by A. K. Koonce
“Stop that!” I snap at him, aware that he knows what the fuck he’s doing, and he seems to be relishing in every dirty bit of this nuisance. His smile is that of a typical self-satisfied asshole.
“I’m inside you, sweet Sekar.” He swipes his fingers across the tips of my hair, and I swear to fuck, it’s like that part of my anatomy has nerve endings and sends a shot of adrenaline and desire straight to my core.
I clench my thighs together. “Fucking stop it!”
He chuckles as he prowls after me. “So, are we doing this or what? Or has our little soul binding turned you off from wanting to find answers?”
Of course, the fuck, yes. But I don’t say that. I take a breath as I think through my thoughts. This is bullshit, but I have to treat it like a small bump in the road if I really want to find out what that monster was, who the fuck Dr. Hyde is, and what he has to do with anything.
I wish I could just start asking the targets questions, but I know that if I do, belladonna will shoot straight through me, and I won’t be getting up again. No, it wouldn’t be the brightest idea. But, since I have a free period, maybe I’ll just look for answers here at the Academy.
“Just . . .” I trail off on a groan. “Wait right here. I’m going to change.” Out of this stupid schoolgirl uniform. I swear to fuck, I just want to burn the damn thing. Manga and anime always make this shit look cute, and my nerdy little heart always had this tiny desire to wear something like that. Hey, they’re called secret desires, guilty pleasures, for a reason. My life hasn’t always been death and murder. I can fill it with cute, fun hobbies, too.
I just won’t advertise that side of me. It’s easier to keep it a secret. One I’m not ashamed of, but anime-lover doesn’t exactly scream death watcher, either.
Uniforms aren’t all they’re cut out to be. This one especially. It looks more Catholic schoolgirl rather than anime character chic. It reaches the backs of my calves like I’m some fucking nun afraid to show off too much sexy knee. I’ve debated trimming it up to my thighs more than once.
I slam the door on the vampire’s leering, smiling face.
A long breath leaves me as I turn back to the quiet pet who’s still lying lazily on the blankets.
“Styx.” He sits up straighter, ears perking up, and I swear he smiles at me. “You will not believe the shit I just went through in class.” I stalk over to the closet and pull out nice leather pants and a tight shirt. This is more like it.
I turn and start stripping while Styx watches me with rapt attention. “Professor Dipshit thought it was a good idea to practice soul binding, so now I find myself feeling that lecherous vampire inside me. Literally inside me.”
I shiver in disgust and also a little bit of pent-up sexual frustration, if I’m being honest.
Styx’s ears flatten behind his head, and he emits a low growl. I swear he understands every word I say. It’s comforting.
“And the bastard is enjoying it.” I pull off my uniform and stand in panties and no bra. Styx’s ears unflatten as his bright gaze takes me in. “I swear, I can feel him prodding around inside me.” A shiver slides down my spine, and I know it’s him. “Stop that!” I hiss, and in an instant, that shiver is gone.
Fucking pervert.
Styx lets out another low whine.
I sigh and slip into my leather pants. They tighten around my thighs, and I drop to the bed on my back, hiking my legs into the air as I battle to wiggle them on. When I finish, I feel something wet and warm press to the side of my neck and turn to meet Styx’s big eyes. I smile and pat him on his warm, soft head.
“I’ll be fine. We’re going to go snoop through the Academy and hopefully find something on that jackass, Hyde, and maybe hunt some hybrid monsters.” I get up and slip on my shirt. I wish I had my weapon, but that can’t be helped. Striding towards the door, I open it and feel fur push past my legs and out into the hall.
Styx goes ahead of me and growls up at Rueren and gives him a single, menacing bark.
Such a good boy.
DeVoure looks down at Styx with wide eyes, a smirk playing on his mouth. “Aw, that’s cute. A sweet little omega trying to protect his alpha.” The words are spoken with enough force that Styx tucks his tail between his legs.
“Stop bullying my wolf, you dick.” I slam the door closed for emphasis.
Rueren doesn’t remove his gaze from Styx. They’re both staring at one another so intently, it’s like watching animals face off. Before either one of them gets the chance to back down, I push between them. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s go.”
The vampire pushes away from the wall, smirking as he walks in confident, sure strides at my side. Styx follows on my other side. I try to act as casual as I can with a vampire and a wolf surrounding me, like this is a perfectly normal everyday occurrence here among the dead-eyed, rare creatures.
I know we draw attention from the two students lingering outside a dorm on the right, and I hate every bit of it. We need to be inconspicuous, and this is the exact opposite of that. Rueren keeps winking at the women who walk by, causing them to fall into titters and giggles.
I glare at him.
“What?” He presses a hand to his chest in a gesture that should seem innocent, but that’s ironic, coming from a bloodsucking vampire with a silver collar around his neck. If anything, he’s dangerous. I know vampires are a dime a dozen, and I wonder why he’s here when it should be safe out in the world for someone like him, but I don’t ask that question. We all have our reasons for wanting a place in this prison of an academy. It just seems too personal to ask him his reasoning. I don’t want to get to know the vampire next to me.
I want to get the fuck out of here.
A shadowy hand draws a long line down my spine, and it sends tingles all over my skin. The movement is seductive, and I swear, I feel the heated press of lips against the side of my neck and whispered words in my mind.
Are you jealous, little Sekar?
I growl and react on instinct, whirling so I can punch my fist straight across his jaw. He doesn’t even bother to dodge it, and the resonating crack of my knuckles against his face echoes through the halls. His head snaps to the side and stays there. It’s almost eerie, the stillness that settles over him, and for the first time since I’ve been here, I understand true fear. I shouldn’t. I don’t even want to fucking admit it, but I can feel his powers slither around him like a darkness that I’m hypnotized in. He exudes it. He has power that’s immeasurable, and I can feel the slightest sliver of it as his head slowly turns to look back at me.
Red bleeds into the darkness of his eyes, and his smile is all sharp teeth and deadly promise.
“Hit me again, pretty Sekar,” he purrs, taking a step towards me that’s menacing and thrilling. He stands in front of me, so close that our chests touch, my nipples skimming against the hardness of his body and our shirts. He’s warm and cold at the same time, like a zapping of contradictions against my senses. I don’t know if I should shiver or sweat. The back of his knuckles comes up to whisper down the side of my cheek. “And you’ll find out why this collar circles around my neck, why I’m locked in this shithole.” He bends down, and I feel the press of his lips against my temple. “Hit me again, and you’ll find out just how dangerous I can truly be.”
A low, endless growl rumbles between us as a warm wolf pushes his way between our legs.
I gulp because I feel that threat roll down my nerves. I feel it down to the marrow of my bones. He’s every bit the predator I know vampires are, but something more. I’ve seen vampires before. I’ve killed them before. None of them are like him. He’s different. I don’t know how, but he is.
What is Rueren DeVoure hiding?
He pulls away slowly, and I see a flash of something in his eyes before it fades like a sunset to make way for darkness. A smile pulls at his mouth. “Gotcha.” He winks and pulls back, laughter rumbling out of him.
I swallow hard as I glare at the side of his obnoxiousl
y handsome face.
“Learn to take a joke, Sekar.” We resume walking, and honestly, at this point, I feel like I’m following dumbly behind him, clouded in thick silence. “And stop punching supernaturals you know nothing about. Next one you hit might not be so forgiving.”
“Psh!” We turn down a darker hallway, and I feel the three of us meld into the shadows. “I assure you that if I’d wanted to knock you out, I would have.”
He doesn’t need to know that it’s a lie. That punch hurt my fucking hand. I’ll be sending him my medical bills after all this is over, of course.
He doesn’t reply, and it’s not needed. He seems to know where he’s going down these lonely corridors. Supernaturals prowling the halls become scarce, and we stick to the walls. Our breathing becomes shallower and our footsteps silent. Like if we make even the slightest of noises, hell will rain down upon us.
It’s a pleasant thought, actually.
Rueren leads me near a door that has so much security on it, you’d think we were in an insane asylum instead of a school . . . er . . . prison? Fuck if I know anymore. A scanner for a palm as well as a keypad for a code line up on the wall.
“I hope you’ve got fingerprints and a birthdate in mind to unlock that son of a bitch.”
Rueren smirks down at me, flashing a bit of fang. “I’ve been locked in this place for years. Of course I know the fucking code, little Sekar.”
“Uh huh.”
He goes over to the door and punches in the code.
“What about the handprint?”
He throws a look at me over his shoulder, and then, in a single, fluid motion, brings his fist crashing down against the panel. Sparks fly and cables jut out in a broken mass.
My eyes roll. “I doubt that’ll work—”
The door slides open, and darkness and a staircase greet us on the other side. Well, fuck me. Like that shit isn’t ominous or anything.
“Ladies first?” Rueren asks, gesturing to the darkness.
A true gentleman, clearly.
I wish I had a weapon, but my spells will be enough in this instance, so long as whoever controls the thing on my spine doesn’t decide to shoot that shit through my veins.
Cautiously, the three of us make our way down into the darkness. I step slowly. While my race is one with the darkness, it still takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to it. There are no sounds coming from below, and it’s a silence that’s so eerie, goosebumps rise along my arms.
The bottom leads us into an open room equally dark. We try our best to navigate through it until Styx finds another door. Rueren makes quick work of the lock with thrilling violence and opens it to reveal a room with flickering lights overhead.
Things blink in and out of focus, nearly giving me a headache that I try to suppress. I study every corner of the room. It smells like antiseptic and bleach, a little bit like a hospital, actually. The walls are stark white, and everything in here is made of steel. A table sits in the corner scattered with shining cogs and gears and—
“Is that . . .” I squint at it.
“Blood,” Rueren confirms on a crawling whisper.
I don’t turn to see how the sight of it is affecting the vampire. I’m sure he knows how to control himself, but my stomach lurches with nausea. A glass jar holds dark clumps of I-don’t-know-what-the-fuck-what, with bright blood that drips over the lid and onto stainless steel.
A table sits in the middle of the room. Darkness. Light. My vision flickers with the faulty bulb, and I capture mere glimpses of the thing there.
Clumps and piles of cogs, tubes, and steel. Bile rises to my throat when I see fleshy flaps of skin spread out across the gray metal.
I take a step closer to it. “The fuck is thi—”
The thing on the table jerks upright. A hollow shriek rings out, a sound that’s like metal striking together over and over again. It’s terrifying.
Darkness envelops.
Light shows that it’s some sort of hybrid machine blanketed in flesh and blood.
Styx barks. Rueren curses. I barely have time to jerk back before the thing attacks.
It’s violent and unpredictable but fast. The metal makes its blows strong, and I’m already analyzing the situation as best as I can. I know what this is: another monstrous hybrid thing, just like the one I fought in the alley.
This one isn’t as put together, and it’s missing vital pieces, making it jerky. It clatters to the ground and reaches for us. A scream swallows in my throat as I kick out at it to get it away from us.
Rueren grabs me from behind, pulling me against his chest. “Time to fucking leave,” he whispers in my ear. I can feel a heartbeat in his chest, and it’s pounding against my back. It’s a strange moment for me to wonder why this vampire has a beating heart, and another when the realization strikes.
It’s mine . . . it’s my heartbeat.
And that shouldn’t be possible. No matter how intense our soul bond may be.
Unless, it’s not mine at all. Unless . . .
“You’re an Ancient One,” I accuse.
“Now’s not the time, little Sekar.” He whirls with me in his arms just as the thing comes crashing towards us. He pushes me away, putting himself in the line of its wrath. Sharp blades strike through his back, and his whole body arches, and the scent of blood is prominent in the air.
The presence of Lady Death invades my senses, and a quick burst of pain and adrenaline stabs through me.
No.
He can’t fucking die.
A vicious sound tears from a violent wolf, and it terrifies me that he might hurt himself, too.
“Stay back, Styx!” I order as my feet pound forward. Guilt wracks me, makes my whole body shake. I don’t need my wolf hurt in this fuckery. Rueren shouldn’t even be hurt. I’ve been alone for so long that I’ve forgotten what caring feels like.
It feels a lot like this.
The monster embeds its claws deeper into Rueren’s body. They pierce through his chest, and blood blooms across the front of him. A snarl rips from his throat. I see his features contorted in pain, a moment that I feel deep in my own bones, but the lights blink, and in the next moment, a new creature is in Rueren’s place.
His expression has somehow shifted across his skin. His perfect nose elongates and distorts into a mesh of blackened flesh. His ears spread over the side of his head, and when he opens his mouth to snarl, every single one of his teeth is pointed and shimmering like knives.
I hear the bones begin to snap like twigs in a dry forest and then the sound of shearing metal. Wings—thin, membranous, muscled wings—burst from Rueren’s back and break through the metal like a knife splitting butter.
He’s a giant bat creature.
He’s a fucking bat man.
He roars, and the sound is as monstrous as the creature behind him. Long, clawed fingers rip the metal from his chest, and he turns, slicing them through the monster. It drops. It dies.
I blink at how fast he was able to accomplish that.
He turns and looks at me, and I know what his red gaze holds. Bloodlust, but he stares at me with that mischievous smile, and I just know he’s not that far gone.
“Rue . . .” The nickname trips out of my mouth in a moment of awe.
His whole body is hulking and massive, and the silver collar around his neck looks like a rubber band about to snap.
“Sekar.” His own voice is guttural as he says the word, and I can’t fucking fathom how I find this so erotic, but I do.
Then he drops like a potato sack. His howls of pain are something that I know will haunt my nightmares. His body ripples as he writhes on the ground. Convulsions take over him entirely, and when he blinks, his eyes bleed silver liquid.
I drop to my knees next to him, and he fights and struggles for breath, his fingers trying to pry away the collar around his neck, but it just squeezes tighter like a fucking vice.
Silver exudes from his orifices, shining down his nostrils, the corners of his m
outh.
“Fuck!” I don’t know what the fuck to do. The fucking collar, it’s killing him! And I know I can’t just let him die. “Shift back, Rue! You have to fucking shift back!”
My words must pierce past his howls of pain, because his brows pull together, and he tries to settle his convulsions. His thick body slowly melts back to his normal size, until the collar doesn’t look like it’s choking the life out of him anymore, but he’s still covered in blood. He’s still weak.
And he’s looking at me like he’s a dying man in the desert, and I’m the last glass of water in the universe.
“You called me Rue.”
My fingers swipe away the silver from his warm skin, my thumb swiping along his bottom lip. “We have to get you out of here.”
He doesn’t argue as I pull him to his feet and throw his arm around me. He’s heavy and shaking on his knees but still manages to stumble back up the steps and out into the hall.
“Ah, fuck,” I groan. A loud beeping is shrill through the entire academy.
“That’ll be the alarm.”
“No shit, old man.”
He barks out a laugh.
We pick up the pace until we’re running as fast as we can in the direction of our dorms. Everyone else is doing the same, so no one looks at us any differently.
“They’re locking down the whole place,” Rue explains between heavy pants. “They know there’s been a security breach. We have to hurry. You have to heal me so they don’t suspect.”
And how the fuck am I supposed to do that? How do I heal a creature that should already be dead with a silent heart?
But he’s an Ancient One, so he’s not like other vampires. He’s different, powerful
I don’t ask the question that’s screeching through my mind. Isn’t healing him kind of futile at this point? I’m not sure about other prisons, but isn’t it pretty standard to have fucking cameras installed in their secret labs with weird-ass metal monsters and shit? Or was that a no? Evidence to use against them, and all that.
We all but stumble through my door, Styx closing it with his paw as I drag Rue, and he flops back-first against my bed.
