by K. M. Raya
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
About Blue Blooded
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
The Not So Bitter End
More by K.M. Raya
Blue Blooded
Arcane Academy Slayers
K.M. Raya
Copyright © 2020 K.M. Raya
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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About Blue Blooded
Exiled. Forgotten. Disgraced…
My name is Blue Graves. I come from one of the greatest lines of vampire slayers in existence. A true legacy... or, at least I used to be. Ten years ago, my sister and I were banished after a tragedy that still haunts me. But I never let myself forget where I come from, or what I am. When a pardon arrives at my door in the form of a coveted acceptance letter to the slayer training university of my dreams, I have no choice but to accept. I've trained for this opportunity. I've spent every single night of my exile hunting the creatures of the dark and turning them to dust with the business end of my silver-tipped stake.
As thrilled as I am to finally be back home, the other students definitely don't share the sentiment. While ignoring the perplexing glares of a mysterious guy with the saddest eyes I've ever seen, the unrelenting attention of an overbearing werewolf who thinks I'm his mate, and the sly smirks of a darkly seductive new student, I try my hardest to make a place for myself and regain the honor and prestige that the Graves family once had. But when students start turning up undead on academy grounds, and the nearby human city falls under attack, all fingers point to me, the one Slayer who doesn’t deserve to be here.
Disclaimer: This is a #whychoose novel in which one girl has multiple love interests. 18+ due to violence, strong language, crude humor and graphic sexual content..
“Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer—both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams.”
- Bram Stoker, Dracula
Prologue
The way he kissed her felt like standing at the edge of a waterfall, staring down into a black abyss. He tasted like danger and uncertainty; like the sureness of the earth beneath your feet but knowing that it was fleeting. He kissed her until it was painful. Until the thought of what came after made her palms sweat and her throat dry up.
She was afraid of the moments that would inevitably come next... the moment reality snapped back into place and coldness replaced the warmth between them. She knew he'd return to that removed, indifferent man she'd been wary of for weeks now. The moment had swept them both away and caught him off guard. The taste of his lips was almost addictive. And knowing that there was a chance she'd never get to indulge again made her feel hollow.
And so, she gripped him tighter, running a hand up the front of his chest, feeling the hard muscle mixed with sweat that slicked his skin. Every part of him was granite. His skin was hot and glowing in the torchlight. His pale hair curled at the ends with sweat where it grazed his bare shoulders. She could feel him growing hard against her stomach as he pushed her into the wall a little harder…
Chapter One
It was one of those record scratch moments. You know the ones. The ‘you’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation’ moments. For Blue Graves, those moments were becoming more and more frequent. The floor beneath her feet turned to rubble, causing her to freefall through three stories of concrete and brick. It was an old building—practically abandoned and just begging to be demolished in favor of a shopping mall.
She hit the ground-floor hard, sending an unpleasant jolt down the length of her spine, but she knew the fall wouldn’t have done any damage. She just laid there for a few long moments, thinking back on her life and wondering how much longer she was willing to take it. ‘Freakin bloodsuckers,” she grumbled under her breath as she shook the plaster from her black hood and mask. Breathing was difficult already after having the wind knocked out of her, but she was able to easily hoist herself up and wait for the dust to settle. When it cleared, she cast her eyes upwards into the gigantic hole her body just made. Two dark shapes peered over the edges. They would have been impossible to see, had she been human, but she could see their outlines through the glow of moonlight that lit up the dust motes in the air around them. She couldn’t make out their features from this far below, but they were ugly sons of bitches. ‘That's what you get when you live your life rotting in the sewers—nasty little vermin.’
She glared up into the chasm, flipping them two gloved middle fingers. “You only bought yourself time!” The creatures didn’t react, and she hadn’t expected them to. “Jokes on you though, bitches—the sun’s about to rise and then you’ll be dust!”
As much as Blue’s words were meant to taunt, the monsters just didn’t give any shits. They could only see one thing—blood, and their ever-growing need for it. The shapes of their bony, gnarled bodies backed away from the edge and she could hear light footsteps as they creaked their way towards the window that faced the front of the property. Sure enough, the sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of the horizon. They’d be trapped until dusk. Too bad for them. Vampires were stupid creatures. In their bloodlust—their single-minded search for sustenance, they often lost track of the time and wound up in situations like this. It’s just the sort of miscalculation she was counting on, and it worked every time. Soon, she’d corner them in a trap of their own making and deal out sweet, sweet revenge for the carnage they were responsible for this past week. Six children and two adults, to be exact. All taken before their time to slake the thirst of these two undead abominations.
She headed for the nearest staircase, knowing that the elevator was definitely out of the question. The old library was mostly abandoned save for the odd collector here and there and she didn’t trust its mechanics one single, solitary bit. The vamps would be scrambling by now, altogether defenseless but she still had plenty of time. They’d gotten lucky when she accidentally stepped on a rotting patch of floor and fell through the building like a literal ton of bricks.
Her earpiece crackled, squealing and making her flinch, itching to rip it out and throw it down the
staircase. “Come in, Blue Jay—where are you? It's been like two hours!” Harlow's voice screeched in her ear. “Blue Jay, answer me!”
Rolling her eyes at her sister’s dramatics, she pressed a finger to the bluetooth device, answering in a rush. “You do realize that Blue Jay just makes my name longer, right? Not a very good code name.”
“Where are you!?” Harlow snapped. “It's been three hours and those vamps will be dust in twenty minutes. This should have been a one and done, what the hell is taking so long?”
Vaulting up the last set of stairs, taking them five at a time, she wasn’t even breathless. Slayer speed really came in handy in these situations. “Last time you said it was two hours, now it's three?” She snorted.
Silence, from the other end. Blue sighed, “There were… complications.” Cringing, she tried to brush off the aggravated growl from her older sister over the comm. She really couldn’t blame her, though, she wasn’t exactly a rookie.
“We don’t deal in complications,” Harlow muttered.
‘Well I can’t deal with this right now,’ Blue grumbled under her breath, too low for Harlow to hear. “Can you just stop and let me finish this? I'll be on my way in twenty minutes, and if I’m not, you can send out a search and rescue!” She flicked the off button before Harlow had a chance to respond.
Reaching the top of the staircase, she silently made her way through the long, decrepit hallways and into the darkened room at the end—this time careful to dodge the rotten spots in the floor. She shook her head. She couldn’t believe she’d taken a fall like that. Entering the room, Blue honed in on the vermin huddled together in the corner of the room as the sun peeked in through the window, its light casting shadows throughout the empty space. The beams were too close together for a vamp to make it closer without burning its skin off. They were trapped and it gave her the warm tinglies all over.
It was always the same. Adrenaline filled her veins—preparing her for the slaying to come and the sense of justice that came afterwards. Those vile nasties needed to be put down, like sickly dogs that could do nothing but infect those around them. They watched her with their inky black eyes sunken into their greyish skin. They still looked human-ish, but their hair hung limp around their faces and their teeth had filed down to jagged points that were much too long to fit in their still human-sized mouths. Their jaws looked unhinged when they shrieked and their limbs were grotesquely elongated and much too thin to be a living human being.
Those attributes were just a few facts among many that the books and movies had gotten incredibly wrong. Vampires were often portrayed as dashing pale men with poofy hair and a brooding disposition who fell in love with moderately attractive high school girls, but that couldn't be further from the real truth. Vampires were leeches—vermin scum that needed to be squashed under Blue’s favorite combat boots. She hated everything about them. Watching them huddle there, she felt only pity and sorrow for what they once were. The vampire curse had filled their once human bodies with poison, clouding their minds and changing them from the inside out. The person they once were no longer existed, and only a shell of what they had once been remained.
A pang of grief rocked through her, squeezing the muscles around her heart and making it difficult to breathe right. Unwanted visions danced in her memory. Two familiar faces—snarling and hissing as black drool seeped from their gaping mouths. In her mind's cruel eye she pictured them there, hovering over her small twin bed, staring at her through the darkness of her childhood bedroom with salivating hunger as the curse took them over...
Fueled by disgust and almost overwhelming despair, she pulled two silver-tipped stakes from the holsters at her hips beneath the black duster jacket she always wore on hunt. The stakes were old and battered but they served their purpose when the time came. Leaping towards the vamps, she took great pleasure in the way they hissed and shrieked like banshees, crowding against the wall. They knew their death was on its way. One of them, in a panic, stumbled into a slash of sunlight, causing its skin to blacken and char instantly. The smell of cooking meat filled the room, making Blue need to hold her breath to keep her head clear.
The other one lunged for her throat but missed, just barely. It took almost no effort to plunge her stake into its chest cavity—piercing its heart like slipping through melting butter. Milliseconds later, the vamp poofed into a cloud of black dust. After collecting the leftover stake from the pile on the floor, she opted for a new strategy for the remaining bloodsucker. Lifting her booted foot, she kicked out, hitting it square in the chest just as it lunged for her throat. The thing stumbled backwards, landing next to the window inside the brightest patch of sunlight in the room. In seconds the vamp was gone.
Dust.
Chapter Two
“Don't ever do that to me again, you freakin jerk!” Harlow squawked, barely letting the front door close behind her. “Don’t ever, and I mean ever, turn your earpiece off on me like that! Anything could have happened to you and then what would I do, huh?”
Rolling her eyes, she slapped her stakes down on the kitchen counter, removing the holster from her belt loops and ignoring the nasty flecks of dust that now littered the granite surface. “I don’t know, Har, what would you do?” Harlow raised an eyebrow. Blue just stared bleakly. “If I died, what would happen to you?” Sarcasm saturated the air, but it went over Harlow’s pretty head.
“You left me hanging and you know it, after mom—” she started but Blue cut her off with a sharp warning glare.
“Don’t—” she spit. “Not today.” Regret shone through Harlow's dark brown eyes; she knew she went too far. She meant well for the most part, but her loose tongue sometimes got the best of her. Harlow was only seventeen when it all went down. She’d been away at Arcane Academy on her third school year when their lives fell to pieces and never recovered. But she hadn't been in the thick of it. She never had to see the things Blue had to see—things that still haunted her. Harlow knew it too. There was pity in her eyes just like always. Ten years had passed and still she treated her like she was made of glass.
“I’m so—” she started but Blue cut her off again, not wanting to hear the same old apologies.
“Don’t worry, I get it. I'm gonna catch a shower and get some sleep. Some of us, have things to do in the morning.” Waving her off, she continued down the hallway, stripping off her sweaty leathers as she went.
Her room was a mess. Maps of the city and crudely drawn blueprints of the underground sewage tunnels covered the walls like some crazy patchwork diary of an obsessive hunter. Weapons were stashed in every available cubby hole or footlocker. Her bed was nothing more than a queen size mattress on the floor, but she liked it that way. They hadn’t always struggled for money but they were simple girls with simple needs.
Unlatching her boots, she unclicked various buckles and unzipped compartments hidden to the naked eye. They were her best pair—steel toed and able to hold up to three blades each. She had a guy in the city who made her leathers special every year or so. The life she and her sister led didn’t exactly bode well for clothing longevity and it helped to have a skilled craftsman in their corner. She made a mental note to visit Greg later on in the week.
The shower felt nothing short of heavenly after opting out of taking a bath. Sitting in a vampire ash soup sounded the exact opposite of appealing. The scalding water washed away the day’s grime. She sighed lethargically and sagged against the tile wall. The last week had been dragging to the point that it felt like it would never end. There’d been more vamp activity in the past few days than was usual for Portland. It was a never ending cycle, and it was becoming hard to find a moment to rest her head before another attack popped up and she’d have to do it all over again...
*
A steaming hot cup of ambrosia waited for her the next morning on the kitchen table. She knew it was Harlow's way of saying sorry and she accepted the coffee gladly. Harlow was still in the shower so Blue took the time to soak in the s
ilence of the morning.
Heavy rain battered the kitchen window and the howling wind knocked the shutters together. If she listened close enough, she could almost pretend she was listening to the Guardians howling in unison. The sounds of her childhood still played on an endless cycle in her memory, and every time she tried to pretend she was back home, the larger that crack in her heart grew.
A pile of mail sat in the center of their old wooden table—unopened and unorganized. Bills were stacking up and they’d need to be paid soon. After sifting through endless amounts of white envelopes with ‘past due’ on the front, a letter caught her eye at the bottom of the stack. The envelope was crisp and black—held together with a crimson stamp with a fancy looking ‘A’ imbedded into the thick wax. Her heart dropped into her stomach. ‘Why the hell is Arcane sending me a letter?’
Breaking the seal with shaking fingers, Blue held the paper in a careful grip, feeling like it might dissolve in her fingertips before she ever got the chance to read it. They hadn’t had any sort of contact with the prestigious academy since Harlow was not so kindly asked to leave and never return ten years ago. The letter was clearly addressed to one, Blue Jane Graves. Despite the nausea, excitement curled in her stomach. She’d dreamed of one day attending Arcane Academy—the only Slayer academy on the West Coast of the United States. Ever since she was a little girl, watching as teenage Harlow came home each summer with wild tales of adventure and badassery, she promised herself she would become the best of the best some day. Their dad trained both of his girls from birth—expecting them to follow in the footsteps of the great Graves family legacy. It had been within her grasp for so long, the one goal she’d always held onto until the night they lost it all.
“What’s that?” Harlow asked from the doorway. She’d heard her coming. Blue didn’t respond, she only stared blankly at the letter in her hands with wide, uncomprehending eyes. “I said what is that?” Harlow huffed as she stalked into the kitchen. She tried to snatch the letter out of her hands but Blue moved out of reach too fast.
