Monster Awakened: Blood Moon Academy Book 2

by Demi Dumond

  Tor’s face winced. He processed for a moment, then his brow furrowed. “Crowe is still the headmaster?” He brightened at the words, but there was murder in his eyes. It was super-hot. And if he had a beef with the headmaster, then we had that in common.

  Ivy and Rafe looked at me in disbelief.

  I swallowed back the other questions I had. All that mattered now was that I was right.

  Rafe set the clothes on the table. “Hang on, you’re seriously saying that Headmaster Crowe turned you into a dragon? Why?”

  Tor stood up and started pacing. I did my best not to stare at the dirty, torn jeans barely covering his manhood. As he walked, the fabric swayed dangerously, threatening to give me the peek that I was hoping for. Okay, maybe I was staring.

  “I didn’t do anything. The headmaster found out I had dark magic. I thought he hated it because my magic was powerful. It gave me an advantage over the other students. I didn’t know he’d have me dragged out to the forest so he could turn me into a monster.”

  “Well, you’re safe now, Tor,” I said. I wanted to ask him a million questions. How did he survive all this time? Did he know anything about the time bubble? Those questions would have to wait, though.

  Tor looked thoughtful, like it was all starting to come back to him. But he was going to need time to adjust.

  Plus, now that he was here, now that my plan had worked, I had no idea what the next steps would be. Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  If the headmaster was the one who did this to him, then it wasn’t like he was going to just let him walk back in and start classes again.

  23

  Keira

  A knock on the door made us all jump. Ivy, Rafe, and I eyed each other, panic on our faces. How could anyone have found out about Tor this quickly?

  “Did anybody see you carry him in?” I hissed at Rafe, who shook his head.

  The knock came again. I stepped forward and plastered a fake smile on my face before opening the door a tiny crack. “Yes?”

  It was just Ian. “What’s up, Ian?” I asked him, holding the door where it was, barely open.

  “What’s the matter, love?” he asked, his face a mask of concern. I felt bad playing coy with him, but I had a major development on my hands. Besides, he hadn’t been very happy about my idea of changing Tor into a human in the first place.

  “What do you mean?” It was pointless, I knew that he knew. I could feel him like he could feel me. Plus, he could read my mind. Damnit. I keep forgetting that vampires read minds. Under the surface, where our thoughts and emotions collided into a pool of consciousness, we were connected.

  Of course he was here. He was here because I was freaked out. It was impossible to explain and yet it was there all the same. And now I felt dumb trying to bluff him.

  All he had to do was raise an eyebrow for me to relent and let him in. He knew something was up.

  I opened the door wider and moved aside, then I motioned with my hands for him to hurry.

  Once he was inside, his eyes scanned my body. “You’re hurt,” he said, pointing to my burnt jeans. “And I know you’ve been scared in the last hour.” He looked at me suspiciously. “Somebody magically sealed my door shut just before you went out into the forest to put yourself in danger. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  I raised an eyebrow back at him, still trying to act surprised.

  “Ugh,” he said when he entered the room. He looked repulsed by the smell, and also visibly confused. “Who’s the new guy? And why are you people all acting like I caught you in the middle of something? Let’s see,” he said, his eyes scanning the room, “shifter, shifter, mage” he pointed to me, Ivy, and Rafe before his gaze landed on Tor, “um, whatever the hell that guy is. I’m guessing this is not simply an after-danger orgy I wasn’t invited to. Because if it is, I’m telling you right now I’m going to be really offended.” He let the words sit for a moment. “Wow, you guys are even more uptight than usual. What the hell happened?”

  Ian didn’t wait for an answer. He clapped his hands together. “Right, I’ll get you some ibuprofen, Keira.” He went to the kitchen to rummage around while we all stood there awkwardly for a moment.

  I spoke first, trying to keep things moving, or I feared we’d all be standing here awkwardly in the common room all night. “Rafe, why don’t you take him into Ivy’s room and help him shower.”

  Ivy shot me a look, probably because she didn’t want Tor anywhere near her shower, but then she relented. I’d hear about it later, but it was worth it.

  Rafe crossed to Tor and helped him up off of the couch and into Ivy’s room. “Let’s get you cleaned up, dragon boy.”

  Once Tor and Rafe and Ivy left, Ian and I stood there for a moment staring in horror at the state of the couch with the dirt and the smell. “You know any magic spells that will help with this sort of thing?” I asked him.

  “I wish,” he answered. Then he handed me the ibuprofen. “I’m sorry, love, but I’m glad that’s not my couch.”

  “Okay,” I said, “you get the air freshener and I’ll throw a blanket on it for now. I don’t have time for this.”

  “Fine,” he said, “but we’ll talk in your room when we’re done.”

  “Great,” I said. I knew I was in trouble for not telling him what I was going to do. And for locking him in his room. But I knew how powerful he was. Helping Tor was just something I had to do.

  We both managed to hold our thoughts to ourselves until we finished the rushed job to get the couch cleaned up a little bit. Then we went into my room and shut the door.

  “Holy shit, Keira. You did it. Is that the dragon in gross human form?” He made a face. “Is he actually a human, or are we in weird chimera abomination of nature territory here?” He looked around as if we were being watched. “Because that’s death angel territory.”

  “Death angel?” I asked.

  “They come for you if you cross boundaries that are not meant to be crossed. We’re not just talking about forbidden magic. You really have to start fucking with the universe to get their attention. But if you do, it’s not pretty, Keira. You can’t walk away from what they do to you.”

  He visibly shuddered and it sent a shiver down my spine all the way to my toes. I had never seen him that shaken. And now I had about a million questions about Death Angels and what the fuck they do to people.

  There was also the fact that he didn’t seem mad about what I did to him. Which I appreciated. Right now I had enough on my plate.

  I crossed and sat on the bed and motioned for him to join me. “I’m sorry, Ian. I knew you would try to stop me. I knew you’d try to protect me. But this was something I had to do.”

  “I’m sorry too,” he said. “From now on I’m going to back you up. Promise. If nothing else because you do not live a boring life, Keira. I love you, but chaos follows in your wake everywhere you go.”

  I grimaced at him.

  “But I love it,” he said with that sinful smirk that threatened to undo me. “It keeps me on my toes.”

  “He was a student here, Ian,” I hissed. “The headmaster did that to him.”

  “What? Why?” Ian asked. “It doesn’t matter why. That is so illegal. He’s going to magic prison. And you do not want to know what’s waiting for him there.”

  “He’s not going to any prison, Ian!” I said. “Think about it, if the headmaster got rid of him once, he could do it again. And us too. And anybody else who gets in his way. Why do you think he had you knifed and left for dead?”

  “Well, technically I wouldn’t have been dead, just unable to move or function and in a horrible torturous state between life and death.”

  “Ian!”

  “Okay, you’re right,” he said. “But I haven’t been this freaked out in decades.”

  He wrapped me in a hug and we both enjoyed the moment.

  “You’re hurt, love” he said, looking me over again. “Let’s get those clothes off and hav
e a look at you.”

  His eyes and the edges of his lips curled up into the playful, sexy smile. In a way it was comforting, and in another way, it was hot as hell.

  “I don’t know if that’s a very good idea right now, Ian.” But I was already willingly falling under his spell again. I could hear my pulse pounding in my head and feel it between my legs. And I could feel his pulse as well, they were on a slightly separate rhythm, and the closer they got together, the more my heart rate spiked and the more aroused I got.

  I slapped him playfully. “Knock it off, Ian. This is serious. And Rafe and Ivy are right there in the other room.”

  “Okay,” he said. “What do you need me to do?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “If the headmaster finds out about Tor I’m fucked. And so is he.”

  “Why’d you do it, anyway?” he asked. “It was a horrible risk. You could have been eaten. Everybody said it was a bad idea.”

  “It was the right thing to do,” I said. “He was suffering. It wasn’t fair. Besides, I know what it feels like to be the freak that nobody understands.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “The other thing is that if the headmaster turned Tor into a dragon to get him out of the way, he felt threatened. It has to be the same way with me, or he wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me. I have a feeling if we don’t do something soon, it’ll be too late. If what Malachai and Kiln think is true, then we’re dead anyway. I guess this was just me deciding to fight back.”

  Ian smiled and flexed a bicep for me. “Fight back. I like that plan a lot. When did you decide that?”

  I smiled at him and kissed him on his irresistible lips. “Just now.”

  “Well, vampires aren’t pack animals like your shifters in there, but I’ll talk to a few of the good ones and see if they are willing to fight.”

  “You believe me and you’re on board?” I asked. “After I didn’t listen to you the first time?” I was eternally grateful for Ian; he was my one constant happiness here at the academy.

  “Yes, I’m on board,” he said. “Not listening to you is a mistake I won’t make again. Not just because I love you, but because you’re right. There should never have been a student turned into a dragon. And I was falsely accused like you said. Whatever’s going on around here, we’ve got to stop it. And we can do it together.” He stood up to leave.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To talk to the other undead. If you’re right, we don’t have much time.” He pointed toward Ivy’s room. “How long do you think you’re really going to be able to hide that guy? Like it or not, what you did tonight out in the forest is going to launch the academy rumor mill into high gear.”

  I stood and stared at Ian like he had just solved the problem. Because in a way, he had. “What was that?” I asked.

  He saw how excited I got, and his expression turned confused. “Um, bad rumor mill? Why is that so exciting?”

  “That’s it!” I said. “Have your vamps start a rumor campaign. You know how you start with the truth and it all goes haywire almost immediately?”

  “Yes, we’ve all played that stupid game a million times,” he grumbled. “Teachers love it for some reason.”

  “Exactly. How much further from the truth can we keep it all if it starts out as a lie.”

  “So you’re saying that we should stay ahead of our secret by starting our own false rumor. That is genius!” Ian said.

  I heard a gasp from outside our door and that’s when I realized that Ivy or Rafe or both were listening in. I rolled my eyes before ninja walking over to my door and throwing it open.

  Ivy came crashing into my room. “Oh, hey,” she said.

  “Please,” I said to her, shaking my head, “join us.”

  Ivy’s cheeks turned red. “Well, Rafe is busy cleaning up Tor and I got bored. But that is a fantastic idea! Start your own false rumor. It’ll only get further muddied and over dramatized from there. I love it. But what do we say?”

  “I don’t think it matters,” I answered. “I think the headmaster is going to see through it pretty fast. But it might buy us a little bit of time. And we need all the time we can get,” I said, pacing.

  “Oh,” Ivy said. “Let’s say somebody snuck in a boyfriend from off campus!”

  “I like that,” Ian said. “It’s the right amount of drama and sounds plausible. And even if it drifts from the original, I doubt it will get all the way to turned the dragon in the forest into a human. Oh, and the good part is the other students don’t know the dragon’s gone. If we needed some privacy, we could go outside.”

  “I have so missed the outdoors,” Ivy said.

  “Okay, done,” I said. “Operation stall is in effect. Ivy, you tell very loud secrets to the shifter gossips and you do the same to the undead, Ian. And see if the older vamps know anything about the prophecy, or the dragon, or the time bubble, or the headmaster.”

  “What about tonight?” Ivy asked. “Dragon boy’s not sleeping in my room.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Because he’s some feral dragon you literally dragged out of the woods tonight, Keira. How do I know he won’t kill me in my sleep?”

  “So you want him to kill me?” I asked.

  “The whole thing was your idea,” she hissed back.

  “Girls,” Ian said, raising his arms. “Why can’t he go home with Rafe?

  “The shifters will freak him out if he’s a mage,” I said. “There will probably be an acclimation period. If we don’t get that right, it’ll set him back.”

  “That leaves out vampires,” Ian said.

  “Shit,” I said. “He can sleep on the couch. The one he already defiled,” I announced.

  Ivy shot me a look.

  I glared back. “What? Lock your door if you’re so worried.”

  Ian scooted closer to me. “Want me to stay?” he asked.

  “Thank you, Ian, but I think we should all get a good night’s sleep tonight, we’re going to need it. Besides, I doubt he’ll hurt me. He knows I helped him. He won’t have forgotten that.”

  “Okay,” Ivy said. “I’d be careful if I were you, that dragon was literally eating students not too long ago.”

  “I didn’t need that mental image in my head right now, Ivy.” It was true. I was trying to think positive thoughts about Tor. I hadn’t thought all the way through how much more complicated and dangerous this success would make my life.

  “Okay, we’ll figure the rest out tomorrow,” I said. I needed time to think. And thinking was the last thing I’d do if I were around Ian any longer. I thanked him and shoved him out the door.

  24

  Keira

  When Rafe and Ian had left and Ivy was in her room for the night, I grabbed some extra blankets and pillows from my room and brought them out to where Tor was sitting on the couch.

  Well, he was sitting on the blanket we had thrown on the couch after scrubbing it and spraying it with air freshener.

  The smell out was a still a little overwhelming, but Tor didn’t seem to mind. He sat there with his arms crossed as if he was deep in thought.

  He was wearing Rafe’s jeans, which were too big for his lean frame. The tee shirt was a little baggy, but I knew for a fact that chiseled abs were underneath. Recently showered chiseled abs at that.

  His curly hair was darker and perkier now that it was clean, and his face had an angelic sheen despite the fire in his eyes.

  I put the blankets and pillows on the couch next to him. He reached out and grabbed my arm. I let out a yelp of alarm. I could have sword my yelp brought footsteps from Ivy’s room. I was sure she was still eavesdropping.

  “Thank you,” he said. Then he seemed to realize he had startled me and let go. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to all of this.”

  “It must have been awful,” I said. “Living out there alone.”

  He got a far-off look in his eyes and his expression turned sad. “I just can’t believe I’m back. To being me.
” He stared down at his arms and then moved his legs. “I’m back in the academy. I never thought I’d be able to live my life again.”

  I felt bad for him. One look at his tall, lean frame and I knew that he was at least a foot and a half longer than the couch. It was his first night back in civilization, he shouldn’t spend it hanging off of a couch twisting and turning all night.

  And yet, being this close to him, I felt a pull I knew I wouldn’t be able to break away from.

  I felt my cheeks flush and turned to go back into my room before he could notice. Without even saying goodnight. It was probably better that way.

  I went into my room and closed the door, leaning on it for support. I closed my eyes.

  What have I done? I’ve saved a kid who didn’t deserve to spend the rest of his life trapped and isolated. The arguing in my mind went on for a few minutes.

  Then I pulled off my clothes and threw them in the hamper. I crossed to my closet to get my pj’s. When I turned around, I yelped again and dropped my pajamas on the ground.

  I was standing there without any clothes on. Tor had come into my room while my back was turned. He closed the door with a click while his eyes devoured my naked body hungrily.

  I should have been afraid. I should have called out to Ivy or prepared to fight back, but I swear the only thought that was going through my head was that I hoped I was about to be eaten out by a dragon. There was a first time for everything.

  25

  Keira

  I knew there was no way I’d be able to deny him. All I could do was find out how much of a monster he still was.

  The magic inside of me was on fire. He said he had dark magic, and it was calling to me. All of me. My body and soul and magic were on fire for him.

  Most of all, it was his eyes, which were roaming my naked body. His lips curled up into a wicked grin. It was the first time I had seen him smile.

  At the same time, we crossed until we were face to face. Now that he had showered, he smelled of citrus and evergreen. The brown stubble on his face gave him an adorable, scruffy look, but those eyes remained intense and focused on me.