Descending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)

I decided to wear a fitted black dress and my new boots that I’d bought at the airport. Karina had left earlier on with Marco. I was glad to be alone for a little while. My steaming energy was giving me a headache tonight. We were moved to a large flat situated just above the dorms. We all had separate small rooms with a view of the grounds. This still felt surreal: that I was staying within Elite Academy.

The wards around the whole academy were overwhelming. I had a feeling that all the students were having a hard time with adjusting to this place because of the way their auras shone. I knew that I was struggling with the strong energy that drifted around the corridors.

I decided to take my special knife with me that I had charmed. I hid it snuggly in the leg of my boot. The party was just about to start after eleven pm and I was getting a little nervous for some reason.

I kept reminding myself that this wasn’t Moonlight. My routine was different there. Back home I was there to study and soak in all the knowledge I could. I spent most of my time in the library, going over the material, but in here I had to solve a crime.

I had a job to do, so I had to clear my mind and just focus. There was another thing that made me a little suspicious. Our group had barely seen any students in the corridors, and the supernaturals that we did come across avoided us like the plague. I saw two very pale male vampires that radiated with enormous power and my chest tightened. It seemed like they were loaded with fae energy too. I had a feeling that solving these murders wasn’t going to be easy, because we could hardly find anyone willing to talk to us.

“Jesus, how long have you been standing here?” I shouted, spotting Claude by the door. I would recognise his scent anywhere and he’d startled me. He wore a black fitted shirt and brown pants. The scent of his blood awakened some kind of urgent craving inside me.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Desire rushed through my core. This normally only ever happened when I was close to Lachlan.

“I wanted to take you to the party Jaymin and I have been only standing here a few minutes,” he said.

“I think the idea is that we should be arriving alone,” I told him, knowing that I needed to find out tonight who was running this show and where most students liked to hang out. And I couldn’t do that if Claude was planning to stalk me the whole evening.

“Well, most vampire females that are going to be there will be arriving with someone, a male partner,” he stated, giving me a smile and my heart vibrated.

“Fine, whatever, let’s go. I don’t want to be late,” I told him, finally locking the damn door, feeling a little irritated with myself. He obviously must have taken an interest in me and I didn’t know how to act around him. “How long have you worked for Kildra?”

“Over ten years,” he answered when we left the building. It was a full moon and the sky was scattered with stars. Despite that it was damn cold and my fingers went instantly numb. “What about you? How long have you been a student of Moonlight?”

“I have been there for several months, principle Oldman offered me a way out. I had been living on the streets of Lviv for years,” I told him. This wasn’t a secret.

“Interesting, your energy is very unique and you’re not like any other half breed that I’ve ever met.”

“I hear that often,” I muttered, not wanting to talk about myself too much. “Tell me something interesting about yourself. Why is a vampire like you teaching here?”

“This place is filled with very powerful magic and I constantly want to improve my skills. I was working in Egypt when the position here opened up. I had been teaching supernatural law at the university there,” he told me.

“How old are you?” I blurted out when we got to the gate. The craving for blood came back. It was overwhelming again and my fangs descended. I didn’t want him to notice it.

“I’m an ancient vampire if you really want to know,” he said. I should have figured this out from the start, he was very, very old and even more experienced. “We are near the entrance now and I must give you a warning. You will recognise many different scents of blood out there and it would be better if you kept close to me. Sometimes these parties get a little out of control.”

A cold shiver crawled down my spine. Claude was right. The smell of blood was becoming very intense and I was already struggling to control myself around him.

We walked inside the chapel that was pitch black and my fingertips were sparkling with electricity. Deep down I kept telling myself that I wasn’t supposed to be trusting this guy, but on the other hand he was from Elite, a faculty member so he shouldn’t harm me in any way.

He had plenty of opportunities to get rid of me, but he didn’t.

“So, the academy is allowing these parties to go on? How are you even able to attend them?” I asked, trying to focus on something other than blood, but that was proving extremely difficult. My mouth was watering.

“Faculty doesn’t care as long as no one complains and no one dies. After all, the students here are adults, and as far as Holland is concerned they are all responsible for their own actions,” Claude said and placed the palm of his hand on my back.

The tingles spread over my body and I inhaled deeply as he unlocked a heavy wooden door that led into a narrow corridor. I wondered if Karina and the rest of the team had gone in this way too. Maybe I should have waited for Lachlan. I wasn’t sure what to expect. This whole set up was very mysterious and cryptic.

“So, the party is that way?” I asked him, considering turning around. I still didn’t trust him.

I had a feeling that he was leading me there because he was going to use compulsion on me. Damn I really needed to get a grip.

“Are you scared mysterious half breed?” Claude asked, whispering in my ear. He was teasing me and the fire inside me was brewing. He was turning me on.

“Maybe, but let’s get on with this. I want to see what’s on the other side,” I replied, but my voice was hoarse. As I took a few steps forward my energy spiked again. I could hear the loud music on the other side.

It was a whole new world out there, but it was just the start. I truly wanted to know everything about this ancient school for supernaturals.

“Welcome to Elite half breed,” Claude whispered again and then opened yet another door. We had ended up underground, in a very large basement that had been transformed into a disco. It only took me a few seconds to figure out that this wasn’t the party that I expected.

No one was trying to hide anything and the smell of blood hit me hard. The vampires were exchanging it and I could smell it everywhere. Males and females were walking around wearing very provocative outfits. I could see vampires making out in the corners drinking from each other. I wasn’t a prude, well far from it, but it was surprising that the Elite allowed something like this to go on.

When I turned to look at Claude, his eyes were filled with lust, twinkling at the corners. In the far end of the room I saw Judas. He was staring at me and he was alone. If we wanted to make any kind of progress, I had to figure out who Marissa liked hanging out with the most and why she was out on the grounds in the middle of the night.

“It’s more of an orgy than a party, but I guess I have to blend in,” I muttered to myself.

“Let me get you some blood, that should relax you straight away,” Claude said, pointing towards the bar that had been set up in the back of the room. My pulse sped up and my core tightened with unease. He was awakening the desire inside me that had been silent until Lachlan told me to drink from him.

I didn’t want to drink blood from anyone, but vampires were staring at me. I scrubbed up pretty well, choosing the right kind of outfit, but they still saw me as the outsider. And where the hell was Lachlan when I needed him?

This was exciting and my energy was rising. I didn’t want to feel this way, but I couldn’t help myself. Especially when Claude was trying to fulfil all my desires.

I spotted Marco in the distance, and of course he was talking to a very tall and very long legged vampire. It didn’t seem to bother him that everyone around them were making out. It was probably his kind of party.

Moments later, my guard in a shining silver armour returned with the glass of blood. It smelled delicious and for the first time I didn’t feel repulsed by it. I was ready to drink it all in one go. Claude’s eyes were shining at me. In the past fae and vampires had always been enemies but as the times shifted, we managed to adapt.

However, many still believed that the fae energies were intoxicating to vampires. It was in their nature to drain their precious blood. Many believed that it could make them immortal, but those were just rumours. I was taking long deep breaths.

Then a moment later, I took a sip of the blood and my taste buds exploded. The blood tasted unbelievably good, and I had to stop myself from drinking more. In the back of my mind I still sort of knew that I had get close to someone in order to find out more about Marisa and the other girl that had been killed.

“Come on, let’s sit down and enjoy ourselves for a little while,” Claude whispered, as he grabbed my left arm. Before long, I was sitting on the sofa and he was so close. My fingers were sparkling and a blazing fire brewed inside my stomach when his body pressed over mine. “I would love to know more about your past.”

I was ready to tell him to get lost when thoughts about Lachlan began circulating inside my head, but then this warm feeling embraced my lungs. The couple next to us was kissing, well actually almost having sex. The male vampire had his hand under the girl’s skirt. I said to myself that I wasn’t going to judge them.

“And what is it that you would like to know?” I asked him, barely recognising my own voice. It was low and seductive and before I knew what was happening, I brushed his dark hair away from his forehead.

“Everything my queen, for some reason I feel drawn to you,” he said it, brushing his lips over my earlobe. This caused a crazy sensation between my legs. My energy kept growing inside me, connecting with his. He brought my glass to my lips and tilted, so I could drink it.

His eyes were burning through me; his fangs were descended. I took several deep gulps as the blood spread inside me.

“I don’t remember much from my previous human life. I have been a half breed for over four years. I woke up on the streets with no memories, already turned,” I explained as his palm squeezed my thigh. The tension inside my core grew and I wanted it to be released.

“Hmm, that’s interesting, and what about the other part of you–the other magic?” he asked, brushing his hand slightly further up my thigh. I wanted him to fuck me, to rip my clothes off, he could make me scream. The lights above us started flashing again when his face was only inches away from mine. His fangs were bloodied and the music loud.

“Jaymin, what the fuck are you doing?” a familiar voice quickly brought me back to reality. I shook my head and then glanced at Lachlan who was standing by the sofa, staring at me with fury. I swallowed hard, then stood up abruptly. My mind wasn’t foggy anymore and I was very much alert. I didn’t even remember walking over to the sofa.

For a split second I had no idea why I was so close to Claude. He smiled at me and then drunk some more of his blood. My whole body was still on fire.

“Nothing,” I responded scratching my head. “What do you want Lachlan?”

“We were having fun until you rudely interrupted us,” Claude pointed out, and the corner of his lip tilted in a mocking smile.

Split seconds later the furious Scot was dragging me away from the sofa, I didn’t know what was going on. I smelled his scent, it was erotic and damn, I like it better than Claude’s. I must have lost my head for a moment. That had never happened before. Was I ready to kiss a member of the faculty? Crap, that was a big mistake on my part.

“Lachlan, calm the hell down. Nothing was going to happen between Claude and me. I was just playing along to get information out of him,” I told him, trying to laugh this off, but he was breathing hard. His fists were clenched tightly and if I didn’t know him better, I would have thought he was about ready to hit me.

“He was using compulsion on you, the bastard, and you didn’t even notice,” pretty boy said, grabbing my cheeks. “He was only using you to get inside information about our group. You shouldn’t have come to the party with him in the first place. He was trying to get under my skin and he found the weakest link. It’s his only purpose hen.”