Rule 9 Academy Series Boxset: Books 3-5 Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Rule 9 Academy Box Sets (3 Book Series) 2)

by Elizabeth Rain

  Elise rose and went to help her unload the cart. “You know, I think you should see about getting out while you can, Marta. It’s not safe for a civilized vamp in these walls, and especially not for a human.”

  At first they were sure she hadn’t heard them. But as she turned to go, she looked up and met Elise’s eyes with her own. Elise started. When had Marta become an old woman? She still remembered the young girl.

  “Where would I go? This is the only home I’ve ever known, and I’m the last of my line. I was born here, lived my life here… and if my last duty is to provide a meal, then so be it.”

  Elise gasped and Jorta whirled in horror. “That will not happen while I’m alive to prevent it. He closed his eyes and gripped the bridge of his nose in frustration. With a sigh, he opened them and reached out to pour their respective drinks. None of them had fed in over a week. If they were to keep their strength up, they needed to eat more than steak and vegetables.

  Hesitating, Jorta reached up and lifted a thin leather braid name from beneath his tunic. On it lived several keys. He removed one and held it out to Marta.

  “You have to live Marta, you and the others. So you can tell the truth if we can’t, so they know we aren’t all monsters. Take everyone you can round up, and enough food to see you through for as long as you can. This is the only key and it locks the room it belongs to from within. Only other way in is by tracing the pattern. Very few know it, and maybe it’s a blessing that the memories of the afflicted seem to be the first to go. Hole up there and don’t open that door for anyone.” He hesitated. “Not even me, Marta.”

  She opened her mouth to protest. “No one. Not a soul; your lives may depend on it.”

  Her lips firmed and she snatched the key, giving a single hard nod as she went back through the door and closed it with a click behind her.

  Elise turned from the closed door and reached for the individual Decanter that held the liquid life that gave them theirs. There were two. They were labeled as O+ and AB-, respectively.

  She met her husband’s eyes as he lifted his glass. “Was that wise?”

  He sent her a rueful smile, reminding her of the boy she’d fallen in love with over a century before and making her heart flip crazily. “Probably not, but when have you ever known me to follow protocol? Besides, I think it’s coming on time for us to leave. I don’t believe the answers we’re looking for will be found within these walls, do you?”

  Elise had no trouble following his train of thought. “No, but I have no idea how we’ll get back there. And let’s not forget what is waiting on the other side in Drae Hallow for you and me.”

  “Have faith, Elise. Now take that over to our stubborn daughter and see that she drinks it all. She needs to stay strong.”

  Smiling softly, she moved to the connecting door that joined their two rooms and opened the door and crossed into Emerald’s room. Elise had doused all the lights and Elise wondered if maybe her daughter was sleeping. “Emerald?”

  It took the space of several seconds for her eyes, exceptional though they were, to fully adjust to the gloom.

  A movement out of the corner of her eye caused her heart to kick up and a soft gasp to leave her lips. She nearly dropped one of the goblets. Emerald stepped into sight, fully dressed as if she were getting ready to go riding. She’d draped her long bow over the back of her shoulder, along with a full quarrel of arrows. She wasn’t smiling.

  “Is that for me?” She didn’t wait for an answer, taking the proffered goblet from her mother’s hand and tipping it back. With the rim to her lips, she stared at her mother. “You too, bottoms up. We need to keep up our strength, isn’t that what you told me?”

  Emerald downed the contents.

  Confused, Elise followed suit.

  Finished, Emerald sat the goblet down and reached over to the connecting door. Elise heard a click as she turned the latch, locking them inside.

  “Um, what are you doing? Your father in in the other room.” Elise heard the rising alarm in her own voice.

  A sad whisper came back, “He was. No more. Help me move this in front of the door.”

  Elise was in no mood for her daughter’s strange games. “What are you talking about, I just left him…” She went to reach for the door.

  “Don’t!” Emerald hissed at the same time as something large hit the other side of the door so hard the hinges groaned and dust exploded into the air.

  Elise jumped back with a cry. Emerald was on the other side of a large bureau, pushing as hard as she could. Without another word, Elise joined her daughter, their superior strength making quick work of the massive piece of ancient furniture. Still, it wouldn’t hold whatever was on the other side of that door for long. She couldn’t bring herself to think of what that might be. Jorta…

  She turned to stare at her child, a welling of terror bubbling to the surface. Now what? “We’re trapped,” she began.

  Emerald shook her head. “No. We’re not. Come on, we have to hurry Mama.”

  Emerald ran to the balcony overlooking the courtyard below, high in the southwest wing that held their apartment. Elise joined her. It was a long way to the ground below. And then what?

  Emerald pushed the curtain aside, revealing a braided collection of sheets, ripped and torn and reassembled to form a thick coil of rope which she tossed over the side of the rail even as the door behind them splintered, and a snarl of rage filled the room, at once familiar and wholly terrifying.

  Elise stared in horror at the rope her nine-year-old daughter had created and expected her to trust. They were an easy four stories up and the rope wasn’t near long enough. But what was coming on the other side of that door was certain.

  Going down they had a chance.

  Without another word Emerald clasped the rope and threw herself over the side, clinging like a monkey as she shimmied down its length. “Come on, we have a matter of seconds before he comes through. It will hold, trust me.” She shouted, three quarters of the way to the ground as she released the end and fell away into the darkness.

  Elise growled and snatched the rope, heaving herself over the rail and letting the knotty surface trail through her fingers as she slid down. She was halfway when her ears heard the crash of shattering board. Whatever was coming was through and in. She slid faster. Below, on the ground, Emerald had notched a bow and was taking careful aim, praying her archery lessons had paid off. Her vision was excellent, she was a vampire, but even so it was difficult to make out the darkened smudge on the side of the railing next to the dangling rope. The monster that was once her father was already preparing to follow, the rope in its hands. Her mother hadn’t reached the ground yet when she let the arrow fly. With a satisfying thwack, it hit the mass dead center. The results were nearly instantaneous as it exploded, shredding the rope and sending pieces fluttering in the wind. Elise screamed as the rope went limp and then she was falling, bracing herself for the landing. A human would have died. But Elise was much more than that and landed catlike on her feet.

  She took her daughter’s hand and refused to look at the roaring thing standing on the balcony of her daughter’s bedroom, screaming its frustration.

  Together they ran for the stables.

  #

  I moved alone up the path towards the falls and the hot springs where we had all agreed to meet. I was late this time, and looking forward to seeing my friends. Sure, I missed them. But I was also bummed that we were finally on vacation for two weeks and I wouldn’t be spending it in Breathless with my mother. Mom apparently had some work-related conference in Seattle and would be gone for the better part of my break. She’d tried to explain what it was about, but I’d put her on ignore after that. We still hadn’t talked about how she’d lied to me about my heritage, and apparently hers. I’d always assumed that any abilities to perform magic or shift had to result from my free spirited father, not my uptight, follow all the rules mom. That she’d lied to me all my life hadn’t set well when I found out, and I had
big plans to confront her about it, if I could get her to stay in one place long enough to have the conversation that is.

  The path angled up, and I spotted several sets of tracks in the muddy hill. Good, I wasn’t the first to arrive. The roar of the falls was growing louder as I crested the hill and a cool cloud of grey mist hit me, dampening my chin and cheeks. I took my time angling beneath the falls along the narrow path. My eyes pulled to the mountain of water that cascaded just beyond me and down for close to a hundred feet.

  I’d been in that torrent of water once, tumbling off the mountain with all my friends. Not fun. I’d almost died that day.

  My fingers itched though, to place them palm up and feel that power in that river of water. But I turned away from the falls and moved to the opening of the cave concealed cleverly beneath it. I stared for a moment at a shimmer in the air near the entrance. The portal in from Bane Lake on the inside of Drae Valley. I wasn’t sure what had made me take the longer walk instead of the easier path through the inner dimensional portal. Maybe I felt the added time would clear my head of all the nasties floating around inside. It hadn’t worked.

  I dipped my head to enter the darker cave, letting my eyes adjust. It didn’t take long; a dragon’s eyes were more than exceptional.

  I stared at the low steaming pool and moved to its edge, stripping my shirt and pants as I came down to the one-piece Lycra suit beneath. I wasn’t the first to arrive. Not the last, either. I hoped.

  Thomas Tuttle nodded at me from the bubbling pool. “Cross. Glad you could make it.” I tipped my head back at him. Was that sarcasm?

  Sirris slashed me a tight smile as I edged down into the steaming water with a sigh and took a seat beside her. “I was getting worried. Usually you’re early. Where’s Nick?”

  My mouth tightened. “Around. I don’t keep track of whatever he does. Sides, like a bad penny, he’ll show up when he’s ready.” I didn’t have to look at her to feel the hard press of her eyes on mine. Sirris was my best bud and we didn’t keep many secrets from each other. She’d know I was lying. At least to myself.

  “Alright then, aren’t we just a cheerful bunch?” So saying, she gave an agitated bump of the pool’s steamy surface with her tail and sent water exploding into the air, making the rest of us sputter and spit.

  Todd and his sister were there too. I sent a brief smile towards them.

  “This your first time here, Kimmy?”

  She sent a genuine smile in my direction and I tried not to cringe. I didn’t want happy. “Nope. Been coming here for years with my sister’s. We thought it was our own private spa. Guess not.”

  Todd shrugged. “Well, maybe it was. But we discovered it early last year. It’s plenty big enough to share. But then you wouldn’t be interested in that, would you sister dear.”

  She sent him a friendly elbow that made him growl. “Nope. Not with the likes of you hairy fools.” She included Thomas, but he didn’t respond.

  His normally light brown eyes were dark and brooding. Thomas was never the life of the party, but he was usually easygoing. I wondered what had crawled up his butt. I frowned in his direction. Had he forgotten to shave, and what was with the brows. Someone seriously needed to pluck those bad boys. I should have left it alone. But if I bugged him, I wasn’t worrying about my own problems; and where was Nick? Was he not coming? Was I the reason?

  “So what gives Thomas? Why all the dark and stormy? What’s bugging you?”

  He slashed a glance my way, filled with heat. Goosebumps sprang to life along my arms. “Nothing you need to worry about. I got it. It’s what I keep telling Sirris, but she can’t seem to keep her nose out of my business. No one can,” he added pointedly in my direction.

  Her tail flashed and hit the water with a huge slap. “Stop that!” I growled, sputtering as hot water went up my nose and I gagged.

  “Yeah, apparently I’m not worthy of his secrets anymore. That’s okay, fine in fact. He need not be hearing about mine either. I thought I was important. Nipped that one right in the bud, didn’t you, Tuttle?”

  He growled and turned in her direction, ignoring me for the time being. “You are important, don’t get your… Oof!”

  She slammed a fist into his side. “Don’t you dare finish that! If you don’t want my company you just say it, and I’ll take right care of that problem for you and quick.”

  His eyes heated and his incisors grew pointed enough I could see them peeking through his thin lips as he glared at her. “Don’t be dumb. You know how I feel about you, I’m just not in the mood.”

  Sirris didn’t let up, “Oh, so now I’m stupid? Well, let me tell you this, Thomas Tuttle, you are not the only one that gets to be in a snit! The rest of us are dealing with problems too. You don’t get to be the only one.”

  Kimmy chose that moment to speak up in a squeaky voice, barely audible. “Wow. And I thought this was supposed to be relaxing and fun? Did someone poison the water?”

  Todd was grinning from ear to ear, watching the interchange between his brother and the girl he was crazy about. “I’m good. It’s nice to see I’m not the only one with girl issues.”

  Sirris whirled on him. “Shut up, Todd. This doesn’t concern you, so butt out!” she snarled, blond waterfall of hair swirling like heavy silk in the air as she whipped her head around to blast him.

  Todd leaned back and threw his hands up in front of him. “Whoa, easy on the slamming.”

  “You can’t talk to my brother like that!” Thomas roared back, his temper spiking, and his eyes nearly red with fury. The hair along his arms appeared to darken and grow.

  Sirris stared at him, unaffected. “Oh, and what? Is the big bad wolf going to make me?” she asked, smiling innocently, but she was anything but amused.

  I tensed up when it looked like Thomas was ready to explode. Or Change, I wasn’t sure which. Instead, he suddenly closed his eyes and seemed to deflate right in front of us all.

  “I’m sorry, Sirris. You are right, I’ve been such an ass lately. Can’t seem to stop snapping at everyone. Not sure what’s wrong with me.” He shook his head, looked away.

  Sirris too seemed to lose her rage, her expression softening as she reached out slim, strong fingers and cupped his resisting jaw, dragging it around to face her. She was sitting on a rock beside him, partially out of the water, putting their faces on the same level. She leaned in and brushed the tip of his nose with her lips.

  I watched his eyes heat all over again. She was still poking the wolf.

  “We’re both dealing right now, Thomas. Makes us edgy. I’m sorry.”

  He cleared his throat and seemed to struggle with something. “The next couple weeks. I’ve been meaning to tell you all. I’m planning to spend the time with my father so I won’t be able to hang with you this break. There’s something I have to do.” He sent an apologetic look in Sirris direction. “I can’t discuss it, really. Wolf business,” he stated, puffing himself up, as if that were all the explanation that was needed.

  Sirris stared at him, her eyes bright with speculation and no amount of, that’s alright, in response to his request for privacy. “Uh huh. I don’t think so. But we’ll talk about that later.”

  She turned to look at the rest of us with troubled eyes. She took a deep breath, sat back, and closed her eyes. “Well, as it happens, I have some news too.”

  But before she could tell us what it was, a movement near the door caught our eye. Fern stood there, looking severely put upon as she stripped her clothes with jerky movements, revealing a rocking body that she hid from the world under baggy dark clothes and a get out of my way attitude. Kit emerged as she removed her shirt. The Weis kit took one look at the familiar faces and leapt off Fern’s shoulder to explore the cave, keeping us in sight as she went looking for a snack. A larger shadow emerged behind Fern as Niel Reece stepped into view.

  Behind them both came Nick. I sat up straight in surprise with a gasp. I forced myself not to stare at Mr. Tall, dark and brooding.
He ignored me just as hard.

  But seeing Niel was the first bit of ‘happy’ I’d had that morning, and I’d take it. “Niel! This is a surprise. What are you doing here?” I blurted. It probably wasn’t the welcome he’d been expecting, but his smile was genuine as he moved in our direction. He turned to wait for Fern, who sailed past him like he was a rock and eased into the water, long dark hair falling forward to cover her expression. But I could tell from the tension in her slim shoulders that she was agitated. I didn’t have to guess where it was directed. With a sigh of resignation he eased in behind her, taking up the seat on the other side of Thomas and away from Fern who had squeezed in between Sirris and myself on purpose, leaving Niel no options. That left one seat beside me. Nick took it and I felt the heat of his body as he eased into the water, his shoulder jerking in reaction when it bumped against mine. The goosebumps came back.

  Niel broke the sudden awkward silence and answered my question. “Just visiting for a bit. Missed all my old buds from Bitterroot.”

  Before I could call him on his lie, Fern snorted. “Don’t really think she’s going to buy that lame excuse, do you Reece.”

  Niel sent Fern a frustrated glance. Only I didn’t miss the longing that hid behind it. Personally, I thought she was nuts. Niel was perfect. A rocking hot body, wicked sense of humor, kind—and a Dragon shifter. What wasn’t to like and fall for? I scowled. So why did I have to have a thing for the broody boy at my side? I was out of my mind, is what.

  I turned to Niel. “She’s right. I don’t buy it. What are you really doing here?” I met his light green eyes and realized there were clouds there I’d missed before.

  “I came back for Fern, if you must know. I’m trying to convince her to come home to Greylock Mountain with me for a few weeks.”

  I blinked. Well, that was forward, even for Niel.

  Fern rolled her eyes. “Really Cross? Do you think I’m that easy? He’s delusional and he wasted a trip.” But she didn’t sound as sure as her words, and I wondered what was really going on.