Half Blood Rising: (Moonlight Academy Book 1)

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  “Yeah, sort of.” I managed to say, seeing Dimitry and the rest of the team walking into the room. Ramona and Lachlan weren’t amongst them. Coincidence? I doubted that.

  “Where have you been?” Dimitry asked, frowning. “You didn’t report back, and your people thought you’d been eliminated.” He had his arms folded over his chest as his energy spread around the room. Marco winked at me, looking relieved and Judas, well, he seemed bored as usual.

  “It’s a long story, but I know where Dorothy is, and if we leave now, we still have a chance to raid the place and free her,” I said, wondering why they were all acting so calm.

  Then I sensed strange magic drifting around. I didn’t recognise it, and it wasn’t coming from Marco. He rarely used his abilities, but I recognised his energy. This energy was almost stinging me, causing a vibration inside my entire body.

  “She was moved the moment you disappeared from their sight,” Dimitry said, clenching his fists. “You shouldn’t have interfered in the first place. You were only supposed to be watching your subject.” He seemed pissed that I’d located her?

  “Hold on, this wasn’t my fault, the others int—”

  “What’s going on in here, Dimitry?” Another voice cut off what I was trying to say. A moment later, two supernaturals walked inside the room, so it was kind of crowded. One was a very old vampire, and the other was a warlock. They both wore dark cloaks.

  It was the warlock who’d asked the question. He had Nordic features: very faint, almost grey eyebrows, and thick dark-blond hair. Several strange talismans were hanging around his neck, and one that indicated that he worked for the High Council.

  The other one was a vampire. I instantly knew he must have been related to Lachlan because he had almost identical blue eyes and thick hair, with a close-shaved beard.

  This energy, I sensed it, almost like I’d been around it before. This felt bizarre.

  I didn’t feel comfortable standing here in front of two officials, looking like I’d been dragged through the hedge backwards.

  “Your girl might be dead, commissioner, and all because of this amateur here,” Dimitry said, and I inhaled sharply. Was he even for real?

  “Tell us what happened,” the older vampire requested. His voice sounded familiar, but I would have remembered him if we’d ever met before. He was staring at me so intensely, drilling me with his blue eyes, while my chest cracked open.

  I finally found my strength and started telling them everything that happened to me, and how I ended up in the industrial building on my own. I didn’t tell them about Ramona and Lachlan. I thought I needed to keep the fact that they knew Vlad to myself for now, especially if the vampire in front of me was related to him. If he was here, then something must have happened to them, and I needed to figure out whose side he was on.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Evil wins.

  Dimitry seemed pissed because I’d attempted to save Dorothy on my own. I had no idea what the big deal was. The stretch of silence became too heavy all of a sudden. Everyone was staring at me, and I sensed they were agreeing with the Russian.

  “She’s probably already dead because of you, Jaymin. I gave everyone clear instructions, and you disobeyed my orders, exposing us and our plans,” Dimitry shouted. He was completely losing his shit. There was a gold signet on his left hand, and the blue diamond was flashing with energy. I was speechless. He completely dismissed the fact I’d nearly died in that old factory building. Either way, it seemed no one cared.

  “They won’t kill her, they need her. It’s all about admission—”

  “Stop talking, child, you have already said enough.” The elder vampire stood by Dimitry and silenced me, lifting his hand like he was trying to tell me I had no say in the matter. I didn’t want to do this in front of the councillor who didn’t seem affected at all by this terrible news.

  “You demonstrated zero respect to the task that was assigned to you. The number one rule of Moonlight Academy is to always follow orders, regardless of the circumstances. Your team cannot trust you, and no one else will after this incident.” Dimitry continued to scold me as if I was a child.

  This was not the welcome I’d expected to have, especially after what I’d been through. This wasn’t fair. Ramona and Lachlan had interfered. I’d made the right decision to go into that building, and I’d yet to ask why they weren’t here.

  “I thought Principal Oldman was supposed to choose the best students for this job. The High Council hasn’t received a request for ransom. Perhaps it’s worth looking into the location the half-blood is talking about,” the councillor finally said, but I was shocked by the lack of empathy and emotion in his tone of voice. His daughter had been taken, and he didn’t seem overly concerned.

  I wanted to walk up to Karina, shake her, and ask what the hell was wrong with her. She must have realised I was trying to save Dorothy. I would have, at the very least, expected Karina to believe me.

  “You’re all dismissed, and you, Jaymin, need to wait here for the principal. Your future at Moonlight is over,” Dimitry said, staring at me and I wanted to laugh.

  He couldn’t make that kind of decision, and these rules seemed slightly radical, but at the same time, I hadn’t told them everything. Ramona and Lachlan had approached my subject, and that wasn’t part of the plan, either. I had to see how everything else unfolded over the next few days before I said anything.

  Oldman couldn’t just expel me for that. I’d risked my life to learn more about the clan and to track Dorothy down. My throat went dry as the idea of having to live on the streets of Kiev or Lviv rushed through my mind. That wasn’t a life I wanted to return to, after being given such an amazing opportunity. I just couldn’t imagine being homeless again. I didn’t want to live like that again.

  I waited for everyone to leave, suddenly feeling like I was paralysed from head to toe. The elder vampire’s presence was doing something to me. I needed to speak to Karina about Ramona and Lachlan. It was their doing—they’d lured me into that situation. I wondered why no one wanted to listen when I’d nearly rescued Dorothy. I was disappointed, to say the least.

  “We haven’t had the pleasure of being introduced,” the vampire said, ignoring the councillor. “My name is Jonnathan, and Lachlan is my son.” I couldn’t read his aura, and that didn’t happen very often. He seemed blank—everyone had an aura—and that was impossible unless he was using a magical cover.

  “I thought as much,” I muttered, thinking about my entire life as one giant failure.

  “My son mentioned that a half-blood was part of the team. The academy hasn’t done any testing on you yet, correct? To determine what other magic you have inside you?” he asked, his voice was soothing, but he didn’t have a thick Scottish accent like Lachlan.

  “No, they haven’t, and I highly doubt they’ll perform any tests to determine my future, because, honestly, everything is fucked. What the hell do you want from me, Mr. Moore? Your son isn’t here to mock my failure, so I guess you’re going to take his place?” I shouted at him, completely losing my shit.

  I didn’t need to take my frustration out on him, but I was pissed. All my pores were opening, and the same magic, the burning sensations, were drifting along the surface of my skin. There was something wrong with me. I needed to calm down.

  His eyes widened, and I could have sworn I saw pride in them. I’d just disrespected him.

  “The team still needs to rescue the councillor’s daughter. Maybe I can convince Principal Oldman to give you another chance,” he suggested, looking down at my body as though he was assessing me, trying to get through my wards and inside my mind. It was possible he thought I wouldn’t notice, but my “other” nature caused my heart to beat triple-time. I always knew.

  “Go to hell,” I said, and stormed out. I had no idea why I was acting like that, but he didn’t need to help me.

  “Go to hell, Mr. Moore,” he called out, mocking me and sounding amused as I turned and left the
room.

  I needed to speak to Dimitry again or Karina. She was in our room, painting her nails. She appeared relieved when she saw me again.

  “Where’s Ramona and Lachlan? Why aren’t they here?” I asked her, pacing around. I had to do something, fix this before Oldman arrived, but I didn’t have a plan.

  “Ugh… I don’t know. Ramona came back a few hours after the rest of us. She said Lachlan was doing something else, that he was close to finding the girl,” she explained and stood from the bed.

  “Bullshit. I saw them, you know. I saw them with my Vlad—the guy I was supposed to be watching,” I said, feeling frustrated as hell. Karina stared at me in utter disbelief. At that point, I was going to wear a hole in the rug with my pacing. I was filled with so much damn anger.

  “What? We were all in the same club. Why would they approach him, and why didn’t you say anything to Dimitry?”

  “Because Lachlan’s father was there, the elder vamp, and I have no idea why they were talking to him in the first place.” The pressure inside my head was mounting. Overall, I felt like crap. “Oldman’s going to expel me, you know. According to Dimitry, I broke all the rules, and I can’t be trusted. This is it for me, all that effort… for nothing.”

  “None of us got a lead, but you were the only one who saw Dorothy. You should tell them everything. Maybe Ramona isn’t working against us. It’s strange that Lachlan’s been gone for so long, though,” she said, then touched my arm. This was nice, she was using her energy to calm me down.

  “Dimitry doesn’t want to listen to anything I have to say. He thinks I jeopardised the whole mission. We were just about to escape, but she’d been poisoned. The blood from one of the shifters completely messed her up,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “I need some air; it’s the energy from Lachlan’s father. He was staring at me strangely and seems to be on my side. I don’t know, but I’ve never met him before.”

  After I’d taken a quick shower and changed, Karina wanted to follow me out, but I told her I really needed to clear my head. Roxanna was outside, sweeping the front porch when I walked past. Dust was spreading everywhere.

  “Here, go to the store and buy me some garlic,” she said, handing me some Russian notes. I stared at the money in confusion, thinking she must be joking. That whole thing about garlic was a myth.

  “But I—”

  “Just go, fresh air will do you some good, and, sometimes it solves all your problems,” she muttered, waving at me to leave already. Whatever, I didn’t care at that point. I was so done with everything, wondering why Dimitry had a bug up his arse, and why he refused to believe a word I’d said.

  It was humid and the road outside was busy. I wanted to ask Marco for a cigarette, thinking maybe it would calm me down a little, but then in the distance, I saw a familiar face.

  My heart made a giant flip inside my chest, and I told myself it was impossible. Was it really the mage who’d attacked me in the basement?

  Damn it! There couldn’t be anything wrong with my eyesight—no, of course not. I would never forget that face. He still lived in my nightmares.

  The dude’s energy seemed explosive—exactly as I remembered. I wondered why the hell he was even in this area. The bastard knew Lachlan, so I found it hard to believe he was only here by chance. Maybe he’d been watching us the entire time.

  I quickly crossed the road, thinking about Oldman. Supposedly, she was on her way here, and I had a few hours, tops, to figure out my next move, and to figure out how not to get expelled.

  Ten minutes later, the mage and the vampire strolled into the small supermarket around the corner. They seemed immersed in conversation, and I wanted to know what they were talking about. A few Russian ladies were chatting away. It wasn’t busy, but obviously the mage had no reason to go inside. I followed them, pretending to look for garlic on the other side of the aisle. Now, I was grateful for Roxanna.

  “How long before they realise he’s missing?” the mage asked.

  “Not long, a few days perhaps,” the vampire answered. “The girl’s playing them well. The council is going to crack soon—we have time.”

  I was holding my breath, wondering what the hell they were talking about, or more importantly, who?

  “He’s not cooperating, apparently he has no influence over his father. Lachlan can only go so long without blood.” The mage laughed, and I nearly knocked a can off the shelf. What the actual fuck? They had Lachlan, and no one knew.

  It was Ramona—she must have been pretending to be in love with him the entire time. Crap, this wasn’t good. Lachlan had gone along with her, so no one would suspect anything.

  “We need to change the process; the board has been abiding by the same rules for the past century.” The vampire was saying. “The Elite Academy needs dark energy—dark magic could evolve the school. Sharper minds could change the way the council operates. We wouldn’t have to live in the shadows any longer.”

  I should have known that the mage wouldn’t just give up on this absurd dream. St. Kilda Elite Academy was an old institution with far too many secrets. I needed to find out who this mage was, and why he needed to have so much power, but I could only do one thing at a time. Moments later, they must have been interrupted by someone inside the supermarket, because the mage rushed the vampire out the door.

  I waited a few minutes and then left the shop, too. They must have split up, because I couldn’t see the direction in which they’d taken off, so it was just another screw up on my part. I quickly ran back to the house just as a black limousine parked outside.

  My stomach contracted with unease. I had to inform them that the clan had managed to capture Lachlan. His time was quickly running out, and we needed to act soon if we wanted to save him.

  I felt like I’d slowly been putting my life together, and now everything was falling apart. Moments later, I realised it was Oldman who’d arrived. She must have caught an early plane from Kiev, because she was sitting with Dimitry as I walked into the living room.

  “Hello, Jaymin,” she said, her tone a bit cold. “I see you haven’t been following orders. The academy was counting on you. I thought I explained the rules to you in great detail, that we had an understanding?”

  “I know how this looks, but you two need to listen to me very carefully. I only went inside that building because Ramona and Lachlan approached the subject—my subject, Vlad. I followed them all the way to the place where Dorothy was being held, but as soon as we arrived, I only saw Ramona vanish inside. She hasn’t been entirely honest with you. Lachlan’s missing, he’s been caught by the clan, and you wouldn’t know any of this if it wasn’t for me,” I said, telling her all that in one quick breath.

  They were staring at me in silence, their energy was growing. Something was wrong. I knew it, and they should have, too.

  “See, I told you she enjoys fantasising. Lachlan’s tracking Dorothy as we speak. He got a hold of extremely sensitive information, so he’s pursuing the lead.” A familiar voice spoke, sending a shiver crawling down my spine. Seconds later, Ramona sauntered inside the room, giving me her usual death glare. My jaw dropped. Why the hell did she come back here, especially after what happened the night before?

  “You’re a traitor. You’re working against the academy. Lachlan’s missing, I just overheard two supernaturals talking about it outside. The clan has him, and if you don’t do anything, then he’s going to be dead by tomorrow,” I said, knowing well enough I was losing ground. I had no proof; it was my word against hers.

  “Jaymin, Ramona and Lachlan have been with me for a while, and I trust them,” Oldman said. “Why would she try to ruin the rescue mission? It doesn’t make sense. The bottom line is, you shouldn’t have gone inside that building. You dismissed Dimitry’s orders.” She was still going on about those stupid orders.

  They wouldn’t even listen to what I was saying to them. Lachlan was fucking missing! I glanced at the bitch as she wore a triumphant smirk on her face tha
t said I was screwed. She’d won.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anger

  “You’re both fools, I’m not making this up. She’s shady as fuck, the sooner you realise it, the better,” I shouted, losing my temper. At that point, I was shaking with anger, staring at the principal of Moonlight Academy like she’d lost her damn mind.

  She’d showed me that there was another life beyond what I knew. This couldn’t be the end for me just yet, I wasn’t ready for it.

  Dimitry stood abruptly, shaking his head. My magic started swirling around me like a windstorm, pumping through my veins. I’d never in my life been angrier.

  “Don’t make accusations about our people,” Dimitry spat. “You have no idea about our code of ethics.”

  “You screwed up, and now you’re blaming me for your stupidity. That’s just pathetic.” Ramona laughed, and I wished I could shut her up.

  At that point, I was done playing nice; my breathing was coming in short, ragged pants. Oldman was using her magic, trying to get into my head, calm me down, but this time, I knew how to keep my thoughts to myself.

  I walked up to Ramona, sensing thick tension in the air, and leaned over so my face was only inches from hers. “I know what you’ve done and I’m going to destroy you,” I whispered, so close to using my magic against her, but that would have only made me look guilty. Moments later, I stormed out of the room, feeling like the biggest failure amongst all supernaturals. This was ridiculous. Oldman was foolish enough to believe Ramona wasn’t working against the academy.

  Karina, Marco, and even Judas were in my room when I stormed inside, causing me to stop in my tracks. They must have heard what had happened because they avoided looking me in the eye. I mean, I didn’t care at that point. I was so done with this bullshit. I needed to get the hell out of here. I couldn’t let them see me upset.