by Kim Faulks
“I don’t hate you,” she muttered. “I’ve been looking for a reason to shift and slap some sense into Nesrin.”
I chuckled, and shook my head. “This is supposed to be serious. I’m having a goddamn crisis here...what’s everyone saying?”
She just shrugged. “Who cares about them. You’re powerful, girl, and the rest can quake in their boots.”
My stomach churned. “The gossip is that bad?”
She looked away, and shrugged. “It’s subjective.”
I didn’t need the words. I heard them in the way her shoulders tensed and she swallowed hard. “I’ll be okay.” I reached across and grasped her hand.
A quick knock came at the door and we both jumped. Ava hopped down and darted into the bathroom.
“Who is it?” I hurried across the room.
“Just us,” Judas called through the door.
I hit the lock and opened the door. Desire flared in my chest as Judas stepped inside, took a look around and settled those dark brown eyes on me. “We were worried,” he whispered and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
I shivered at his touch as Nero and Bond pushed past and strode into my room.
“Heard you’re under room arrest.” Nero stilled and then turned.
My heart gave a shiver as he slid his hands around my waist and pulled me against his body.
For a second I froze. Touch. Contact. Power. Diamonds.
Didn’t they know I was dangerous?
“We wanted to see you,” Bond murmured as Nero lowered his head to nuzzle my neck.
“Is this okay?” Nero whispered.
I tried to swallow, tried to think. Tried to do anything but panic. I reached up, sliding hands around his neck as he pressed me harder against him. Nero radiated heat...they all did…pressing in from the other sides.
“You were seriously kickass.” Bond slid his hands lower, against my hips.
“Hey, no smoochies while I’m here,” Ava snapped, with a raised brow.
She came out of the bathroom and the boys pulled away. Shivers raced through me without them.
“I’m sorry.” The words fell from my lips. “I don’t know what happened.”
Judas was shaking his head, confusion filling his gaze. “Don’t apologize.”
“It’s those...those things.” Ava pointed to the purple bag of diamonds on my desk. “They are not diamonds. That’s all I know.”
She was spot on. Ever since they arrived in my life, everything went to shit.
“The Ancient’s bound to tell you what’s going on.” Bond’s fingers were on my arm, stroking me, calming the worry knotting in my chest.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I admitted. “It’s that he’ll say the diamonds’ mark can’t be fixed. What if I’m attached to them for life?”
“Then you’ll have to turn them into a massive diamond ring,” Nero joked, chuckling at the notion of such a massive jewel.
“Holy shit, Nero, are you talking about an engagement ring? You only just met Mor!” Ava gripped her hips, glaring at the Wolf, whose eyes doubled in size as he turned to glare at her.
“What are you talking about?” he blurted.
“Diamonds. Ring. Hello?”
Judas and Bond broke out laughing, while Nero’s gaze flicked from me to Ava, finally settling on me. “If it’s what you want.”
I raised my hand. “Stop. I’m honored, but she’s joking.”
Judas slapped Nero’s shoulders playfully, then took him into a man hug, and they broke into roughhousing.
“Think we need snacks,” Ava determined, and Bond nodded, then headed out the door.
“Shit,” Ava neared me, whispering. “He was gonna—”
“No, he wasn't. You freaked him out. Don’t say shit like that.”
She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows with every intention to never stop saying crap like that. Before long, Bond returned with an armful of snacks including several bottles of blood. Damn, he was a keeper. We all rushed over to him, taking food before settling down, me with Judas and Bond on the bed, while Nero sat on my chair and Ava sat back on the table.
Yep, something about being surrounded by friends eased the agony tearing through me as I worried about why the Ancient wanted to talk to me. But that was later tonight. For now, I’d enjoy myself and pretend I was anything but the freak in the room.
“You sure this is where the Ancient wants to meet?” I faced Nefarious.
The wind blew his hair over his face, and he kept pushing it out of his eyes. His long black coat billowed behind him, mimicking a cape.
“Yes.”
I glanced down from the flat roof of the cafeteria, two stories high where the wind whipped around my arms. The Academy grounds below were swallowed by night, trees rustling all around. I stifled another yawn and hugged myself.
“Would have made more sense to meet him in an office. He seemed fond of sitting by the fire back in his mansion, swirling a fine glass of wine. That seems more his style than standing on a roof in the middle of the night.”
“Vlad Vasile does have a liking for bloodwine, especially the virgin variation.” Nefarious’ eyes bored into mine. My breath caught, remembering how I’d marched into his class and accused him of invading my dreams.
An inferno climbed up and over my cheeks, thank goodness it was night. But I believed him when he said he had nothing to do with them.
Someone cleared their throat behind us, and we both snapped around to find a tall, dark figure across the roof from us. His long cloak and dark hair weren’t discernible in the darkness surrounding us.
“Lord Vasile, welcome.” Mr. Leathers bent at the waist, his head low.
I stood there, unsure if I had to bow as I’d never seen Dad do it, but I followed my teacher’s guide and gave a quick tilt of my head.
Vlad slid forward as if he were made of shadows. There was a reason he was in charge. As an Ancient, he was one of the few who retained the strong abilities, like shifting, morphing into mist. Dracula movies made it seem like all Vamps carried those traits, except only the oldest and most powerful Vampires had them.
“Child, did you bring them?” His voice was so rough and deep, it lifted the hairs on my arms. He resembled nothing of the laid back, talkative Ancient I’d spent time with at my first Understudy meeting.
All I could do was stare at how his eyes seemed to glow yellow beneath the moon’s silvery hue, how red his lips were, the fullness of his cheeks. He’d recently fed on fresh blood.
“The diamonds,” Nefarious spoke impatiently, staring down at me.
I fumbled, pulled out the velvet bag and handed them to the Ancient.
I didn’t move, I couldn’t. While I waited for his prognosis, I could only assume he’d heard about everything from Nefarious.
“Your power is incredible.” The Ancient just stared at me. His tongue slipped out and slid over his lower lip before vanishing into his mouth. “I tasted it when you used it.”
A shiver crawled down my spine, and I lowered my arm, still holding the bag. “Pretty sure it used me.”
“But you’re too inexperienced, too rash, too… What’s the word?” He clicked his fingers.
“Naive?” Nefarious said after a moment of silence, and I cut him a hard stare.
“Leave us,” Vlad’s voice boomed like thunder in the air. With a wave of his hand he dismissed my teacher.
“Credulous,” Vlad hissed between clenched teeth. “You believe too easily. Everyone is the enemy, Morwenna.” He clucked his tongue at me. “Letting a sewer dweller into your room. What if he wanted to really cause you pain?”
“He needed help, and—”
“Don’t you know anything? Never invite a Vampire into your home. Your father should’ve taught you the basics.”
I winced at the words remembering how dad said the exact same thing. My mouth opened with a response, but Vlad placed an icy, cold finger to my lips.
I tried not to gag. Inste
ad I tried to remember who I was dealing with.
“There’s a great power inside you. Something I hadn’t felt before, and it needs taming. But first we must deal with this mess.”
He made a light groaning sound and shifted the bag to his other hand and he stared down at his ring, similar to mine, and turned it with his thumb. But when he opened the bag, he hissed, and I flinched backward. In haste, he removed his ring and tucked it into his pocket.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
He didn’t respond, just poured the diamonds onto his palm. They glittered beneath the moonlight, but before our eyes, they lost their sparkle and dulled, darkened to a red.
Vlad grumbled deep in his chest, shifting on his feet. Clearly something was wrong.
His hand trembled as we both watched the stones now morph into pure black. He stumbled, his fist closing around them, his eyes shut.
As the diamonds touched his hand something savage and consuming tore through me. My heart gave a thud, and squeezed every drop of black blood into my veins. “My Lord…” I started and lifted my head. “I don’t think you should.”
He turned those ancient eyes on me. “You don’t think at all, Morwenna. Not until I tell you to.”
He touched the gems, moving them around in the middle of his palm. The more he touched them the more the unease inside me grew.
“I can’t quite touch the energy inside them.” He murmured, digging a hand into his pocket and retrieving the ring before slipping it over his index finger.
“What am I supposed to do?” I pleaded, suddenly feeling like the darkness was a noose around my neck.
“Keep the diamonds close. I’ve never felt such a power before.”
“I’ll instruct Nefarious Leathers to refocus your teachings on controlling power until I uncover what you’re dealing with.”
“But—”
He spun and glided away, vanishing into the dark.
“Hello? Are you still there?” What the hell?
“You done?” Mr. Leathers asked, his voice so soft, I jumped and whipped my gaze around.
“Shit, you scared me. Did you hear what he said?”
“Enough. Come, let’s get you back to your room, and we’ll start tomorrow on a new approach.”
I followed him across the roof and toward the door, dread coiling around my chest like a straitjacket. How could no one know what was going on with me or what the diamonds meant? There were clues here and there, like the dead sewer dweller, demon blood near his body, my dreams and power, but I still couldn’t piece it all together, couldn’t figure out who was responsible and why. Exhaustion washed through me, and every inch of me suddenly ached.
What I needed was a long sleep, then maybe I could figure this all out. The only thing I knew for sure, was the power of the stones was growing.
Where it ended, I didn’t know.
I slipped inside my room and didn’t even both to change before I collapsed into bed.
Weeks passed since my meeting with Vlad on the roof in the middle of the night.
He hadn’t come back with a solution yet. Dad found nothing but insisted he was working on it. Classes went on as normal. I slept every moment I had a chance, constantly exhausted. I put it down to the growing pile of homework.
But all around me Vampires were getting sicker.
“You think he’s left?” Ava murmured.
I lifted my gaze to the door of Chuck’s little cottage, and bashed my knuckles on the wood once more. “Chuck, it’s Mor. Are you in there?”
I leaned closer, catching a faint moan and dropped my hand to the doorhandle. “He’s in there.”
One hard twist, the lock gave, leaving the door to swing inwards.
“Yoohoo!” Ava called out and butted into my back.
“Ava,” I warned stepping into the small living room and glanced at the neat little place.
“Oh man, what is that stench?” Ava gagged and then pinched her nose. “Smells rotten.”
The foulness hit me. It did smell rotten…specifically rotten blood.
A moan came from somewhere along the hallway.
I glanced at Ava. “You might want to stay out here for this.”
She just shook her head while pinching her nose. “It’s okay, I’m all good.”
I sucked in a breath and held it as I made my way to the bedroom at the end of the hall, and found Chuck crouched in the corner of the room.
Sunlight cornered him in the room. The pale light spilled across the top of one foot and the hiss of burning flesh filled the room. “Jesus,” I muttered and then wrenched my gaze to the open blinds.
“Stuck,” he muttered. “Too weak to fix.”
I lunged for the blinds while Ava scurried toward him.
There were spent packets of blood everywhere, littered across the floor and over the unmade bed.
But the blood had found its way back in the bucket at Chuck’s side. I yanked the blinds, tearing the heat from his foot and ending the hiss of burning flesh.
“Oh, Chucky,” Ava cooed.
She didn’t hold her nose anymore. Instead she glanced into the bucket and turned green. “Oh, okay, that’s rank.”
She grabbed the bucket and held it out as far as she could and raced for the bathroom.
I closed all the blinds and then hurried to his side. “How long have you been like this?”
“A week, I think,” he winced and dragged his foot out from underneath his body.
The toilet flushed, and the sound of retching followed.
Rotting blood was bad anyway you saw it, especially one that had been regurgitated.
“Okay,” Ava gasped and braced herself on the doorway. “Nope, I’m not.”
She disappeared once more, and more gruesome sounds followed.
“Come on,” I grabbed his arm and lifted. He was slick with sweat, trembling and weak.
“Don’t…don’t want you to see me like this.”
I shook my head. “Nonsense. Being sick doesn’t make you any less the Vampire you were last semester when you carried me all the way home.”
He stumbled to the bed and flopped down. Springs howled, sodden sheets wet from sweat stuck to his legs as he dragged them higher.
I tried to make him as comfortable as I could, but the truth was I couldn’t.
Not until I found the cause for all this.
And stopped it.
Chapter Sixteen
Witching Hour
I tried to get through the days at school, ignoring the sideways glances from the students and teachers. I trudged through classes, one after another. I barely ate, barely slept. My eyes were grainy, senses on fire. I flinched at every slap of a book and cried out at every chime of the class bell.
“You look like that,” Ava murmured and jerked her gaze toward the image of the seven levels of Hell the whiteboard.
“Thanks,” I murmured and licked arid lips.
I did feel like Hell. Worse than Hell actually. I blinked and tried to focus on our Hallowed Grounds teacher, Mr. Peace. But his voice droned.
I shook my head, trying to find a fragment of concentration and felt the notebook underneath my hand slide along the table.
“Easy,” Judas lashed out, catching my notebook as it fell.
He cast a concerned look at Ava and then watched me.
“Eyes up front please, Mr. Blackthorne.”
Judas straightened, curling his lips as he glared at the teacher. I swallowed hard and placed my hand on the book, making sure it went nowhere. But inside I was sweating. Inside I was terrified. I was losing my power, losing what made me a Livingstone.
My gums ached, I pressed the tip of my tongue to the swollen flesh and the pain tore through my skull. Something was happening to me, something in the weeks since I forced everyone in the school to turn into their beasts.
But this...sickness wasn’t just mine. I turned my head and fought the wave of nausea at the movement. Other Vampires looked ill too, paler than usual.
The undead hunters of the night were all growing weak, and none of us knew why.
I tried to listen to Mr. Peace, tried to capture his words, but in my head all I saw was the sewer creature, hidden in darkness, alone.
My door is always open, if you have any questions, or you need a sanctuary. Nero’s Mom’s voice filled my head. I sucked in a breath as my mind wavered. Still I clung to the thought, stopping it from slipping away.
The Witches...the Witches could help us. There was a curse on us, it had to be… what else could affect all the Vampires at this school?
Inch by inch I turned my head, but it wasn’t Ava or Judas I searched for...it was perfect blue eyes...Nero. He cast a careful glance my way, his brow narrowing, attention consumed by me.
You okay? He mouthed the words.
I tried to nod, tried to move my head but I couldn’t. I was consumed by thoughts and pain.
The shrill sound of the bell cleaved through my head, making me whimper. Judas pushed from his chair. “That’s it, I’m taking you back to your room.”
His gaze darkened to steel, hard, unbending. “Nero,” I murmured. “Maybe Nero can.”
There was a flinch from the Alpha, and in this moment, we teetered on the pain from weeks ago when he found Nero kissing me in the dark. But then Judas just nodded. “Okay, you take care of her, Nero. Whatever she needs.”
I licked my lips and reached for Judas’ hand. “Thank you.”
Fear filled his eyes. He was worried...they were all worried.
Footsteps consumed my head as the students fled to their last class of the day. Bond moved, and Judas stole a breath and stepped closer. His lips burned against my cheek; breath just as hot. I swallowed the flinch as he pulled away, and then turned and strode from the room.
Ava was last, forcing a smile that was sad and pathetic.
“I’ll be okay,” I muttered. “Just need to rest.”
She left then, giving Nero a glare and followed the others.
