated. This was exactly what I didn¡¯t need right now.

    Jeremy smiled and brushed his thumb over his white beard. His magic zoomed over the room, embracing mine highly. Even he was warning me from L¡¯s sire.

    That was interesting.

    ¡°Someone that cares about you Miss. You must forgive me, but I cannot say anymore,¡± he replied. ¡°I treat master L like my only son and I do worry about him. I see how much he had invested himself in this murder case. I hate seeing him struggle.¡±

    Wow that was definitely not what I expected to hear. Howe Jeremy was so close to L? I thought he was working for Oldman and his father.

    ¡°So, you can¡¯t tell me who gave you this file?¡± I asked, still trying and still hoping that he would say more.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.

    I hadn¡¯t seen Jeremy since he left me with L in Moonlight. Obviously, a lot things had changed since then. Maybe I should try talking to L about Jeremy. I began to realise how much I didn¡¯t really know him. This wasn¡¯t going to be an easy conversation for sure.

    ¡°Unfortunately, not right now. It¡¯s a matter of honour, but this person cares about you Miss. Just trust me,¡± Jeremy said and then carried on walking downstairs.

    I wasn¡¯t going to get anything else out of him, so I decided to get back to L. He looked disturbed when I showed up. I quickly put the piece of paper inside my bra along with the picture of my aunt before he could see them.

    I had a feeling that L had no idea what his own father was up to and I had to be careful with what I could tell him. Moore and his n was somehow linked to my family, my past, and this was huge. The photograph wasn¡¯t just another coincidence.

    ¡°Where have you been?¡±

    ¡°Nowhere, I¡¯ve just been looking around admiring this ce. It¡¯s such a huge house. Have you lived here long?¡± I asked him, attempting to change the subject.

    He shook his head. I knew he was in a bad mood. I could sense it.

    ¡°No, my father only uses it when he has business with the Academy. This house is too big. I have never been fond of it,¡± he replied, brushing his hand through his hair. Jeremy nodded to both of us and then left us alone.

    Then I remembered that I was actually mad at L about this whole ¡°girlfriend introduction¡± situation.

    ¡°What the hell was that about in there, that mating thing? I see that your father has your whole future already figured out for you,¡± I said, folding my hands over my chest.

    The images of a bloodied Roger on the floor were shing through my mind. I knew that I was the cause of it.

    L was aplex vampire and I felt for him. I had prejudged him way too soon when we first met. He was trying hard to distance himself from the vampire, from the male that was his sire too. I had a feeling that Jonathan Moore was much more powerful and ancient than I had ever met before, and he wanted to control L¡¯s nature. This whole thing had something to do with the school.

    ¡°I told you, we are made for each other,¡± he snapped at me. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to mate with Elizabeth. I¡¯ll handle my father, so don¡¯t worry about it hen.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We hadn¡¯t discussed it beforehand, instead you¡¯ve put me in a very awkward situation.¡±

    ¡°Shut up hen. It¡¯s better if this is out now rather thanter,¡± he muttered. It was time to drop this subject, because I really needed to tell him what I¡¯d found in the attic.

    I felt like someone was listening, so I was too anxious to tell him anything here. Moore was powerful enough to usepulsion.

    On top of that I had never seen pretty boy in such a state.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just go. I really want to get back. How is that vampire that started bleeding?¡±

    ¡°Sadly, he¡¯s going to survive,¡± L replied. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s get out of here hen.¡±

    L took my hand and dragged me through the long corridor. I was so relieved when we were finally out of there. My magic was raging. There was something going on with my abilitiestely, or maybe it was Moore that influenced me in some way.

    I really needed to figure this out.

    It started raining once we went outside and L called us an uber. My dress was a little wet and I lifted it off the ground, because I was too afraid to get it dirty.

    L was quiet, way more quiet than I was used to. He was much much older than me and I was curious if he managed to keep in touch with his human family. My own emotions were still pretty all over the ce. We both felt it¨Cthe lust and vibrations when we were together, but I knew what I wanted. I was not ready for mating, or for any kind of a rtionship.

    It was veryte when we returned and everyone was fast asleep, well as much as vampires can be asleep. Judas was most likely ying cards in his room. We were nearly soaked from head to toe when we stepped out of the uber car as the rain was pouring down in sheets. The academy grounds were deserted, of course light was still surrounding the trial building.

    ¡°Hen,e here,¡± L said when we ran upstairs. I was already thinking about my bed. I felt suddenly so exhausted.

    He grabbed my waist and spun me around, so I was facing him. My heart skipped a beat then danced when his eyes bore into mine.

    ¡°We are not doing this here,¡± I told him breathlessly, as the heat rushed through my core. He held me tightly, so I couldn¡¯t escape. The warmth started travelling down between my thighs, igniting desire inside me.

    ¡°We are, especially after that shitty evening that we had. Better shut your mouth hen and enjoy the ride,¡± he said, giving me that wicked smile, then he kissed me so hard and so quickly that I couldn¡¯t even react.

    For a split second, I was certain that he was only ying a game, but then his lips were on mine. The storm of intense emotions embraced me so unexpectedly that I lost my bearings. His hands pushed into my buttocks and I felt his erection pressing over my vulva as his lips were devouring me.

    I panicked a little, expecting to be assaulted with another memory, but his deep, sexy moan made me realise that I wanted more in this moment alone.

    ¡°All right, enough L. This isn¡¯t a good idea and you know it,¡± I somehow managed to say, pulling away. My breathing wasboured and my heart was racing.

    I knew I couldn¡¯t let him in just yet. This was too dangerous. L gave me a gloomy but very heated look, before he turned around and walked away, whistling. He was in a strange mood tonight.

    Karina was snoring very loudly when I took off my clothes and got into bed.

    For a long time, I couldn¡¯t sleep. I kept tossing and turning, thinking about Roger and his blood. When I eventually drifted off I had dreams filled with smog and clouds, but I didn¡¯t remember anything specific in the morning.

    ¡°How was your night Jaymin? You have to tell me everything!¡± Karina asked, yawning loudly and stretching her arms.

    I rubbed my face, trying to remember my dreams, but everything was fading away quickly.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t good. Jonathan Moore definitely didn¡¯t expect to see me there. He basically organised that dinner to make L mate with some high ss vampire,¡± I exined, trying to put it across mildly, but I didn¡¯t think that was possible. Karina¡¯s jaw dropped.

    ¡°Oh my God, he didn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes he did and on top of that, L introduced me as his girlfriend, so that started the evening well. And then a vampire started to choke right in front of us, so we didn¡¯t even finish eating. Anyway, besides that, we didn¡¯t leave empty handed. I got the location of Marisa¡¯s boyfriend. Also, I found Chris¡¯s file. Moore had it, but it was basically empty.¡±

    Karina widened her eyes in total shock. I just blurted out thest few sentences and she was probably only expecting me to say that L had managed to seduce mest night.

    Well, he almost did.

    ¡°What? Slow down and start from the beginning,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°His girlfriend? Oh dear Lord, so I bet his father wasn¡¯t too happy about that?¡±

    It seemed that she was much more interested in the drama at the dinner table.

    ¡°Cutting this story short let¡¯s just say that this whole ¡°event¡± was a huge disaster. Anyway, enough about that, I need to get everyone in the living room. We might have finally scored a lead,¡± I added, biting on my lower lip.

    ¡°That¡¯s good, maybe at least this whole investigation can move forward. No one wants to talk to us in here, and on top of that ude has been following me like a shadow,¡± she said, sounding frustrated. She wasn¡¯t the only one. I had a feeling that the whole group was kind of in the same boat. Oldman wanted results and so far we couldn¡¯t pin anyone down for both murders.

    Half an hourter after I was washed and looked more decent, I walked into themon room with Karina. Marco was video chatting with some Italian fae, and Judas was talking to L. My stomach made a funny jolt when I saw him, I instantly remembered that kiss as my emotions unfolded.

    He looked up and gave me the look that said that he knew exactly what was going inside me.

    ¡°Hey everyone I think we might need to get a move on. Fancy a trip to Transylvania¨C the origins of the tale of Drac?¡± I asked. Marco finished his video call, so then I exined about Nn¡¯s family and a gift from the stranger.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get myself ready,¡± Judas jumped off the sofa, vanishing off to his room. Karina started jumping up and down, sounding excited about this sudden change of ns.

    ¡°Transylvania eh ¡­ it¡¯s definitely not somewhere where I want to be right now, but this trip may be interesting. Have you thought about where are we going to stay?¡± Marco asked, staring at his own reflection in the mirror. His magic was calm in the mornings. I was slowly getting used to the fact that he could tap into my energy and sometimes randomly sent me these snippets of his emotions, now that he knew that I was half fae too.

    ¡°No, but I¨C¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it girl, I¡¯ll find us a decent hotel. Damn it I can¡¯t wait to charm a few Romanian vampires,¡± he added, cutting me off.

    ¡°Where did you get that information from?¡± L asked, walking up to me when we were left alone. He had a serious expression on his face, so he was already pissed.

    ¡°Jeremy passed it to mest night, right before we left your father¡¯s ce. He said a concerned friend asked him to give it to me and before you ask, no I have no idea who he is talking about,¡± I said, deciding to be upfront about it. ¡°By the way he mentioned that he sees you almost like a son. What¡¯s the deal about that?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, Jeremy was the one that was teaching me when I was first turned, so maybe that¡¯s why he has a soft spot for me. We have always had a strong bond even though he¡¯s a warlock,¡± the grumpy Scot exined. ¡°A concerned friend hmm ¡­ I hope it¡¯s not that clown. I¡¯m telling you, he wants your blood.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be absurd. ude is up to something, but he¡¯s not interested in me,¡± I said, althoughst night things between him and L got heated.

    ¡°You¡¯re very naive if you think that hen. That vampire wants something that belongs to me,¡± the Scot snarled and I had to roll my eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a cave man L, that doesn¡¯t suit you. I told you. Rtionship aren¡¯t for me. You¡¯re better off with someone else. We leaving shortly, better get yourself ready,¡± I told him, feeling heat rushing over my spine. L moved closer to me. He was still trying to push my buttons when everyone was in the room.

    ¡°You¡¯re wet for me and you know it, so stop denying it,¡± he muttered, before he got up and walked away. I was just about to throw something back at him, but he quickly vanished into his bedroom.

    An hourter, we were all sitting in the car with pretty boy at the wheel.

    The drive to Transylvania was long and pretty uneventful. It was a sunny day and the temperatures were still rising, so at least the weather was on our side. Everyone was quiet inside the car. L kept staring at me from the rearview mirror the entire drive. I didn¡¯t know how he could focus on the road at the same time.

    I wanted to drift off to sleep as it was going to be a couple of hours before we could reach that part of Romania, but he was distracting me too much. I couldn¡¯t rx.

    ¡°I think we have a problem,¡± Marco said from the front seat.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Pretty boy asked. Marco was also now looking at us from the rearview mirror. A tangle of energy whooshed through me and my fingertips started to sparkle. Something was wrong. Even Judas, who was sitting next to me, felt it.

    ¡°ude is driving behind us, it looks like he¡¯s tagging along,¡± Marco said. L swore and punched the steering wheel. Damn it, that was unexpected.

    ¡°See hen, I told you he was after something of mine,¡± he said loud enough for everyone else to hear him, giving me that sexy, intense look.

 Chapter 14

    ¡°He¡¯s after something. He must have been watching us as we were leaving earlier on,¡± Judas agreed, scratching his jaw.

    I wondered why ude wanted to follow us. He was part of the faculty team and was obviously a busy vampire, so this was very suspicious. Maybe he had orders to follow us.

    Luckily no one said anything about L¡¯sment or maybe they just wanted to leave us be for now.

    I¡¯d brought my weapons with me ¨C I was looking forward to kicking some serious butt during that trip. Being in the academy was seriously underwhelmingtely.

    Obviously, we were still investigating these two murders, but I was bored.

    ¡°Hond must have sent him. The Elite needs to know our every move,¡± Karina muttered.

    ¡°He¡¯s pissing me off. I¡¯m going to stop somewhere and we will see if he will do the same,¡± L said, looking at the side mirror.

    ¡°Don¡¯t y his game bro. That vampire is harmless for now. He¡¯s just doing what he has been ordered to do. Besides, we can do what we want outside Elite. No one is policing us here,¡± Marco snarled, winking at me, but L only shook his head.

    I didn¡¯t think he agreed. For him, ude was a direct threat. The tension rose. We all knew that we still had to follow Moonlight rules, but it was our investigation.

    Sometimeter, we finally stopped for petrol in a deserted vige. I was expecting ude to pull over, but his ck Mercedes was nowhere to be seen.

    Maybe he¡¯d taken the hint, but I doubted that he wouldn¡¯t get involved at some point.

    ¡°We are heading to an area filled with many, many ancients. Transylvania is the ce of their origin. We all need to be extremely vignt here. The magic is very potent and it can be lethal. We must stay together if we can,¡± L was saying when he had paid for the gas.

    ¡°Ohe on, don¡¯t be a party pooper bro. I¡¯ve already made arrangements with somedies,¡± Marco said and Karina burst outughing.

    ¡°This is serious Marco. We haven¡¯t got time for distractions. We are here to solve this damn case. This whole area is filled with many vamps and your magic canplicate things for us,¡± the Scot said, he wasn¡¯t looking at Marco when he was saying that, but at me.

    After we restarted our journey, it took us another an hour and a half to reach our destination. I¡¯d never imagined that I would be visiting Romania. This region was scattered with old medieval towns, mountainous borders, and castles. I was surprised to see so many tourists on the road, especially during this time of the year.

    Marco announced that he had managed to book a small Air B&B like cottage for all of us in the forest near the biggest town of this region. ording to the map, Nn¡¯s family lived near the famous Drac¡¯s castle from Bram Stoker¡¯s book. L was right, the ce was filled with vampires. We saw them everywhere we looked.

    We arrived at our B&B soon enough. Our host was a supernatural too. She was a stocky Romanian shifter with wild red hair and a rather masculine jaw, but seemed pleasant enough. Her aura indicated that we had nothing to worry about. The cottage was very old and filled with vintage furniture, but it had been decorated in the highest standard. I loved this ce; with the huge firece in the living room and very low ceilings.

    L and Marco were the only ones that could drive though, and we were a fair distance away from the town centre.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n then? Are we staying in tonight or going straight to speak to Nn¡¯s family?¡± Marco asked, scrolling through his phone as we all settled into the rooms. I was a little surprised that he had any reception around here.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°It¡¯s still pretty early, so we could head to nearest town, see if any of us can find anything useful,¡± L suggested. He seemed more tense than normal or maybe I was reading him too much.

    ¡°Good call, I¡¯m starving and I saw a decent looking tavern in town,¡± Karina said. My stomach was growling a little too. The whole ce was very well equipped with plenty of maps and leaflets about town.

    ¡°The castle looks impressive, especially at sundown. Do you really think Drac existed?¡± I asked pretty boy as we were heading to the tavern.

    Maybe it was silly question, but I had to know. I could never find any real books about him in the supernatural section and I was bored of human stories. They were never believable.

    ording to the map on my phone Margret (our suspect¡¯s mother) lived several miles away from our cottage. Christopher Nn most likely wasn¡¯t there. It was where he was from and where his parents lived, but I suspected that he may have already been warned that someone was after him.

    We parked in town and walked straight to the old pub-like tavern, filled with tourists and locals alike. It was just after five pm. Judas headed straight to the bar and returned with some drinks and a food menu. Karina started looking around,ining that she was starving. We all sensed the group of shifters that were sitting a few tables ahead. Their auras changed as we¡¯d arrived, they were growing wary of us. As usual, the locals were staring, but I was expecting this was because we had full a blooded fae amongst us.

    ¡°Where are all the vampires?¡± I asked, thinking about Moonlight. It had been over two weeks since we left Kiev and I was starting to miss studying. I wasn¡¯t sure that I could ever live in Romania.

    ¡°Trust me, you will see them soon. It¡¯s too early for anyone to be out yet, well apart from shifters,¡± Judas told me.

    ¡°All right, that makes sense. Anyway, I¡¯m ready to order. What do you guys want?¡± I asked them, thinking about the Hungarian stew and drifting off to thoughts of Melody. I didn¡¯t know why, but all of a sudden I felt so nostalgic.

    I just couldn¡¯t believe that so much time had passed since Oldman approached me in Ukraine. The boys declined meals and asked for beer instead.

    I strolled all the way to the bar, aware that pretty much everyone was staring at me. The tourists and locals.

    ¡°Can I get three pints of your finest and two portions of your best stew please,¡± I ordered it in English, not knowing even one word in Romanian. Luckily for me the barman understood and went off to make our drinks.

    ¡°What brings you here love?¡± someone asked, standing a few metres away from me.

    It was a woman in herte forties and she looked like a typical shifter. She had long dark curly hair and kind eyes. I nced back at the group. Judas was talking to L and Marco was trying to get the attention of a pretty warlock that sat opposite us. It was a mixed bag in the tavern, but surely humans must have been aware of the energy of this ce. Surely the council was much more active in this area.

    ¡°Business, I¡¯m looking for someone,¡± I answered her, wondering how she knew that I wasn¡¯t from around here. She strolled towards me while the barman ced the pints in front of me.

    ¡°You have very interesting energy, what are you? A half breed?¡± she asked, giving me an intense look. She could read me, but no one ever knew what I was.

    ¡°Something like that,¡± I replied, hoping that she wouldn¡¯t press. ¡°We are here because we are searching for a shifter boy. His name is Christopher Nn. Do you know him?¡±

    As soon as I said his name, she paled. Her energy shifted too, growing wary. Obviously she must have heard of him and I thought I¡¯d struck gold.

    She looked around and then leaned closer, so no one could hear us. I didn¡¯t think that was possible as the pub was heaving with supernaturals.

    ¡°Everyone around here knows him love, butst I heard that he was in Bucharest in that fancy academy,¡± she said, rubbing her forehead. ¡°Your scent is odd. Watch yourself love. Locals consume fae, but you don¡¯t look like one.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t going to scare me. I knew how to take care of myself. The barman had ced the rest of the drinks on the bar and I handed him the cash.

    ¡°He left Bucharest and we have to find him. Can you tell me where we could locate the members of his pack?¡±

    ¡°You better stay away from them love or you may lose that pretty face. Samuel-the shifter is in charge of this town and even vamps keep away from his territory. No one around here crosses him,¡± she exined, sounding fearful, still not giving me the answer.

    ¡°Well, I need to talk to him and I don¡¯t care how dangerous he can be. Where can I find him?¡± I pressed. I didn¡¯t think Judas knew what he was talking about. I didn¡¯t sense any vampires, and this shifter sounded very serious. I had no idea who this Samuel guy was.

    I wondered if ude had really followed us all the way here. A cold shiver crawled over my spine when I thought about him.

    She was hesitant and looked scared, still ncing around and rubbing her hands.

    ¡°Not sure. I don¡¯t want any trouble love. Your aura just made me curious,¡± she muttered when another shifter, a male, approached her from behind, staring at me. He was older too, he had long silver hair and a beard.

    ¡°Dundee valley, that¡¯s just opposite of the mountains, head far north¡± he said, squeezing Dina¡¯s arms like he was trying to get her away from me. She shot him an angry re, muttered something in Romanian and they both marched off.

    That whole thing was very bizarre.

    ¡°What took you so long hen?¡± L¡¯s voice startled me all of a sudden.

    I was just about to answer when another shifter approached me.

    ¡°Get lost vamp, I was just about to buy a drink for this lovely hybrid over here, so mind your own business,¡± he snapped, giving L an annoyed re.

    Right, this was getting interesting and we didn¡¯t need any trouble right now. I looked at L, trying to tell him that I was fine when more shifters walked in.

    I didn¡¯t like their auras.

    The Scot narrowed his eyes at the stranger and took a step forward.

    Judas was watching us from our table. Split secondster he got up. Damn it, why couldn¡¯t L just leave me alone.

    ¡°That hybrid, half vampire is with me you moron. Walk away before I lose my shit. We don¡¯t want any trouble,¡± L said, moving his arm around my waist. Damn it, why did he have to act like a caveman? I had this under control, and right now I wanted to stab him directly in the gut.

    The strangers¡¯ eyes changed colour and his energy was rising. I had a feeling that this guy was going to either shift or attack L, both options were bad.

    ¡°Go L, I can handle this, please,¡± I snapped, but pretty boy was very stubborn and then he showed his fangs. They both must have forgotten that we were still in a ce filled with humans. And now the barman was watching us too.

    ¡°Is there a problem here?¡±

    This time I was certain that I was having hallucinations, because suddenly ude appeared out of nowhere. His energy filled the space. I knew he was now trying to usepulsion to make that shifter to back away from us. L opened his mouth, his anger was potent, so I moved closer to him.

    The strange shifter looked a little confused at first, he nced at me and then at ude.

    ¡°Good day to you all,¡± the shifter mumbled, then walked away. My heart beat sped up. ude smiled at me and I grabbed L¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Give me one reason why I shouldn¡¯t just rip you to pieces right here?¡± L snarled, still not retracting his fangs. ude smiled, and I felt butterflies inside my stomach. I shouldn¡¯t have reacted like that, especially when an angry and very possessive Scot stood next to me.

    ¡°Because that shifter has just given Jaymin the location of your potential suspect, so put away your fangs L. People are staring,¡± ude said, very calmly. He was right, humans and other supernaturals all went quiet.

    I nced at Karina. She was giving me a look, asking what the hell was going on. At least she was smart enough not to approach me now.

    I fucking hated men. I had this all under control, but these idiots had to interfere. Now both of them were in a staring contest.

    ¡°Come on L. We need to leave now,¡± I snarled, literally forcing L towards the exit. Luckily Karina and the rest of the group followed. I knew she wasn¡¯t going to be happy. We still hadn¡¯t eaten.

    Unfortunately, ude didn¡¯t get the hint and he followed us out too. The temperature had dropped significantly, so it was freezing cold now.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Karina asked.

    ¡°That clown showed up that¡¯s what¡¯s going on,¡± L replied, dragging his hand through his hair.

    He really didn¡¯t like ude.

    ¡°I have been given an order and I have to see it through. Trust me, this is thest ce that I want to be right now,¡¯ ude said, looking around. ¡°Jaymin got the location of your suspect. We should all leave before the vampires show up. We aren¡¯t particrly wee here.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, I don¡¯t like the vibes here,¡± Judas said, and his eyes shimmered with bright yellow light. I looked around, but then L grabbed my hand and started dragging me away. He was pissed and I had no idea what was going on.

    It was clear that we weren¡¯t going back to the bar but heading towards the forest.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Am I missing something?¡± I asked pretty boy. Marco wasining that he didn¡¯t get the number from the female warlock that had been sat opposite our table, because we all left so quickly. On top of that, I was hungry and that wasn¡¯t a greatbination.

    I didn¡¯t understand why they were all so afraid of all of a sudden.

    ¡°The ancient vampires must have sensed us as we crossed into the territory. As much as I hated to admit it, that clown showed up at the right moment,¡± L said.

    Karina whistled then and we all turned.

    ¡°I sense shifters just over a hundred yards from here. And they are not a friendly bunch,¡± she whispered, sounding scared. That worried me, because Karina was never scared.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s split up,¡± Marco suggested creating a fire ball of magic. His expression was tense too.

    ¡°No, we are not splitting up. That¡¯s what they want, we are staying together,¡± Judas insisted.

 Chapter 15

    ¡°The shifter that the woman in the bar was talking about, apparently he runs this town. I suppose none of you heard of him?¡± I asked. They all shook their heads and L gave me his usual look that said to be quiet.

    It was getting dark very quickly. The tension within the group was palpable and I couldn¡¯t understand why everyone was panicking all of a sudden. We could still defend ourselves, we weren¡¯t amateurs.

    ¡°I think that maybe I should do the talking. These shifters are pissed because we crossed into their territory, but in our defense thesends weren¡¯t well marked,¡± Karina said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they will care and there are a lot more of them than us,¡± ude announced.

    We finally vanished inside the woods, I sensed others. Masses of energies belonging to shifters appeared to me too. And they quickly surrounded us. I counted over fifty, but there were probably more. I couldn¡¯t understand how they¡¯d all got here so quickly.

    ¡°We do apologise for trespassing into your territory, we did it unintentionally. We are looking for someone in connection with a murder in Bucharest,¡± Karina started saying and her voice vibrated a little.

    Damn it, that girl never showed her emotions, but she was obviously scared.

    I had several of my sharp knives inside my boot and I was actually looking forward to kicking their asses. Our team was experienced and we knew how to kill a few shifters¨Cthe only problem was that there were more than just a few.

    ¡°But you did and now you¡¯re going to lose your heads because of it ¡­ let¡¯s start with the vamps. They won¡¯t feel a thing,¡± a deep, loud voice spoken.Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    It was the shifter that was surrounded by the others that had spoken as he finally stepped out of the shadows.

    Marco was bncing a ball of light on top of his palm, so I could see his face. I suspected that this was the Alpha ¨C Samuel that everyone was so afraid off. He had very sharp features, withrge broad shoulders and a stocky posture. Two deep scars ran across his face.

    ¡°These are empty threats Samuel. You must be aware that we aren¡¯t from here and we aren¡¯t supposed to prosecute visitors,¡± ude spoke and his voice echoed around the forest.

    I nced at Karina who looked as confused as I was. Did ude know that shifter?

    A few more of his shifters stepped forward, growling, ready for their attack. Their eyes were shimmering with energy in the darkness.

    ¡°But you aren¡¯t just visiting, you¡¯re here for someone. A little fairy whispered that you¡¯re here on business which means that you have intentionally broken my pack¡¯s rules,¡± Samuel continued.

    ¡°Just let us talk to Christopher. We all know that he¡¯s here,¡± ude continued, sounding angry.

    L was clenching his fists and I had a feeling that he was just about to lose his cool, so we needed to act. I could sense his vibrations and as much as I hated to admit this to myself, he was turning me on.

    Then, I heard a muffled voice, like someone was struggling. A pair of hands had grabbed Karina from behind and there was a knife at her throat. I didn¡¯t even have a chance to react.

    Judas grabbed my hand. He must have sensed that I was ready to reach out for my knife. I looked at him confused and he shook his head.

    ¡°No unexpected moves or the shifter is dead. I don¡¯t like you ude. I have told you before, no one is allowed here, not even you,¡± Samuel snarled and then he gestured to someone standing at the back.

    Out of the darkness, another shifter stepped out and walked closer. Marco¡¯s light shaded his face. It was Christopher¨Cour prime suspect.

    So, he had been hiding here all along. He¡¯d lost a lot of weight and had scars that looked like bites all over his face.

    ¡°Who killed Marisa and Jackie, Chris?¡± Judas asked straight away. He must have recognised him too from the few pictures that Marisa had posted online.

    Anxiety was rising inside me. Karina was breathing hard looking at me. I couldn¡¯t move. I was too afraid to do anything. That shifter could sh her throat in one swift move. She looked scared.

    ¡°Your friend here hasn¡¯t got any manners whatsoever ude. Who is the new girl, half breed? Although she doesn¡¯t seem like one,¡± Samuel continued diverting his eyes to me.

    He must have sensed the mixtures of my energies. Normally shifters wouldn¡¯t, but something was telling me that he was pretty special.

    I knew that I had to stay calm. The shifter was pressing his de over Karina¡¯s neck. A few drops of blood trickled down her throat.

    ¡°Let her go Samuel. She has done nothing wrong and she is not one of yours. We need to ask Chris a few questions. He¡¯s still an Elite student and what if he spilled a few of your secrets? I bet you wouldn¡¯t be happy about that,¡± ude replied with a smile.

    I could see Christopher swallow hard at that statement. I had a feeling that ude had finally got the pack leaders attention. Samuel turned his head towards our suspect, who went very pale. He started shaking his head nervously.

    ¡°He¡¯s lying, I have been loyal to you and I have no idea what happened to Marisa that night. When I got to the grounds she was already dead,¡± he started shouting as I inched very, very slowly to the right, trying to reach for my knife. These idiots weren¡¯t going to let us go.

    I was prepared to kill a few of them. Adrenaline was pumping through my system.

    Split secondster, Samuel had his hand around Chris¡¯s throat. Then he lifted him above the ground like he weighed nothing. His legs were dangling over the ground.

    ¡°I have never trusted you, boy.¡±

    Samuel continued to interrogate him while L whispered to my ear.

    ¡°You take the three in front and I¡¯ll take care of Karina¡¯s shifter, otherwise we are all as good as dead.¡±

    Then he pushed me forward and I stumbled, thinking that he couldn¡¯t have been serious. The other shifters didn¡¯t expect it either, so by the time they reacted I had already pulled the knives out of my boot. To myplete and utter surprise, L shot the shifter that held Karina directly in his head. I didn¡¯t even know that he had a real gun on him. The smell of blood wafted through the air. Samuel and the rest of the shifters roared.

    Two of them quickly transformed into wolves and threw themselves at me while I started stabbing them wherever I could. Covered with blood and not seeing very much else, I tried to push them off me when someone pulled my hair.

    That was fucking painful.

    ¡°Now, you want to y, so let¡¯s y,¡± a familiar voice snarled.

    Damn it. Samuel was sitting on me. His eyes were filled with darkness. He punched me so hard that I saw a stars. I was searching for my knife on the ground, but he kept punching me again and again. In the distance I could see someone approaching, although I thought I was hallucinating. Everyone around me was fighting. I could hear the howling of the wolves. ¡°What are you? Say it now or I rip your heart out and consume it right here, right now.¡±

    His hand was on my throat, squeezing it tightly. I couldn¡¯t speak, my whole body felt like it was on fire. I had no doubt that he was ready to rip me to pieces.

    ¡°I¡¯m a fae,¡± I whispered as the energy exploded through me as his face started changing, his eyes went wide. My fangs descended too.

    ¡°Hmm, a fae and a vampire, interesting. I will make use of you,¡± Heughed.

    I felt my magic rising within my core. The fire was growing inside me and I was able to control it.

    ¡°Fuck you,¡± I managed to spit out, releasing my energy.

    Then, the most amazing thing happened. My fire was burning him, I wasn¡¯t quite sure how though. I¡¯d wanted to hurt him, but with magic.

    I focused on his eyes and neck, thinking about Karina. He should have shifted then, he wouldn¡¯t have felt anything.

    He roared and threw himself off me, grabbing his face as the mes of my fae magic were suddenly covering his whole body.

    My head hurt, well my whole body was aching badly but I didn¡¯t have time to stay here, but I could barely move my jaw. In the distance I saw Karina. She seemed all right. She¡¯d turned into a leopard and she was fighting with another shifter.

    The tiny voice inside my head reminded me that I had to go after Chris.

    He saw the murderer that night, he knew who had killed the two students. He¡¯d lied to his pack master, but why?

    Now Samuel¨Cthe leader of the pack in Transylvania was burning alive and this was my doing. L was ripping the throat of another shifter. There was blood everywhere and there were more shifters approaching.

    I really had to hurry. I forced myself to move, to run past Marco who was using his magic to stay alive.

    I had strength in me again, the energy pulsated through me like a thousand small currents, buzzing in my ears. I started running, moving past the trees, trying to track down Christopher.

    His animal form was leaving traces of energy everywhere, he wasn¡¯t very good at masking his scent either.

    On top of that, he was hurt and he was bleeding badly. The moon appeared in the sky, finally released by the clouds as I jogging between the trees. The scenery changed and I was going uphill towards the mountain. Chris was getting tired and he was losing speed.

    My senses picked up someone, or something, in the distance. I stopped abruptly, breathing hard and looking behind me. It was pitch ck all around and sweat was dripping down my face. The energy had finally subsided. I was suddenly worried about the others.

    There were so many shifters about that knew thesends and there were only a few of us. I waited and listened, trying to pick up on sounds around me. My vampire senses were suddenly very sharp and I could hear and see everything, even the smallest details. If Samuel had burned to death, then my group was going to be all right.

    My intuition indicated to the north, so I jogged towards there, seeing an entrance to a cave.

    ¡°Bingo,¡± I whispered to myself, sensing a supernatural inside.

    I quickly hid behind a rock when I saw someone in the distance, my breathing out as a wheeze. My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened with disbelief.

    No, damn it. This couldn¡¯t be him ¨C Leonidas. The ancient vamp that had nearly killed me a few months back. I felt the taste of his blood in my mouth and I was ready to vomit.

    Chris shifted back into a human and he was putting some clothes back on. I couldn¡¯t get any closer otherwise the ancient would sense me.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have left. Thisplicates, things and you know that I don¡¯t like attention,¡± Leonidas said.

    I inhaled his scent, wanting to get closer. His energy was addictive. I was ready to get up and just beg him to drink from me again, but kept on breathing slowly, trying to calm down.

    No, I was here for Chris and I didn¡¯t need the ancient¡¯s blood.

    We were still connected despite everything that happened that night, despite my outburst of energy.

    My magic was imprinted in his and right now I was trying very hard to stay concealed. Christopher looked damn scared. He was shaking like a leaf and his skin was ashen.

    ¡°But ¡­ but I had to leave. They brought this team from the Ukraine to investigate. I couldn¡¯t get exposed. The Council is already looking for me,¡± he was saying, tangling his hair. There was something wrong with him or maybe he had been hit with a very strong spell, he didn¡¯t seem right.

    On the other hand, Leonidas looked strong, filled with more magic than before our confrontation in Russia. Maybe Christopher didn¡¯t kill these two students after all.

    The ancient vampire walked up and pped him. His eyes were shining brightly with red mes.

    ¡°You were to create havoc there, a distraction, so the vampire that works for me canplete his task,¡± the ancient roared. ¡°And you would have known which vampire it was, because of his mark. It¡¯s visible.¡±

    I bit my bottom lip, trying to figure out what exactly he was talking about.

    I was right, so Leonidas was behind these two murders, but why? He couldn¡¯t influence Elite. He must have nted a spy in the Elite, but for what reason?

    ¡°Marisa didn¡¯t want to cooperate. She was getting difficult¨C¡±

    ¡°I knew that before you reported it to me. My vampire eliminated her and well, the other female, she was just there, so we had to take care of her too,¡± Leonidas said, pacing around the cave.

    ¡°And they found out about me, they came here. Someone grassed me up,¡± Chris yelled, really panicking now.

    ¡°Your situation or pack is none of my concern. Frankly I¡¯m disappointed in you, shifter. Now my vampire has to wait for the next set of trials to bring the newly created ones into the academy,¡± the ancient added and my stomach turned.

    So this was his objective ¡­ hmm nothing had changed. He wanted to open the doors to his vampires. It made sense that he wanted to have them inside the academy.

    I was ready to reveal myself, to challenge the bastard. Suddenly, a very bright blue light blinded me and I was thrown backwards. It took me a moment to get up and gather myself.

    When I looked up, the cave was empty and Chris was on the ground choking on his own blood. The ancient flew from the scene leaving his prodigy to die a slow, agonizing, death.

 Chapter 16

    ¡°Oh dear Lord, please you cannot die ¡­ no, no, no¡± I mumbled, attempting to use my magic to help him, pressing my hands over his ripped throat, hoping that I could at least stop the bleeding. His head wasn¡¯t cut off, so technically he wasn¡¯t dead yet, but he was a shifter. He was going to bleed to death.

    Chris didn¡¯t have long. His lips were moving, but no sounds wereing out and I needed to know the name of the spy in the academy.

    He started to choke and I realised that I couldn¡¯t really do anything else for him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s swap the sides, shall we. This will be so much fun,¡± a voice whispered from behind and I felt someone¡¯s hands on my throat. I was pulled backwards, losing control of all my energy.

    That someone was a witch and she¡¯d caught mepletely off guard. She spun me around, spreading her magic around the cave like wildfire. I couldn¡¯t fight back; I was so weak.

    Sheughed out loud, spinning me around in ce. Chris was gone, he would bleed to death while that bitch threw me all over this cave.

    I painfully mmed against the cave walls. My bones cracked and I must have lost consciousness for a few seconds. I could still hear herugh echoing in the cave.

    ¡°He told me that you woulde, and he told me that I could have some fun with you,¡± she said, walking around me.

    I focused, at least attempted to bring back the fae side of me when she grabbed my hair and dragged me forward. Then I felt a sharp de around my neck. She was using her wand; no witch was so powerful without an object to channel.

    She had dark hair and I had never seen her before. She had darkish skin and strange markings on her arms.

    The smell of sage was overwhelming.

    ¡°Screw you,¡± I whispered, seeing that my fingertips had started to sparkle finally, so my magic was swirling through me once again. The wind picked up and I heard thunder and lightening in the distance.

    ¡°With pleasure,¡± sheughed pushing me forward.

    I fell on the rock, cutting my knee getting even more furious with her. I couldn¡¯t do much, because I was trapped in her spell. Her magic was like glue, it was sticking to me and knocking the oxygen out of my chest. This invisible energy was choking me from the inside out. The ckness started to obscure my vision and I was going to pass out soon. I didn¡¯t want to die like that. Half of my genes belong to fae, so I had to do something.

    Leonidas must have known that I was around, he must have sensed me, so he¡¯d sent her to finish the job.

    This couldn¡¯t be the end. I still had so many questions about who I was now and about my past, yet to be answered.

    She was smiling, lifting her wand and raising more power around her. Heat spread all over my body, the pain intensified. I was so close to just epting my fate, to giving up, but my inner voice reminded me that I was better than that and urged me to fight.

    She held me in the spell, but then turned slightly trying to get something off the floor and that small distraction was enough for me. The warmth began trickling down my thighs.

    My energy shifted and I roared, breaking her spell. I was on her before she knew it, holding a fire ball in one hand and choking her with the other one. I¡¯d lost way too much energy earlier on but I had just enough to make her drop her wand.

    She was lost without it.

    ¡°I¡¯m part fae too, you know. I bet the ancient forgot to mention that to you,¡± I whispered to her, smiling. Chris was dead, so we weren¡¯t going to get anything out of him anymore.

    She widened her eyes and opened her mouth, probably to tell me to just finish her off already, and I was ready. Frankly, I had never been more ready in my entire life. I smiled and was just about to st her with everything I had when I realised that she wasn¡¯t herself when she¡¯d attacked me.

    Leonidas must have used apulsion spell on her, he must have ordered her to kill me. Everything about her energy said so, and I would have been a real arsehole if I hurt her right now. For some reason, the other part of me told me to stop. I just couldn¡¯t do it.

    We were staring at each other for a long while, me with therge fireball in the middle of my hand and her slowly losing her manic smile.

    I decided to cease my magic, I leaned over and touched her. It was a risky move. That witch was programmed to kill me, and I was trying to bring her back. I used the warmth, the fae energy to clear the spell that Leonidas had cast on her. The magic pounded through as she tried to get away from me, swearing and screaming at the same time.

    It was a struggle and it made me realise the power that filled me from the inside out. Even her aura was filled with darkness. The craving for blood came back, I thought about drinking from her briefly.

    The wind picked up again and my ponytail started rising above my neck.

    I wanted to bite her, there was no other way. The tiny voice inside my head was telling me to stop, but I couldn¡¯t. Part of me was seeing the witch as a victim. She was affected, poisoned with dark magic and it wasn¡¯t fair for me to kill her. She wasn¡¯t herself. She wasn¡¯t doing this because she wanted to.

    I wrapped my fingers around her neck and began squeezing. Everything was trembling, the ground and some stones began falling down from the ceiling. My energy pounded through me, it almost felt like my inner nature was forcing me to do it.

    Her own energy was disappearing, leaving her with no more than a few seconds before it was going to be all over for her.

    Then, an unexpected st of power rushed through me. My energy connected with hers, spreading over her chest until she stopped moving.

    I was breathing hard, grateful that I knew how to stop myself. I didn¡¯t hurt her; I was only trying to break the ancient spell.

    However,tely, my emotions had been wildly out of control. It was the fae inside me, that had be unpredictable.

    I shut my eyes and focused on the goodness inside me, shutting off the darkness and gloom. It was all done, and when I opened my eyes the rest of the energy faded.

    ¡°Are you all right?¡± I asked her, still telling myself that I had to be careful. Maybe Leonidas was still around, maybe he was waiting for her, but I doubted very much that he would risk staying behind.

    He¡¯d got what he wanted.

    ¡°No, who are you and why the hell are you sitting on me?¡± she asked, looking horrified. Only then I noticed that her features had changed.

    She was very pale and her hair was changing colour to blonde. Was it possible that all the darkness had left her forever?

    I quickly lifted myself off her, feeling a little lightheaded. The others were probably wondering what the hell happened to me. I hoped they were all right and that no one had been seriously hurt. We were strong together, but apart, there were so many shifters around that could easily overpower any one of us. I truly wanted to make sure that they were all okay.

    ¡°Sorry, you tried to kill me and I just had to defend myself,¡± I said, still feeling sorry for her. Maybe the old me, the old Jaymin, would have stabbed her on the spot, but right now, I was a different supernatural.

    ¡°That vampire promised me lots of money, but I can¡¯t remember much else since meeting with him. He must have usedpulsion on me. I should have never trusted him,¡± she snapped.

    Secondster, we both heard the howling in the distance. The shifters were back.

    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± she asked, looking terrified.

    She didn¡¯t seem very experienced at all. Now I was kind of d that I hadn¡¯t killed her.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Shifters. Let¡¯s go, my friends are in the woods and I need to find them,¡± I said, gesturing for her to follow me. She didn¡¯t object at all. I had a feeling that she didn¡¯t have any other option. All her memories were gone and now that I had spared her life, she had no other choice, but to follow me.

    The forest was eerily silent, I felt some magical vibration in the north so I decided to head over that way, hoping to see some familiar faces there.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked her, trying to break the awkward silence between us as we were walking through the forest. It was pitch ck too and the mist had started to drift between the trees. I never in my life thought that I would get lost in deep Transylvania¡¯s forest, in the ce that had be the iconic origin of most ancient vampires, with some random witch by my side.

    ¡°Alexa, what about yours? I do apologise that I tried to kill you. Normally I don¡¯t act in such a manner,¡± she joked. It was strange but I no longer felt like I was afraid of her. Her aura was much more friendly.

    ¡°I¡¯m Jaymin, you can call me Jay.¡±

    ¡°We havepany, someone ising,¡± she said, taking her magic wand and creating fire around her hand. My eyes widened. I had no idea that witches could do this.

    She was right, a momentter we saw three figures but it was way too dark to be able to see anything.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move or I st you on the spot,¡± a familiar voice shouted and I rxed a little.

    ¡°It¡¯s me you idiot,¡± I said, approaching L, Karina and Judas. At least Alexa¡¯s magic was useful closer up to them, showing me the bruised and wounded faces of my dear friends. ¡°Where the hell is Marco? Please tell me that he¡¯s all right?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know, we lost him, but I presume he¡¯s looking for us. That guy can take care of himself. Most of the wolves are dead, but where the hell have you been and who is this chick?¡± L asked, pointing at the witch. He didn¡¯t look too good, he must have lost a lot of blood during the battle.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Let me exin everything on the way back,¡± I said, and then stopped. ¡°Hold on what about Marco. We can¡¯t just leave him here?¡±

    I felt so exhausted all of a sudden and my muscles were very stiff. Alexa put her magic wand away, but she kept giving Judas suspicious looks.

    ¡°Marco is alive and you saved our ass out there, burning Samuel alive. I killed that motherfucker afterwards. And now we really need to get the fuck out of here before more shifters show up,¡± L said with pride in his voice.

    ¡°Okay, well I have huge news,¡± I said, realising that ude was missing too.

    ¡°ude vanished along with Marco,¡± Karina quickly exined, probably reading my mind somehow.

    ¡°I hope that clown is dead. I¡¯ve had enough of him trying to poke his nose into our business,¡± L added, and then spit out something that looked like blood. He was going to heal quickly, but that didn¡¯t mean that I wouldn¡¯t worry about him. ¡°Go on talk hen. It¡¯s been a shitty night and I would like to hear something positive for a change.¡±

    I didn¡¯t wait any longer. I just exined everything that had happened after I started chasing Chris. We walked through the deep, dark forest as I talked. Karina exhaled sharply a few times when I mentioned the ancient. She kept looking back at the witch behind us.

    I wasn¡¯t concerned that she heard it all. After what happened with Leonidas she wasn¡¯t going to turn against us.

    ¡°That makes perfect sense. We should have figured out sooner that he had his rats around the Elite,¡± L sapped, shaking his head.

    ¡°That¡¯s why we need to get back to Bucharest. That shifter was just a puppet. The murderer is still in the academy,¡± Karina muttered.

    It was the middle of the night and we had no idea what had happened to Marco. He could always take care of himself, but these shifters were ready to kill anyone that crossed thesends. Plus, we had killed their leader, so that wasn¡¯t going to go over well. These parts of Romania weren¡¯t controlled by the High Council.

    ¡°There they are, look. I see someone by the car,¡± I shouted, sensing another fae. I had started to learn to recognise the different scents and signs.

    ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± L swore, noticing that ude was with him. He seemed all right. They were both having a cigarette. He had multiple bruises running over his bare arms. At least ude looked in much better shape. He gave me a smile when we approached and L growled like a crazed animal.

    ¡°Good, I¡¯m d to see you¡¯re all okay. We were worried,¡± ude said, staring intensely at Alexa.

    ¡°Well we weren¡¯t, I was hoping that you were shredded by those motherfuckers,¡± L said, taking a cigarette from Marco.

    This was the end of our trip in Transylvania and yet again, we wereing back to Bucharest empty handed. At least I believed that we¡¯d made a little progress in figuring out who had ordered these murders. I had been right all along that Leonidas was behind it.

 Chapter 17

    After a long and very tedious discussion, we all agreed that Alexa should head back to Bucharest with us. She said she had nowhere else to go and I wasn¡¯t prepared to ask her any awkward questions in front of everyone. Maybe I had be a little soft hearted since joining the Moonlight Academy, but she no longer wanted to harm me so there would be no sense in attacking her.

    L was sitting next to me. He was exhausted, he must have really lost a lot of blood earlier on. He rested his head on my shoulder and that unexpected warmth started dancing around my core.

    The atmosphere in the van wasn¡¯t great. We were all tired and wounded. This whole trip hadn¡¯t gone ording to n at all. And Marco wasn¡¯t helping, he was babbling in Italian all the way back to the city.

    Alexa was quiet and I was curious about her story. I knew that Leonidas was alive, but I never suspected that he was so involved with Elite. My magic had almost let me down tonight and I was angry with myself.

    I should have killed him when I had a chance, but he was an ancient vampire and they didn¡¯t die easily.

    I didn¡¯t reveal to anyone in the group what that mage had told me the night he died. He believed that I was the chosen one, that I was more powerful than I realised.

    All these thoughts were circling around in my head. I was desperate to get my memories back, to figure out who I was before I had been turned into this monster. My family was out there, they were possibly from London, that would have exined how I was able to understand and speak English. The ent wasn¡¯t particrly strong, but even Oldman mentioned that I sounded like her.

    Apparently the faemunity in the United Kingdom was strong.

    ¡°Jaymin, we¡¯re here. Come on,¡± L nudged me after several hours of driving. I¡¯d fallen asleep eventually. It was raining and I saw Karina running towards the entrance of Elite. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask why you decided to drag her with us, but now, I need to know.¡±

    Alexa was standing outside, she was staring at the building, looking mesmerised. She must have recognised the signs and the brand. Any supernatural in Romania knew about this ce. At least that¡¯s what I was led to believe.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she has anywhere else to go, so I thought we might make use of her. She has incredible skills L,¡± I said, thinking maybe this was a bit silly. I had never taken responsibility for anyone in the past.

    L grabbed my hand and helped me out of the car.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s just hurry up. I need to get out of these clothes. I can smell shifters everywhere, just don¡¯t tell Karina I said that,¡± L muttered when we ran to the entrance.

    ¡°Come on Alexa, you can stay with us tonight and we¡¯ll figure the rest of it out in the morning. We are all a bunch of trained killers, so please whatever you hear, keep it to yourself,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m done with this shit. I owe you everything for not finishing me off in that cave,¡± she said.

    She seemed to get the hint. I still had no idea why I¡¯d spared her. She was supposed to be dead. Sooner orter I would know if I¡¯d made a mistake or not.

    ¡°Goodnight Jaymin, I trust you¡¯re going to be alright, especially after everything that happened?¡± ude asked, right before I was ready to disappear. I could have sworn that he was trying to wind up pretty boy.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine ude. Goodnight.¡±

    It was time for us to leave before things escted. L was already clenching his fists, but I pushed him forward and gave a sign to Karina to bring the witch along with us.

    Once we got upstairs, we pointed her in the direction of the showers to freshen up first. We all wanted to rx, but there was only one bathroom. Alexa seemed grateful enough and she didn¡¯t ask any other questions. Overall, her aura hadn¡¯t changed much, but Judas didn¡¯t seem thrilled.

    ¡°She tried to kill you Jaymin. I don¡¯t think it was a very good idea bringing her here. We should turn her in to the authorities,¡± he told me.

    ¡°That¡¯s in the past now. It sounds to me like an ancient used apulsion spell on her. Who knows, she might be useful, plus Jaymin still needs to tell us what happened in that cave,¡± L said.

    I was surprised that he was taking my side.

    ¡°I saw that ancient vampire Leonidas. He talked about vampires that are here in Elite and they are working for him,¡± I exined, rubbing my forehead. ¡°He killed that shifter¨CMarisas¡¯s boyfriend right in front of me and then he just vanished. Then the witch showed up. He must have known that I was there.¡±

    ¡°Then it seems that we have wasted a lot of time concentrating on the wrong supernatural,¡± Judas growled.

    ¡°The ancient was talking about the trials. Apparently the killer was involved in them. I don¡¯t really know what he meant though,¡± I told them both.

    ¡°We can discuss it all tomorrow. I¡¯m going to heal. The smell of shifters is driving me insane,¡± Lined and then vanished inside his room.

    Judas just waved his hand and closed his eyes. It looked like he was agreeing with L for a change. Karina was setting the sleeping bag out on the floor when Alexa came out of the shower. It was veryte, so we all decided to get some much needed sleep. I was certain that Alexa wasn¡¯t going to strangle me in my sleep. She had at good vibe radiating from her and I was certain that we could all trust her, well at least for now.

    * * *

    ¡°Oldman is going to be here soon, so tell me what your exit n is?¡± L had osted me when I was on my way to the bathroom in the early hours of the morning. He¡¯d nearly given me a heart attack, sneaking up on me in the darkness.

    ¡°Dear lord L. It¡¯s like five in the morning! Do you think my brain is working so early?¡± I asked him, thinking that he needed to stop hanging around, waiting for me outside my room.

    ¡°It should, you¡¯re part fae,¡± he muttered. ¡°Do you really think that witch can be useful to us?¡±

    I started massaging my forehead, wondering if he ever rested.

    ¡°We need to get inside the trials building, and maybe Alexa could help us with that. Right now, we can¡¯t get in there, even with Oldman¡¯s endorsement. She has valuable skills and she could change our appearances if needs be. We both know that we have to stop the killer and close this case as soon as possible. We have been here long enough,¡± I told him, thinking to myself that his scent was incredible.

    We hadn¡¯t even had a chance to talk since that terrible dinner at his father¡¯s ce.

    Things between us were stillplicated.

    ¡°Good thinking batman,¡± he said and then to my utter surprise, he turned around and left me alone.

    The craving for his blood came back, tickling the back of my throat.

    I shook my head and went back to bed. Alexa was snoring loudly. She was stretched out under the nket. In the end, I managed to fall asleep for another few hours.

    By the time I arrived to ate brunch, Oldman was already at the table. She greeted me with a smile. It was a good idea after all that I had put some decent clothes on.

    Alexa was there too and Oldman asked her to stay when she got up to leave.

    ¡°Right, so now that you¡¯re all here, I can safely say that Alexa here is going to join the team,¡± she announced, throwing everyone in the roompletely off guard. ¡°I had a very long chat with L this morning.¡±

    This was not at all what I expected, but I should have known that L was nning to use her. I was a bit pissed off that he was taking all the credit though.

    Judas looked outraged, Karina pped and Marco seemed bored. This was happening faster than anyone of us expected.

    Maybe Oldman was searching for another way out and she was being put under pressure to act.

    After all, we had been in Bucharest for weeks and time was running out. An awkward silence filled the space.

    ¡°Fantastic,¡± Marco said, scrolling through his phone.

    ¡°I understand that might be a bit of a shock to all of you, but it¡¯s only for this assignment. I have clearly stated that I can¡¯t promise her anything else after this. We need to close this case as soon as possible. Hond is pressing the board to let the school handle the murders, so we haven¡¯t got much time left,¡± she exined, standing up.

    I was right. Oldman was under pressure to get things done.

    ¡°Have you actually run any background checks on her? I mean no offense, but we don¡¯t know anything about her,¡± Judas spoke again, pointing over at Alexa. The witch¡¯s expression was unreadable.

    None trusted her, but that was to be expected.

    ¡°I have. As soon as L called me. Alexa can tell you more about her past if she¡¯sfortable with that. For now, you all have a job to do. I believe L will fill you in on the details,¡± Oldman said, giving me a wink. Momentster, she was gone and I was still confused.

    The awkward silence stretched for some time around the table after Oldman left. My stomach was growling and I really needed to refuel my energy. We all knew that we had to solve this case, no matter what.

    ¡°Right, there¡¯s no point beating around the bush. We have to get inside the trial building, figure out who is involved, and eliminate them as quickly as possible. Hond will probably find out that we essed the academy¡¯s trials building shortly after we get in. He will want to get rid of us after that, but at least we¡¯ll havepleted the job. Well, you guys know what I mean. We have one shot at this, so we need to n every detail well,¡± L finally said.

    I wondered why he had told Oldman about Alexa alone. He should have included all of us. We were one team after all.

    I had to talk to him about this.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Yeah. True. Once we ess the building, we keep an eye out for the vamp that reeks of dark magic,¡± Marco stated.

    ¡°How many trials are happening at the same time? We need to make sure that at least one person is taking part in every damn one,¡± Marco asked and I realized that he had a good point. ¡°Leonidas¡¯ vampire is going to be there to bring the other vampires in, to make sure he passes the trial.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be more than five at a time, so we should be okay to cover them. We just need to make sure that each one of us joins one group, so we won¡¯t miss anything,¡± L exined.

    ¡°But how do we figure out if a vamp is a bad guy? They are all going to try to pass the trials. Most of the students that get to that position have been practicing for years.¡±

    ¡°The mark, dear Lord, now I remember. Leonidas was talking about some kind of mark on the vampire¡¯s neck,¡± I said, jumping up like something was burning my arse.

    ¡°Now we are talking, so we just look out for a vamp with a mark,¡± Karina added.

    ¡°And then what? I mean this all sounds way too risky. We are going to be locked up in a trial building with a potential killer,¡± Judas asked. I guess he had a point. We needed to figure out how we were going to disable the vamp. I guessed cutting his head off wasn¡¯t going to be an option then.

 Chapter 18

    It was very quiet over the next few days, so we acted as if we were done with the investigation. This was our tact to make sure that we could enter the trials without any problems. I kept thinking about ude. He was the only person that could get us inside that building, but L wanted nothing to do with ¡°this clown.¡±

    We had to leave Elite for good, at least this was the impression that we were giving to others. We were going back to the Ukraine empty handed. We left very early in the morning to make sure that we didn¡¯t attract too much attention to ourselves and relocated to the apartment in the centre of Bucharest. Apparently, Oldman had tried to convince Hond to let us into the trials, but he didn¡¯t want to hear her arguments.

    I wanted to speak to ude, but there was no time and I couldn¡¯t jeopardise our n. There were lots of unanswered questions hanging in the air. I knew that Leonidas had been involved from the very beginning. He still wanted to have influence within Elite.

    Alexa ¨C the witch, was brewing potions for us in the other room and L was getting very impatient.

    ¡°How long before the potions are ready?¡± He kept asking her, knowing well enough that she needed some time to prepare everything.

    She gave him a long look before she sighed loudly.

    ¡°At least two more hours. The liquid needs time to mature. Besides this is a veryplex potion L. I suppose you don¡¯t want to change into some random animal after you consume it?¡±

    I sneered and L gave me an annoyed look, then he left the room. I had no idea what was wrong with him. Ever since we returned from Transylvania he had been acting strange and he was always in a bad mood.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think this whole thing is such a good idea. ude is going to be suspicious, he won¡¯t believe that we just left. We must preserve our integrity. No one is going to hire us if they hear we couldn¡¯t solve such high-profile murders,¡± Karina said, drinking some tea. Marco was out as usual and Judas was on his phone.

    ¡°L seems to have a n,¡± I muttered although I was not convinced if there was anything set in ce.

    Over the next few days we got to know Alexa a little better. She said she had lived in Hond most of her life. She was part of the witches¡¯ coven there and worked for the local supernatural politician as a spell caster.

    ¡°My life was perfectly normal. I was always so careful and organised. That was until a few weeks back when I went to collect some paperbacks from that vampire in the centre of Amsterdam. He must have usedpulsion on me, because the next thing I remembered was you Jaymin,¡± she exined yesterday when we¡¯d sat down to dinner.

    The new apartment was huge and we were right in the middle of the city centre. L kept reminding us that we had to be careful whenever we went out.

    He was mainly concerned about Marco, who had been absent for most of the day.

    Pretty boy was Oldman¡¯s right hand and even if I had other ideas, I had to stick with the team.

    In the end Judas and L went for a walk. They were frustrated and had had enough of sitting around. The potions were still maturing.

    It took several more hours for Alexa to be sure that everything was in order.

    I had just finished reading a book, trying to take my mind off everything. The smell of herbs wafted around the whole apartment. This whole situation was frustrating, so I was happy when the waiting time was over. Alexa looked exhausted, she was flustered and her blond hair was tied up in a ponytail.

    Momentster, she was pouring a very thick dark liquid into five sks that were set out on the table.

    L, Marco and Judas returned just in time for us to begin the spell. I was nervous for some reason.

    ¡°Right, let¡¯s get this show on the road,¡± Marco said, lifting the sk up to his nose.

    It must have smelled disgusting because he made a growling sound. L just shook his head, picked up the sk, and drank his in one go.

    His scent was driving me crazy again. The shback from that time when he¡¯d kissed me came back. I was craving his blood once again. I tried not to think about him at all, but sometimes it was difficult to ignore these emotions that were building inside me.

    We stillmunicated, but something had changed between us and I couldn¡¯t exin what. I was supposed to be d that he wasn¡¯t pushing me into this whole ¡°mating thing¡±, but I wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Each one of you will take the appearance of another person. You will have around forty-eight hours in that body, after that, the potion fades and your cover will be blown,¡± Alexa exined, whilst waiting for the potions to take effect.

    Karina and I exchanged nervous nces with each other. I stared at the liquid, waiting for something to happen. My mother¡¯s face shed through my mind and I picked up the sk. The potion was still warm. Oldman and even L, had warned us that this was a veryplex potion and if any of the ingredients were missed the consequences would be severe.

    We were entering the trials as potential academy students to find the murderer of Marisa and the other student.

    We were all aware that some of the tasks were deadly, so we were literally risking our lives to conclude this case. Judas took his sk and lifted it close to his mouth.

    ¡°Well I think it¡¯s time to say cheers,¡± he muttered and then drunk the liquid, emptying the whole thing in one go.

    Nothing had happened so far with L or Marco since drinking their potions first.

    ¡°Bottoms up,¡± I finally said, smiling to Karina, feeling scared.

    The liquid tasted worse than I¡¯d expected; like mud. The consistency was vile. I had to swallow it a few times for it to finally go down my throat. Then, I felt the burning in my stomach.

    Secondster, the pain exploded around my gut and I screamed. It was difficult to exin what happened afterwards because I woke up on the floor a little whileter.

    I wasn¡¯t the only one that had passed out. The rest of the team was on the floor too.

    ¡°Everything is working as it should. Your aura¡¯s are shifting. It¡¯s normal to pass out after consuming such a strong potion. I don¡¯t think you should waste any time ¨C go straight to the Academy now,¡± I heard Alexa saying, as she was helping me to get back up on my feet. I nced at my hands. My skin colour was now ck.

    I nced at L. He looked like a human on steroids. He had a longer and much fuller face, however his expression remained the same. I could just tell that it was pretty boy in a new body.

    He must have grown at least twice his normal size. Marco and Judas were now ginger shifters and they looked like twin brothers. Whereas Karina had long, silver hair and was slightly taller too.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Marcoined running his hand through his hair in front of the small mirror.

    He kept staring at his new reflection like he couldn¡¯t believe that this was truly him.

    ¡°Too bad, because this is your new look from now on. Let¡¯s get moving guys. Judas and I should leave first, then the rest of you can follow. Our main objective is to eliminate these vampires, or at least expose them. Either option is good,¡± L announced.

    We had discussed his n over and over again during the meeting yesterday. Once we were inside the trial¡¯s building, we couldn¡¯t really help each other get through it unless we ended up together. The main objective was to survive and track down Leonidas¡¯ men. This whole investigation had gone on for far too long. Oldman wanted to finish the job and move on already. I didn¡¯t think she cared much about the politics within Elite.

    ¡°Good luck,¡± Alexa shouted after them when L and Judas headed out. I was a little disappointed that pretty boy didn¡¯t even say goodbye to me. It was possible that this would be thest time we all saw each other.

    ¡°Damn Jay, you look strange in braids. I just can¡¯t get used to it,¡± Karina said, staring at me.

    ¡°I do indeed feel strange in this body, but we haven¡¯t got time to y with magic,¡± I said, wanting to get on with this. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    She nodded. Marco was going to be thest to leave.

    I put on my leather jacket that was a bit small now. My knives were hidden around my ankles in my boots. I wasn¡¯t nning to get rid of them even though everyone said that weapons weren¡¯t allowed inside. I was going to take my chances.

    Alexa wished us luck and five minutester, I was outside with Karina. Alexa was staying behind. For now, her job was done. It was up to us to figure out who was behind these murders.

    We split up on the street. I wanted to hug her and I thought she would do too, but we just quickly walked away.

    It was better not to bring any more attention to ourselves as a lot of pedestrians were already staring at me.

    I quickly called an uber. The driver kept staring at me all the way to the academy. I told him to drop me off outside the park. This body felt a little restricted. Momentster, I found myself right outside the gate, the same one where Karina and I had ended up when we were supposed to meet Marisa. The gate was locked, but that was expected. I used a magical code to break the wards and then made everything look as intact as it was before. After that I just raced all the way to the academy building.

    We had never been allowed to enter the trial territory within the Elite. Any potential students had to sign special contracts before the trials even started.

    Elite Academy was the most powerful school for supernaturals in the whole world, and the school protected their secrets pretty well. Hond wanted to break away from the High Council which was not always possible.

    I headed straight to the end of the park where a huge amount of energy was radiating around.

    Soon enough, I approached the huge wooden door, the magic from inside was radiating and zooming through my energy. I wasn¡¯t really sure what I was supposed to do. Someone was supposed to wait for me here, at least that¡¯s what I had been told.

    I stood there like a moron, wondering if I was going to be the only one that wouldn¡¯t be able to get inside, when the door finally opened.

    My jaw dropped and for a second I thought that I was having hallucinations seeing Professor Ripley heading towards me. He was with someone else that I didn¡¯t recognise, probably another professor.

    I couldn¡¯t believe that he was actually here, this was some kind of trick. That damn fae hated me. I didn¡¯t know how and why he was suddenly a member of Elite Academy.

    Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be in Ukraine?

    ¡°Name?¡± he barked at me. Somehow that made me feel better a little because it seemed that he was just rude to everyone.

    I wasn¡¯t the only one that he treated like shit.

    ¡°Angelika Rust,¡± I answered, not recognising my own voice. It was deep and I didn¡¯t like it.

    He scanned the clipboard that he was holding with the pen. Then looked at me again, his magic was shining more than usual. Alexa was a very skilled witch. She knew exactly what she was doing.

    ¡°Your first task is in the room ahead. Just walk straight ahead until you reach the door, then enter,¡± the other professor stated giving me an encouraging smile. He was a shifter and he seemed much kinder than that idiot that I knew so well.

    I just nodded and moved past both of them. It was pitch ck inside, but my eyesight was better than any other human and I could see another door in front of me even with Alexa¡¯s potion coursing through my system.

    Secondster, the door opened up and several faculty members walked through them carrying bodies. I stopped for a second, wondering if I was supposed to see this. A few vampires nced at me, but they didn¡¯t say anything as they moved past me.

    They continued to carry them out as quickly as they could. I nced at a few corpses that had possibly been potential students and my stomach turned. One waspletely deformed. He was a fae and he was now dead. The other one was unrecognisable and I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a male or a female. The body waspletely burnt. The smell was horrendous too.

    They vanished quickly and I found myself standing in front of another door.

    Fear started creeping up my spine. Damn it, I had been waiting for this moment for so long. I had dreamed of taking part in Elite trials and now I was ready to chicken out?Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    No way. I wasn¡¯t going to give up now, so I pressed the door handle and walked inside.

    I found myself in anotherrge room. Several torches were burning on each side, lighting the space. The smell of blood was strong.

    I noticed that all the windows were covered and there were four Marble pirs in each corner.

    ¡°Jaymin?¡± someone startled me all of a sudden.

    Secondter a male came out of the shadow. My heart skipped a beat then raced triple time. It was L in his new body. I couldn¡¯t believe my luck once again.

    For a split second I had been ready to attack him, as he was still huge and unrecognisable.

    ¡°Oh, I am so d that you¡¯re here. Have you seen dead students being carried out of this room?¡± I asked him, feeling a little relieved that I wasn¡¯t going to be here alone.

    ¡°No, I have been standing here for twenty minutes waiting for something to happen,¡± he muttered, confused.

    I was just about to ask him about Ripley when we heard a loud scream followed by a bang like something heavy crashing on the ground. We both looked at each other fully alert.

    This was it, the start. L winked at me and quickly vanished into the darkness. I followed him, thinking that this was going to be interesting.

 Chapter 19

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± L snapped. He sounded terrified when I finally caught up with him.

    The smell of urine and burned skin wafted around the space. For a split second I thought I was going to be sick, but then I saw what L was looking at.

    It was some sort of creature, at least five times bigger than a human with one eye in the middle of its forehead. I¡¯d read about these creature in books, but they weren¡¯t supposed to exist.

    They were called cyclops, but now I was not hallucinating. One currently stood right in front of me terrorising two shifters. They were probably potential students. I just stood there, mesmerised, staring, as the cyclop was tried to chase after them with a giant log in his hand.

    I had no idea what to make of it. One of the shifters zoomed past me, and then a huge stone nearly hit me. I jumped to the right, finally waking up from my frozen state.

    ¡°Jaymin watch out!¡± L¡¯s deep voice echoed through the space. I got up and looked up, but it was toote. The one-eyed creature had gotten to me before I even knew what was happening. He grabbed me and lifted me up, holding me by my left foot. Blood rushed to my head, and my magic was going haywire at the same time as I was dangling upside down.

    A new wave of energy rushed through my core, and I didn¡¯t know how, but I managed to grab one of my knives and jab the motherfucker¡¯s finger with it. The creature let go with a terrible howl-like shriek, and then it threw me across the room. Inded on something hard. I lost my breath for a few seconds before crashing on the ground.

    Everything hurt, but I somehow managed to shake it off and get up. My breathing wasboured and I knew I had a broken rib because it hurt like hell. I could barely move.

    I nced behind me, seeing that the creature was chasing after the shifters once again. The students were in their animal forms. Drops of blood began dripping down onto the floor. I touched my nose.

    ¡°Are you all right?¡± L asked, getting to me. My fingertips were charged with energy and I had never been more pissed in my entire life. I pulled out a tissue and put it in my nostrils.

    ¡°Yeah, sort of. Is he part of the trials?¡± I asked L, trying to breath evenly. We were both staring at the cyclops, observing that he was slow and sloppy. The smelling off him was absolutely rancid.

    Lughed, then shook his head.

    ¡°I have no idea, but I guess so. We have to finish that motherfucker off. This might be the part of a small initiation task. How about I distract him and you attack him with some magic. These two idiots here seem to have no clue what they are doing,¡± L said, staring at the shifters.

    ¡°dly,¡± I answered. I spit some blood on the ground and then headed towards the creature.

    The one-eyed monster was now squeezing the life out of the first shifter when we surrounded him. I had no clue what had happened to the other one.

    I had my two knives ready in my hands. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled loudly, trying to bring his attention to me. I really had no idea what L was going to do.

    ¡°Hey! You ugly moron, over here!¡± I roared, charging my hands with mes at the same time.

    The cyclops noticed me and threw the shifter away. The poor bugger hit the ground and I wasn¡¯t sure if he was just unconscious, or dead. Then I heard barking right behind me.

    I noticed that the other shifter was moving closer again, staring at me with hisrge yellow eyes. The cylops too was heading in my direction. The wolf was only inches away from me, his back was bent and his fur stood up right.

    ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± I whispered to myself, not understanding why that shifter wanted to attack me.

    Then everything happened all at once. The wolf attacked and the ugly creature reached out, trying to grab me again.

    In that one moment I had to make a quick decision. Either die by having my throat ripped open by a crazy-ass shifter or by a huge stupid cyclops. Damn it, I refused to ept either ending for myself. Instead, I rolled on the ground and stuck my first knife into the shifters stomach. The cyclops tried to hit me with his log.

    Magic pounded through me at the same time as I twisted the knife, roaring.

    Thest thing I saw was a huge log heading in my directing. Everything was happening in a slow motion. I shut my eyes, expecting pain, but nothing happened.

    Then, another terrible howl echoed through the space. It was so loud that I felt like my eardrums were going to explode.

    I covered my ears, then opened my eyes, seeing L. That idiot was hanging over the cyclop¡¯s neck, and at the same time trying to stick something in his eye.

    The shifter crashed on the ground and howled. The magic was rushing through my skin. My skin was burning as I pulled the knife out of the shifter¡¯s stomach.

    He was dead and I felt guilty because I hadn¡¯t nned to kill anyone tonight, well apart from that one giant monster in front of me.

    The cyclops was shaking his head, roaring with pain. L managed to jump safely back to the ground, leaving a knife in the creature¡¯s eye. It was almostical until the magical energy hit me out of the blue. A bright yellow light exploded all around us, blinding me.

    Was this my magic? My energy?

    I had no idea. The energy was suddenly rushing through my system; the light was attacking the creature and I was thrown back onto the floor.

    I must have cked out for a few seconds, and as I came around, the whole ced shook and there was a loud crash. The cyclops was on the ground, a few bits of ceiling had fallen down around it.

    I was surprised that the entire building hadn¡¯t copsed on us. I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. The dust was getting into my eyes and I needed to take a clear, deep breath away from all the rubble and dust that had been kicked up. My eyes were watering and my throat was tingling.

    A deadly silence filled the space. I started to walk towards the creature, truly hoping that it was dead. My limbs were tingling as I nced at the shifter as he started to move, he was lying several meters away from the cyclops. I was surprised that he wasn¡¯t dead.

    ¡°He attacked her. She was trying to defend herself,¡± someone suddenly said.

    I had no idea who was speaking. I couldn¡¯t see anyone until L appeared right in front of me.

    He had arge cut across his forehead and several other bruises. The shifter that had crashed on the ground walked up to us. He looked disorientated and he waspletely naked.

    ¡°Quickly, Dominic is still alive. We have to help him,¡± he said with panic. I exchanged nervous looks with L.

    ¡°What are you talking about mate? Your friend is dead,¡± pretty boy said, but the naked shifter kept shaking his head.

    ¡°No, no, he¡¯s not dead. He has been poisoned. The next part of the task is right in front of us. We need to find the antidote,¡± the shifter exined, dragging his hand through his hair and looking at us like we were crazy.

    ¡°Your friend is dead. My friend here stabbed him in the gut to protect herself,¡± L pressed. He walked over to the one-eyed creature and pulled his knife from its eye.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but he attacked me. He was ready to kill me,¡± I added. The terrible odour that was drifting around from the monster was making me feel sick. I¡¯d killed a lot of supernatural convicts in my life, but I had never stood face to face with a cyclops. The first trial, well if it was even a trial, had been a little underwhelming.

    The naked shifter didn¡¯t give up. He ran over to his friend. I was ready to get out of here.

    ¡°Come on Angelica,¡± L said, sighing loudly. We started walking away when the other shifter, that I had supposedly killed, screamed.

    L and I turned around, seeing that the shifter that was almost positively dead for at least ten minutes, had woken up. He copsed once again and it looked like he was choking.

    ¡°Students, you must work together to save this shifter. On your right, there is a table with herbs, use them to find an antidote,¡± a deep voice echoed around the room.

    We got to the shifter on the floor. His friend was pale and he was mumbling something nonsensical. The previously dead shifter was choking; white foam wasing out of his mouth.

    Blood rushed to my ears. I had some healing abilities but I wasn¡¯t very experienced with this kind of craft. L moved past me. We needed to save him.

    I didn¡¯t want to kill him in the first ce, so this was my chance to fix this.

    ¡°There are herbs here. Come on help me,¡± L said. I turned around, spotting the table.

    The Scot was lifting various sks, trying to read thebels. I didn¡¯t recognise most of the herbs there. In Moonlight, I had studied herbology and potion making, but I was never any good at it.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked L who was mixing some white powder in a sk with red liquid that look a lot like blood.

    The other shifter stayed with his friend.

    I was trying to think on my feet, but my mind had gone nk. Sweat was dripping down my neck and my heart was pounding inside my chest.

    ¡°No idea, improvising and I think you should do the same,¡± he snapped then rushed to shifter. Then he shoved the liquid into his mouth. The other shifter was pacing around his friend; he wasn¡¯t any help at all. We had only a few minutes to save the poisoned supernatural.

    I took a few deep breaths and told myself to stay calm. This was myst chance to save him. I had to do what I could. L¡¯s potion, or whatever he had created didn¡¯t work, the shifter¡¯s condition didn¡¯t improve at all.

    I rushed back to the table staring at all the herbs and trying to remember any healingbinations possible.

    I picked up some sage leaves, fairly certain that this was the only herb that could flush out all toxins.

    ¡°Fuck, this is not working,¡± L swore, throwing the sk across the room. It smashed to pieces.

    Then it hit me. I remembered when Melody was healing that stray cat in the dark alley in Lviv several years ago. She¡¯d used periwinkle. She basically squeezed the juice out of the flowers and rubbed it over the cat¡¯s teeth. Sheter exined that a tincture from the petals was like liquid gold. It could apparently heal anyone. Melody used to carry a lot of herbs with her.

    When I asked her why she was so determined to save that cat, she said that every living being deserves a chance to live.

    I quickly grabbed periwinkle and went over to the shifter.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try this. I think the liquid should help him,¡± I said, putting the petals into the shifters mouth. I then began squeezing the yellow liquid to the back of his throat. My heart was thumped loudly inside my chest.

    ¡°What are you doing Jaymin? We are wasting precious time,¡± L asked.

    I¡¯d had enough of his shitty attitude.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to save him. Have you got any better ideas?¡±

    The shifter¡¯s energy was fading and he was dying on us. We both knew it. L snorted and then walked back to the table of herbs. I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

    Seconds felt like hours and nothing was happening. The shifter was getting paler and it seemed to me that L still had no idea what to do. In that terrifying moment I truly thought that this was it, that we both couldn¡¯t do anything. After all, we only had a limited knowledge of herbs whereas most students used them frequently.

    ¡°Jaymin, look, he¡¯s starting to move,¡± L shouted, pulling me away from my dark thoughts.

    I got up, seeing that the shifter was coughing now, but the main thing was that his colour wasing back too. Something was definitely happening. This was working, I couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Maybe I could save the shifter after all. Split secondster, the shifter opened his eyes, took a sharp deep breath and then looked at uspletely confused and disorientated.

    He probably remembered me stabbing him.

    ¡°Are you all¨C¡±

    I didn¡¯t get to finish my question though, because then he started throwing up. This made me feel a little sick too, but at least he was going to live. Which also meant that I had found the antidote.

    He kept puking for a bit until I felt several other supernaturals appear, quickly surrounding us.

    The doors began to open. I could see a few members of the faculty team from Elite. Ripley and the other professor that had greeted me at the door were here now.

    The torches lightened the space once again and that¡¯s when I finally saw how much devastation that creature had caused.

    Ripley started pping and now he was smiling at me. That was strange because I had never seen him smiling like that. Alexa¡¯s potion had protected me well.

    ¡°Angelica Rust has won the antidote challenge and has been awarded with the maximum number of points,¡± the professor with the unknown name announced.

    Other vampires showed up too. They started to clear out the damage caused by the cyclops.

    L helped the shifter up. He gave Ripley a furious look when he noticed him and I nervously bit my lip, hoping that he was not going to blow his cover. He hated Ripley for goodness only knows what reason.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I mumbled.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s move to the next room. You showed us some incredible skills Angelica,¡± he continued speaking to me as we walked from the room.

    I could feel L staring at me. He was not happy

    In the next room, there were a lot more people standing around, waiting for something or someone.

    I counted at least ten students and obviously more bodies. Other vampires were carrying them out. My heart skipped a beat as I hoped that the rest of the team were doing okay; that they were still alive at least.

    ¡°What is that fucking prick doing in here?¡± L whispered in my ear when he¡¯d caught up with me.

    ¡°No idea, I was as surprised as you,¡± I answered, rubbing my forehead. He growled behind me waking up the lust that I had fought away for so long.

    I shifted my weight to the side, trying to stay calm. I was ready to throw myself at him. What the hell was happening to me all of a sudden?Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Now that the most challenging part of your trials is over, let¡¯s have a little break before the next task,¡± announced another professor that I had never seen before. ¡°The initial trial survivors are all standing here in this room, so for now, you are all winners. However, now you have to prove to us that you are truly worthy of Elite.¡±

 Chapter 20

    This whole thing was very surreal. I had to calm down and pull my magic away. Other supernaturals were staring at me, probably sensing my overwhelming energy.

    Many of them looked shaken and exhausted. There weren¡¯t many of us left.

    I was worried about Marco, Judas and Karina. If they weren¡¯t here, then that could only mean that they didn¡¯t pass the first task. I could only hope that nothing had happened to them and they were okay.

    All the windows were still shaded, but the torches around this huge gathering room were warming the ce.

    There was a table by the south facing wall with refreshments. My throat was dry, I needed a drink.

    ¡°Come on let¡¯s split up and mingle with the others. Maybe we can find something concrete,¡± L whispered to me. I nodded and then headed over to get some water.

    I had to find a vampire that matched the description of Leonidas¡¯ supernatural, but so far, I wasn¡¯t seeing anyone here with some kind of mark on their neck.

    Besides, it was going to be very difficult to see in here. I counted several vampires and there were two fae standing by the table with refreshments. Their auras were very faint.

    They must have justpleted their first task. Both girls had bruises on their faces and their clothes were filthy.

    I smiled to them and grabbed a cup. Drinking water helped a little. For some reason, Ripley¡¯s presence was affecting me much more than before.

    He was part of Moonlight¡¯s teaching staff and I had no idea what he was doing here.

    How did he even have ess to the trials? Had Oldman influenced Hond to bring him here?

    More questions were mounting in my head as I was walking around and watching everyone. The tension was paramount and I wasn¡¯t sure what else to expect. We all knew that there were going to be more deaths as the trials progressed further.

    My magic was bothering me too much, my fingers were stiff and I felt tingles around my whole body. I was struggling to understand what was going on.

    On top of that, the smell of blood was very potent even when the other room was cleared. The one-eyed monster was removed from the premises, but his scent remained. There was a mixture of supernaturals around here, some fae, a few vampires and shifters.

    There was a strong current of energy vibrating around here. I felt under pressure to track down the vampire that was here under Leonidas¡¯ orders.

    ¡°You were supposed to watch out for her,¡± a hushed voice spoke. I stopped by the pir and took a deep breath.

    I nced towards my right, seeing Ripley. He was talking to L and I didn¡¯t dare to move.

    ¡°She¡¯s not here and she¡¯s not important,¡± pretty boy answered. What the hell was this about?

    Did Ripley know about Alexa or the fact that he was actually speaking to L under the disguise?

    He wasn¡¯t even supposed to be part of this investigation.

    ¡°She has always been important L. The second part of the trial will begin shortly. You need to watch out for Adrian Brooks. He¡¯s our guy,¡± Ripley continued.

    I didn¡¯t even have to look at them to see L¡¯s face. I felt his anger rising like a wildfire.

    He hated Ripley and now it seemed that none of us had been kept in the loop.

    ¡°How are you even involved in this? Jaymin is not your concern and who the hell is Adrian Brooks?¡± L was barking now.

    I had a feeling that he was ready to throw himself at Ripley. This was very bad.

    ¡°He¡¯s the threat to the Academy. From all the people here, you should be the one to understand that,¡± Ripley snapped back, sending a cold shiver over my spine.

    He didn¡¯t know who I was otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be talking to L in here.

    ¡°Why are you interested in her so much? Just point me in the direction of that Brooks. Is he the one that we have to eliminate?¡± L asked. He was annoyed and confused like me.

    Ripley was my teacher in Moonlight, he was supposed to be helping me to tame my energy. At least that¡¯s what Oldman told me after I told her about the night in Moscow.

    I had a feeling that Leonidas was very tightly connected with many other supernaturals that were high up in the council and within Elite. I just knew that he was aware of everything that was going on here because of the vampire with the mark on his neck. He was seeding for now, but his n could still backfire.

    ¡°He¡¯s the vampire with the ck scarf. He¡¯s the one that killed the two girls. Better hurry up and do something before it¡¯s toote,¡± Ripley added and then he must have walked away because his energy faded.

    I quickly walked away, looking around for the vampire with a ck scarf.

    I spotted him with another ancient vampire by the pir. He had a dark aura, so that made sense, but I wasn¡¯t entirely convinced that he was the person that we were searching for.

    L came back shortly after. He was still fuming and his scent was driving me absolutely insane. We only had a few minutes before the second part of the trials would start. I truly wasn¡¯t looking forward to this.

    The vampire with the scarf fit the profile of the killer, but he seemed too rxed.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Judas and Marco didn¡¯t pass the first task. They are injured but they are all right. I have no idea what happened to Karina. No one has heard from her,¡± L exined.

    ¡°I truly hope she is all right,¡± I said, swallowing hard.

    Shortly afterwards, announcements were being made and my name was called along with three others, including Adrian Brooks. This was definitely not a coincidence.

    ¡°Take care Jaymin. You¡¯re on your own this time,¡± pretty boy whispered right before I walked away.

    Great, this was going to be fun, I thought ¨C not.

    ¡°The next task is upon you. Each one of you needs to find a diamond that has been hidden in a maze created purposely for the trials. Obviously, there will be some obstacles within the maze to determine your magical strength, intelligence and power. This way, we will be able to assess if you are good enough to be a student of the Elite Academy,¡± the older professor exined, handing me an image of the shiny stone. ¡°See you on the other side.¡±

    It seemed that we just had to get on with it because a few secondster the door opened up. A bright red light blinded us all. I heard a loud click and when I nced behind me, the other room was gone. We were all standing right outside the entrance to the maze. There were three ways inside, Adrian Brooks and the fae with shaking hands were part of my team if I could call it that.

    ¡°Goodbyedies. You might as well fight over second ce, because that diamond is mine,¡± the vampire sneered and then quickly disappeared into the middle entrance before I could even respond.

    I nced at the fae who seemed scared and gave her an encouraging smile. There was no point wasting any time, I just had to get on with it. I walked towards the tunnel to my right. I needed to get close to Adrian somehow.

    I walked through the narrow tunnel for about ten minutes, sensing strong magic everywhere. A simple maze didn¡¯t intimidate me. I had gone through a lot in the past and I was ready to kick some serious butt. I picked up my pace after a few minutes turning right then left.

    My breathing was a little erratic, my fingertips were sparkling like crazy, and that was never a good sign. I was expecting to see another strange creature appearing right on my path at any given moment.

    I knew that sooner orter, I would face Adrian Brooks. Ten minutester, the tunnel ended and I stepped into arge open space full of nts and decorative ornaments. My energy shifted once again, growing calmer, yet stronger.

    Momentter I saw something shiny on one of the ornaments, so I headed over there.

    I thought that this was just too easy. The diamond that I was supposed to find was bigger and had an odd shape.

    Then, a terrifying scream echoed through the space. It was the fae that was with us in the maze.

    When I nced back at the diamond, the stone was just there, sitting on the top of the ornament. I reached for it without hesitation, mesmerised by its beauty. Its energy was radiating so much that I was somehow afraid to take it.

    ¡°No this is mine Jaymin, you weren¡¯t even supposed to be here,¡± someone said, appearing right in front of me.

    I jumped away, thinking that this was just dark magic, an illusion. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest as I was staring at my own mother.

    She was so beautiful and she was standing in front of me. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes for a moment, telling myself that this was just a trick. She wasn¡¯t really there.

    However, she still hadn¡¯t vanished when I opened my eyes again. I stared at her for a long time, reminding myself to breathe.

    ¡°I need to get this diamond and you¡¯re not here. You¡¯re not real,¡± I told her, taking the knife out of my boot. She smiled at me, she was very pretty and she wore a white floral-patterned dress.

    ¡°I have been watching you for a very long time. I had to stay away because Ripley threatened to kill you. Please believe me Jaymin,¡± she said, grabbing my hands.

    My fingers released the knife and it fell on the ground. My heart had never beat so loudly inside my chest. She was touching me and her eyes were genuine.

    This was truly happening. It couldn¡¯t have been an illusion.

    ¡°What happened to me? A few years ago, I woke up on the streets with no recollection of who I was, craving blood,¡± I started asking her, trying to keep my emotions at bay, but it was almost impossible.

    I suddenly forgot about my task and about why I was here. The diamond wasn¡¯t important anymore.

    She touched my cheek. Her hand was warm.

    ¡°I had to release you my darling. I had no other choice. I made a promise to that vampire when he spared my life that I would give you up. I¡¯m so sorry. This wasn¡¯t meant to happen,¡± she kept saying.

    ¡°Why are you here now? How did you even get here?¡± I asked her, looking around.

    ¡°Ripley let me in. He¡¯s on our side Jaymin and you must do what you have to. The master ising for you. He wants to control you, because your magic is powerful. The transformation was a sess after all,¡± she exined

    This wasn¡¯t making much sense, but she was the second person that had spoken about this master. Was the vampire that had sold me to the fae court the same one from my memories?

    Another loud scream distracted me for a few seconds. When I nced back at my mother, she was gone.

    Then the female fae that had entered the maze with us appeared. She grabbed my hands,ughing like crazy. I tried to pull away from her, but then she stabbed me right in my gut.

    This happened so quickly that I didn¡¯t even react. The excruciating pain exploded, knocking the air out of my lungs.

    She backed away, still smiling at me, holding a bloodied knife in her hand. Her eyes were strange; they were filled with smoke like she had been spellbound. Was my mother only a distraction?

    I fell to the ground as blood was pouring out of me. The whole ce was so bright all of a sudden and filled with so much light.

    ¡°Well done Jess, she shouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore,¡± Adrian said, as he appeared next to the fae. He took the knife from her and then started licking the blood off the de. The fae walked away, disappearing into the maze. She had obviously beenpelled.

    Adrian must have removed his scarf earlier on because now his neck was exposed.

    Only then did I realise that there was no apparent mark anywhere on his neck. L had been wrong, or he had been tricked by Ripley. Adrian wasn¡¯t our guy.

    I kept trying to regte my breathing, pressing my hand tightly over my stomach. If Adrian wasn¡¯t one of Leonidas¡¯ men then who was?

    Panting a little, I tried to lift myself off the ground and grab the knife that was in my side pocket. The dizziness hit me hard. I could barely move.

    ¡°You were never supposed to get as far as this, lovely. I was going to be the person that would pass all the tasks. This was arranged by certain members of the Council. Unfortunately, now I have to kill you,¡± Adrian said. His eyes widened as soon as he swallowed my blood, he must have recognised the fae inside me, because he moved closer. ¡°What are you? Your blood tastes divine.¡±

    ¡°Leave her be Adrian, she¡¯s not important anymore. We must eliminate her before anyone realises that I¡¯ve entered the maze,¡± another very familiar voice said.

    Ripley appeared and he smiled down at me. Alexa¡¯s potion was working well. He shouldn¡¯t have known who I was, but then I saw that his shirt was unbuttoned.

    My breath caught in my chest when I noticed a mark or some sort of tattoo on his corbone.

    Obviously I had never seen him like this, his shirt was always buttoned up tightly, but right now, he seemed like he wanted to be exposed.

    The mark reminded me of something that I had seen before. From the distance it looked like a snake consuming something; a rat or a lizard maybe.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± I roared, pointing at him. ¡°You¡¯re one of Leonidas¡¯ supernaturals. The vampire that killed those two students several weeks ago!¡±

 Chapter 21

    Ripley¡¯s expression changed, growing from calm and euphoric to panicked. Once I saw that mark, I put all the missing pieces together. This whole thing made perfect sense. He must have been working for Leonidas from the very beginning, even when he was in Moonlight.

    ¡°Ripley, what the hell is she on about? Are we doing this or not? They are waiting for me,¡± Adrian was saying, trying to get Ripley¡¯s attention.

    My magic was fading and I needed it to use it to concentrate on my internal energy and healing. That moron couldn¡¯t see beyond Alexa¡¯s spell, could he?

    ¡°Oh dear, dear, I should have seen through that cheap spell much sooner. I knew that there was something odd about your aura earlier on when you showed up with L,¡± Ripley finally stated.

    He¡¯d figured it out. He must have recognised my spell.

    ¡°I thought you were on our side. Why are you helping him?¡± I shouted, feeling worse with every passing second.

    He must have been in Bucharest all this time, right under our noses and we¡¯d had no idea.

    Damn Oldman, why had she trusted him in the first ce?¡¯

    ¡°Poor Miss irmont thinks that Oldman is going to keep her safe. Well, she has never truly cared about any of you. The new supernatural order has been nned for some time. Once Adrian gets epted to Elite everything is going to change,¡± Ripley continued, walking up to me.

    ¡°Why did you kill them? Marisa and her friend? Those girls didn¡¯t need to die!¡± I asked, wanting to know everything.

    He was going to kill me and I epted that now.

    I had no idea how he knew who I was. I must have blown my cover somehow.

    Ripley was sweating and he looked very flustered. His energy was infiltrating mine, slowly breaking down my wards. Alexa¡¯s magic was inside me. Her spell was strong, but I was weakened from the blood loss, and now I couldn¡¯t even defend myself.

    ¡°Those girls were fooling around and they saw me that night with Mr. Brooks here and they needed to be eliminated. They both heard too much and I couldn¡¯t risk the exposure,¡± Ripley stated. ¡°I knew that Oldman was going to get this case, so I decided to stay here in Bucharest. That shifter, Chris was supposed to take the me for their murder and I would carry on with my task.¡±

    ¡°How long? How long have you been working with that scum of a demon?¡±

    Ripley didn¡¯t answer. He looked around like he was expecting to see someone else.

    Adrian was pacing around, staring at me with confusion. He seemed clueless. I needed to heal quickly, but couldn¡¯t whilst under Alexa¡¯s spell. Besides, I was still losing too much blood.

    ¡°Miss rence, you¡¯re asking too many irrelevant questions. You don¡¯t understand what is going on in here. I have been working for the other side for a very long time, since way before Oldman became the principle. Then you arrived and I began to get suspicious of her motivations. Soon enough, I received new orders,¡± professor Ripley exined.

    ¡°What has that got to do with me?¡± I shouted, losing it now. It was a hallucination earlier on. It couldn¡¯t have been my mother. It had only happened in my head.

    ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s time for you to know the truth. You were Jonathan Moore¡¯s experiment. After he fed you with his blood, he brought you over to the fae,¡± Ripley stated as I just stared at him, unable toprehend what he said.

    No ¡­ he was lying to me now. Jonathan Moore, L¡¯s father and sire couldn¡¯t be the one that ruined my life all these years ago. It was a lie.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re lying to me,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not. You weren¡¯t supposed to survive that ritual and the fae told him that the transformation didn¡¯t work, so he tossed you away. That wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d tried it.¡±

    My vision was slowly fading and I was getting weaker. No, damn it. This couldn¡¯t be happening to me. From all the evil people in this world, I couldn¡¯t be the product of Jonathan Moore-the ancient.

    ¡°He wants to take over the control over Elite. He has been trying to do this for years, and then you showed up at the school. At first I couldn¡¯t believe it and then I recognised your genes. I sensed your power,¡± Ripley whispered, leaning down towards me.

    He put his hand around my throat and began squeezing it. My thoughts were racing away.

    How could I have not figured out this sooner?

    ¡°You were supposed to die on the street when the transformation didn¡¯t work. That was his objective and he was certain that had happened.¡±

    I had no strength to fight with him anymore.

    What was the point? I¡¯d lost everything and everyone at the same time. My life was ripped away from me, because of that monster.

    I was never supposed to survive or even remember him.

    ¡°Fuck you,¡± I barely whispered, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

    ¡°He should be pleased with me for getting rid of his problem,¡± he continued speaking, suffocating me.

    It was over for me. I had no strength left to fight him. The blood was draining from my wound.

    ¡°You motherfucker!¡± someone¡¯s voice echoed through the space. I must have passed out, and when I blinked myself awake, something was rolling towards me.

    My pupils dted and I screamed, seeing that it was Adrian¡¯s head. With everyst bit of strength that I had, I moved away from it. Then I saw Karina.

    She looked like her typical crazy self. She must have somehow broken Alexa¡¯s spell. And she was fighting with Ripley now.

    I crawled away from the head, breathing hard and trying to call out for my magic. My wound was near fatal but I could still fight. I just needed to tap into my energy.

    Karina shifted into a bear and she was attacking that son of a bitch. He was defending himself with magic.

    ¡°Come on Jaymin. You can do it. Get up and finish him off. This is your only chance,¡± someone was speaking to me again.

    I turned around, seeing my mother once again. She wasn¡¯t real.

    Then she leaned close to me. She smelled nice; like rose petals. Then she put something into my mouth, right under my tongue.

    ¡°This should help,¡± she whispered and then she was gone again.

    Iid there, trying to breath in, feeling my strength slowlying back. Magic rushed through my core igniting the fire inside me.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.

    I stood up on my own several minutester. I didn¡¯t know how and why, but I just had to do what my mother asked me to.

    The bear was pinned to the wall with Ripley¡¯s magic. The professor looked truly possessed in that moment. His eyes were ck and he was using his most potent magic to crush Karina. I always knew that he was skilled, but I was no longer afraid of him.

    He was forcing Karina to shift back to her human form. She started screaming as he was burning her skin.

    ¡°Hey Moron!¡± I shouted, shaking like a leaf. The sparks started shooting through my hands and I was charged with so much magic. I felt exactly the same as during the night when I killed everyone¨Cpowerful and unpredictable.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have killed him, you ruined everything you bitch!¡± Ripley roared at Karina.

    He sted her with his fire magic and she was screaming covering her eyes.

    In that same moment I released my fireball. It started rushing through my blood, through my joints and skin until it exploded. All I wanted to was to make him suffer.

    The energy was rushed out, bouncing around until it found its target. My fae light connected with his, but Ripley reacted way toote.

    When he turned to look at me, my light hit him, breaking through his wards immediately.

    I wasn¡¯t controlling my body any longer. My energy ripped him apart. The blood was pouring out of him, he hadrge cuts across his chest and face. Karina was screaming, she was naked and she was covering her eyes.

    All I wanted to do was kill him, to finish him off forever, so he wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt anyone else.

    Then the storm picked up, it came out of nowhere and it nearly knocked me off my feet. All the objects in the room started to levitate all around me.

    There was no more pain. The blood around my stomach had dried up and my wound didn¡¯t bother me anymore. It was the fae magic that created this chaos.

    I walked up to the mage that wasying on the ground, his eyes were scarily wide. He was afraid of me. For the first time, he was scared of dying.

    This was satisfying enough for me. I smiled at him.

    ¡°You¡¯re done professor,¡± I whispered. ¡°It¡¯s over. You¡¯re going to stand in front of the High Council. I¡¯m not going to kill you. And it will be up to them to decide what they are going to do to you. I bet they will turn you into a human and then send you away to prison without magic.¡±

    It was the perfect punishment for him. I realised that this was much better than death.

    He didn¡¯t deserve to die, he had to suffer.

    ¡°Jonathan Moore was your sire. He created you, which means that L is your half-brother,¡± Ripley sneered, a blood trickling down his mouth and then he smiled at me.

    I just stared at him, thinking that he was crazy.

    ¡°We have the same sire, that doesn¡¯t mean anything,¡± I replied calmly, back to being myself. The energy was gone. The fire inside me faded. I was so done with punishment.

    ¡°Oh yes it does my dear, because Jonathan Moore had an affair with your mother and he¡¯s not only L¡¯s sire. He¡¯s also his real father,¡± he whispered, waiting for my reaction. ¡°Yes Jaymin. Jonathan Moore is your father too.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to believe him. He was lying through his teeth; he had always been a lying bastard. At the same time, I started connecting all the little dots together.

    Maybe that was the reason why I¡¯d felt this connection towards him when he was around.

    And why on earth did L not tell me about this? Moore was his real father.

    In that moment something broke inside me as I stared at that scumbag. He was enjoying himself watching me suffer. I grabbed the knife and just stabbed him directly in his heart with overwhelming fury.

    I have never in my life felt so cheated, so lost and so betrayed.

    ¡°Jaymin nooooo!¡± someone shouted, but it was already toote. The deed was done.

    Professor Ripley was dead and I couldn¡¯t change that now. Hands grabbed me and pushed me away. I recognised the scent. Someone was shouting to stop this, to end this.

    Other people flew inside the room and then everything went ck.

    * * *

    I woke up several hourster in what appeared to be a hospital. White walls and sheets surrounded me. My vision was a little blurry and everything hurt.

    There were some things connected to me, a drip maybe or something else. I didn¡¯t know, I was so disoriented.

    ¡°She¡¯s waking up,¡± someone spoke, and then that someone leaned over me.

    It was L and he looked very concerned. He had bruises all over his face.

    Split secondster, the memories started rolling through my head and I had to take a deep breath.

    The images from the trials were so vivid. I suddenly remembered everything, the one-eyed monster, my mother and Ripley. Damn that was a lot to process, and why did everything hurt so much?

    Someone else entered the room. The guy looked like a doctor and he came over to join Marco and L.

    ¡°How are you feeling Jaymin?¡± he asked me. My muscles were stiff and very painful. I tried to find that wound around my stomach area, and yes, I felt some bandages there.

    ¡°Rough as hell,¡± I answered, because this was the truth. And then I suddenly remembered. ¡°Karina, what happened to her? She was injured by that bastard!¡±

    ¡°Jaymin, calm down. We are going to exin everything in due course,¡± the guy with the white scrubs and strange ent said.

    ¡°Doc, just give us a minute please,¡± pretty boy insisted. I swallowed hard remembering everything that Ripley had told me right before I killed him. None of this was supposed to happen. He was meant to answer for what he did.

    When the doctor left, a dead silence filled the space. L and the rest of them had no idea that Ripley was the killer.

    ¡°Jaymin, before we ask you to exin everything, you need to know that Karina was injured badly. She¡¯s lost her eyesight,¡± he finally said and I moaned, realising that it was all my fault.

    She was going to be an invalid for the rest of her life because she¡¯d tried to help me.

 Chapter 22

    I was ready to get up and just head to see Karina straight away, but the boys held me down. I still had to tell them about Ripley.

    ¡°All right, all right. I¡¯m calm now and I have something very important to tell you,¡± I shouted andy back on the bed.

    Then I started talking, telling them everything from the beginning. L started pacing.

    He stopped and looked at me with his pupils dted when I revealed what Ripley had done. Marco¡¯s magic was healing me.

    By the time I finished talking I was exhausted, but I had to see Karina. She wasn¡¯t going to stay blind. We would find the way to heal her if we pulled together.

    ¡°I need to go and report this whole thing to Oldman. Hond was furious when he found out that we got into the trials building,¡± L said and then left the room.

    Everyone was alive. I sensed Juda¡¯s aura outside. This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.

    I should have figured out that Ripley was never on our side.

    ¡°Adrian Brooks was Leonidas¡¯ student. Ripley was there to make sure that he got through all the tasks,¡± I said, thinking about that moment when he revealed why Moore was so interested in me.

    I felt so sick to my stomach as the images of L and me began moving in front of my eyes. Everything else was a little blurry. My mother was there, or maybe it was just an illusion. I still didn¡¯t understand that.

    I hid my face in my hands, trying to understand her, but couldn¡¯t. Why would she sleep with a creature like Moore?

    ¡°Are you all right Jaymin?¡± Marco asked once again, bringing me back to the living world.

    He was probably sensing the anxious energy that was radiating through me. My life was aplete mess. Why on earth was destiny was so cruel, why did I have to be involved with the ancient vampire.

    Ripley was a lying scumbag. He just wanted to hurt me, to do what he did anyway. I couldn¡¯t be L¡¯s half-sister. I had to discover the real truth.

    ¡°Please take me to Karina. I need to see her ¨C she saved my life. I would be dead already if it wasn¡¯t for her,¡± I said, trying to get out of bed.

    The pain shot through me and I wobbled a bit. The stab wound around my stomach was deep.

    Marco scratched his head, then he looked towards the door. We were most likely in a supernatural hospital, if there was one in Bucharest.

    ¡°Fine, but you have to be quick. There¡¯s a female doctor that wants to throw me off the ward,¡± he said.

    ¡°What did you do? Let me guess. You shagged someone in the bathroom, didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked, unable to hold my smile. This was so typical of Marco. He didn¡¯t care about any rules and he liked thedies too much.

    ¡°Nah, I was trying to flirt with her, but I thinks she¡¯s a lesbian. No one has ever turned me down before,¡± he stated and I burst outughing. He helped me out and shortly after that, we left the room and headed to the end of the corridor. Luckily this ce was very quiet so no one stopped us. Apparently, Judas couldn¡¯te in as I was allowed to have only two visitors at the time. I saw him outside.

    Marco¡¯s magic helped a little, even when Judas was telling him that this wasn¡¯t good idea. I was getting stronger, but it was going to take me several more days to fully recover.

    We stopped in front of a white door and I swallowed hard. Karina¡¯s energy was so weak.

    I was petrified to see her.

    Marco opened the door and we walked in. Karinaid on the bed. She had bandages around her eyes. She must have heard us, because she instantly moved.

    ¡°Is that you Jaymin?¡± She asked and then her face contorted in pain.

    I got to her quickly, trying to hold back my tears. Damn it, she couldn¡¯t see me breaking now.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me and Marco. How are you feeling darling?¡± I asked, situating myself by her.

    My stomach was hurting again, but I was focusing on her energy. It was weak and I had to make herfortable somehow.

    ¡°Like shit to be honest, and my whole face is hurting. Not even sure if I have any eye sockets left,¡± she said jokingly, breathing in and squeezing my hand at the same time.

    ¡°Karina I¡¯m so sorry. This is all my fault. We will find a cure I promise you,¡± I told her.

    Then Marco¡¯s phone started to ring. He swore and said that he needed to take this.

    ¡°This is not your fault Jaymin. I couldn¡¯t just watch him strangle you. I don¡¯t even know how I ended up in there,¡± she said. ¡°It sucks, not been able to see, but at least I¡¯m alive. I have to be grateful for something.¡±

    I kept squeezing her hand, not really knowing what else I was supposed to say. The deadly silence stretched for some time. Karina was always positive even in the worst of situations.

    I couldn¡¯t let her down especially now.Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.

    ¡°Once I get better, and back in form, I will start searching for something that can help you. L left to report to Oldman about Ripley. He had no idea that he was the killer.¡±

    ¡°Oh dear Lord, Jaymin. I heard everything. I was barely conscious, but I heard what he said to you in the end,¡± she said, trying to lift herself up and probably hug me.

    I helped her to sit up, feeling overwhelmed once again. Of course she¡¯d heard everything, she was there when that bastard died, and she was conscious enough to hear him.

    I shouldn¡¯t have lost control like that. I shouldn¡¯t have killed him. He would have been lynched if he had stood in front of the High Court. Now, he¡¯d take the real truth with him to the grave.

    ¡°I¡¯m still processing all of this. I don¡¯t know if any of it is actually true,¡± I said, wanting to run to L shake him and ask him why he never confirmed that Moore was his real father.

    The shbacks from the past, the connection between us, it all made perfect sense. I was attracted to my brother and that was wrong on so many levels. I had to suppress these emotions somehow, forget about them forever.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have any memories from the past Jaymin, but what if this is true. Could Jonathan Moore have had an affair with your mother?¡± she asked.

    I didn¡¯t want to talk about this. I didn¡¯t understand any of itpletely.

    ¡°When L and I were intimate, I kept having shbacks from my past. I saw my mother and I knew what she looked like. In one shback, my family was speaking in an English ent,¡± I exined, rubbing my forehead and having these ufortable cramps in my stomach. ¡°He was always the one that brought up past memories.¡±

    The attraction had to be eliminated right away, but I didn¡¯t know how I was going to exin this to him.

    How I was going to keep him away from me?

    ¡°Do you think Moore knows who you are? He sold you to the fae and then left you to die on the streets. You should be really careful from now on Jaymin,¡± she told me.

    ¡°Maybe. I have no idea. He knows that our energies are somehow connected. He surely would have recognised me. I haven¡¯t changed that much,¡± I stated, breathing steadily.

    What was Moore nning exactly, and was he the one behind all this? Leonidas wasn¡¯t working alone. Questions were mounting inside my head.

    ¡°What are you going to do Jaymin?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Right now I¡¯m going to find a way to heal you. I won¡¯t do anything about L until I investigate his father and figure out who I am,¡± I said.

    ¡°He wants you Jaymin. You would need to do something about that too. There is no way that he¡¯s going to stay away from you,¡± she told me.

    She was right. L was stubborn and he always got what he wanted.

    ¡°Well, in that case I will make him hate me. I¡¯ll do whatever is necessary,¡± I said.

    * * *

    I stayed in the hospital two more days until I waspletely healed. Karina was going to be here alone and I wanted to stay with her.

    She was recovering well, but her eyes were severely damaged by dark magic. She was hopeful that some healers in Kiev could somehow help her. Hond wasn¡¯t happy about our stunt, but Oldman had solved the case. We had done everything we needed to do.

    The case was closed for good, but not for me. Leonidas was still out there and he was most likely plotting his next move. We had no idea if other students were already in Elite already. Oldman told me not to worry about that. She had sent that message through L who came to the hospital every day visiting us.

    His father was somehow involved, but I still had no proof. Besides, as per Karina¡¯s advice, I couldn¡¯t bring any attention to myself.

    We still stayed in our apartment in Bucharest. Oldman flew back to the Ukraine and she expected the rest of us to follow her shortly.

    We all refused to leave Karina on her own, so we had stayed. She was going to be discharged tomorrow and we all wanted to return to Kiev together.

    Luckily, L still kept his distance. I had a feeling that he was giving me space after everything that had happened.

    My feelings for him didn¡¯t just go away. On the contrary, I wanted him more than ever and I felt disgusted with myself. I sat in the apartment trying to take my mind off my miserable thoughts when I heard a knock at the door.

    Judas, Marco and L had left earlier on in the day. They were heading to Elite to talk to Principle Hond. Apparently Moore had shown up and demanded an exnation. The boys were there to smooth the situation over. L¡¯s father was thest person that I wanted to see.

    I needed some space to think and I needed to pack Karina¡¯s stuff before tomorrow¡¯s flight.

    I opened the door, certain that it was probably Marco. He must have forgotten his keys.

    I blinked a few times when I saw ude standing there instead.

    ¡°Hello Jaymin,¡± he said, and before I could even answer he just walked inside and shut the door behind him. I was surprised to see him here in the city. He looked very handsome; wearing a long ck coat with his blond hair cascading over his shoulders.

    ¡°Hey ude. What are you doing here?¡± I asked, trying to ignore his scent. It was incredible as always.

    ¡°I heard about the investigation and I needed to see you. How are you holding up?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,e on in,¡± I invited him in.

    Soon we were in the living room. ude must have noticed the suitcases by the door, because he asked when I was leaving. He was giving me that heated look when my phone suddenly lit up.

    I grabbed it, seeing a text message from L.

    See you around 30 min hen. We need to talk.

 Chapter 23

    I frowned and put the phone away, thinking that he couldn¡¯t have picked a better time.

    ¡°Everything okay? Your energy changed all of a sudden,¡± ude¡¯s deep voice brought me back to reality. I smiled at him and then my energy shifted once again because suddenly I had a brilliant idea.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve recovered, but Karina is blind. The magic damaged her eyes and we are hoping to find way to heal her back home in Ukraine. We are leaving tomorrow,¡± I exined. I lifted myself up and casually flopped down on the sofa beside him.

    This was crazy and I wasn¡¯t really sure I could go through with something like this. L was going to hate me for it, but it was a necessary step.

    Pretty boy was never going to look at me the same way again.

    The heatnced through my core as I thought about this long and hard. ude inhaled deeply and his eyes moved down over my body. He must have felt the changes in my aura already.

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible and it was one of Principal Oldman¡¯s tutors. The whole academy is in a state of shock,¡± ude said, moving closer to me.This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.

    I truly had no idea what I was doing, but this felt right. We were both attracted to each other.

    ¡°He used to be my personal tutor,¡± I muttered, arching my head and stretching my neck.

    ude was watching me like a hawk and I felt this irresistible heat rushing through my thighs. The smell of his blood was suddenly everywhere and I had to lick my lips like I was testing it. I didn¡¯t know who made the first move, but within moments, we were kissing.

    Then his hands were all over my body as his lips were devouring mine. Within seconds his fangs descended and I just pulled him closer. Momentster, I was running my tongue over the sharp edges of his fangs, while my sex throbbed with the need for release.

    I was with ude now. I needed to focus all my energy on him. He was much older and much more experienced than me, but he seemed on board with this.

    He pushed me down on the sofa andid his long body over mine. The reasonable part of me roared that this waspletely crazy but the vampire inside me ached for more.

    ¡°You taste incredible and you¡¯re so sexy Jaymin,¡± he growled, kissing my neck and moving his hand right underneath my shirt. I was drenched, ready for him and lost in the swirls of these incredible sensations.

    ¡°Shut up and just kiss me,¡± I replied, as the throbbing around my groin area intensified, driving me insane. My skin was heated as sparks started to escape from the tips of my fingers. ude was making that sexy sound in the back of his throat.

    I had never been with a vampire, so technically this was going to be my first time.

    And it was a little embarrassing to admit to that, so I let go of my desire.

    ¡°As you wish,¡± he muttered. I moaned when his fangs ran down my neck, stopping on the pulsing vein. His hand moulded my breasts at the same time, circling around my hardened nipple.

    ¡°Come on let¡¯s go to the bedroom,¡± I mumbled, knowing that I didn¡¯t want anyone to walk on us, not yet at least.

    Momentster, he pushed me onto the bed and he was taking my clothes off. First my t-shirt went flying, then he took my jeans off, running hisrge hand over the outer edge of my thigh. His fangs were long and I imagined him biting me, sucking my blood off.

    Damn, I was so wet for him. For a second I was ready to back off, but desire jolted through me and I pushed these doubts away. Then he was kissing me again, devouring me. This was incredible. I thought it could have been even better with L, but no.

    That¡¯s why I was doing this with ude, because L was my brother. We couldn¡¯t be together and I wasn¡¯t even allowed to have these thoughts.

    His tongue was in my mouth, tracing the line of my fangs that were out too, as his hand reached down underneath my panties. I cried out when he stroked me with his long finger. I arched my head backward, wanting to have him inside me.

    ¡°You¡¯re so beautiful and your energy is addictive,¡± he growled, rubbing my clit with his thumb. This was too much, I was melting, moaning loudly.

    I don¡¯t know how it happened, but soon his pants were off and he positioned himself between my legs.

    I was flustered and ready to rip his shirt off, pulling his hard shaft into my sex. He had to enter me now. I had never been more ready in my entire life.

    ¡°Just shut up and fuck me already,¡± I begged, panting now as he lowered himself down and licked my nipples, teasing me. Damn it, I would have done this a long time ago if I¡¯d known it felt so good.

    Heughed and bit my neck slightly, testing a few drops of blood. I cried out, wanting more and then he thrusted his hard cock inside me. I cried out as he moved his shaft in and out, digging my nails into his back.

    This was wonderful and I was on the edge of orgasm.

    ¡°Are you all right? You are so tight,¡± he asked. Oh dear Lord, this was wonderful and I needed more.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but if you keep teasing me like this, I¡¯ll rip into your cor bone with my fangs,¡± I moaned as he moved inside.

    Heughed.

    ¡°I want to drink from you. The scent of your blood is driving me insane Jaymin,¡± he said.

    Then he was pounding into me, moulding my breasts at the same time and I knew I was going toe soon. I was seeing sparkles of energy all around me. There was only so much more I could take.

    I didn¡¯t remember if I eventually said yes or not, but he sank his fangs into my neck. The wonderful intense ecstasy rushed through me at the same time and I was convulsing in euphoria.

    I don¡¯t know how much time had passed, but eventually after I came hard I felt this metallic taste of his blood on my tongue.

    He¡¯d drunk from me and I climaxed at the same time. His hands were everywhere.

    I screamed his name, at the same time thinking that this should have been L.

    ude came too, finally pulling away from me and I copsed under him. The spams of heat and small electric currents, were running over my entire body.

    Finally, after a moment I moved away from him, feeling a little dizzy probably from the blood loss. My skin was shining and I knew he was still staring at my naked body.

    This was embarrassing but I didn¡¯t want him to notice any of my scars.

    ¡°Well, this was thest thing that I expected when I arrived here today,¡± he said.

    I dressed quickly and turned to face him. He wasid on the bed and I admired his fine, lean body. ude cocked his head to the side and smiled at me.

    Maybe in another life this could work. Maybe we could have been together, but my life was way tooplicated now. Besides, he was staying here in Bucharest and I was returning to Ukraine.

    ¡°There was always this attraction between us,¡± I said, feeling a little awkward. ¡°I think you should put your clothes on. This was nice, thank you.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s it then? I suppose you are going to go back to Ukraine and I will never see you again? I really like you Jaymin,¡± he said, making me even more ufortable. ¡°You¡¯re not only a vampire right?

    Iughed, trying to mask how nervous I was.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m not, but this was a one-time thing ude,¡± I told him as he dressed.

    Then we both heard the door in the hall.

    ¡°I thought we were going to be alone,¡± ude pointed out, staring at me with confusion.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought too,¡± I lied, feeling like the biggest coward on this earth.

    I heard L and Marco¡¯s voices outside the room. It was time to do this, there was no any other way.

    I took a deep breath and went outside. L saw me and he instantly smiled. Split secondster, ude appeared and pretty boy¡¯s face wentpletely pale. He nced at him and then at me. There was a mark on my neck from ude¡¯s bite.

    Marco noticed too, quickly putting two and two together. I was expecting the worst.

    L clenched his fists, and for a split second, I thought he was going to throw himself on ude.

    ¡°Hello everyone. I was just leaving. Good luck with your trip tomorrow Jaymin,¡± ude stated, clearing his throat. Then he headed towards the door. He must have realised that I had nned this.

    L¡¯ eyes were empty, he was hurt. He was staring at me with such disappointment and betrayal that I thought my heart was going to explode inside my chest.

    Damn it, this hurt more than I realised.

    It was the look that I was never going to forget, even though I had done this for the greater good.

    L was going to hate me for the rest of my life. It seemed that our connection was lost forever.

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