Half Blood Rising novel Chapter 17

“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.

“She didn’t expel you yet, Jaymin. I think you should stay,” Karina said as I took out my suitcase and began packing my things.

I’d have to track that idiot pretty boy myself, because no one wanted to believe anything I said. It was so damn frustrating. Lachlan was in trouble. And they were willing to take that bitch’s word, and not even bother to check on Lachlan. Not even a phone call to check my story? Nothing. None of this made sense.

“They weren’t in the club the entire time, so we couldn’t see what was going on. Are you sure Lachlan’s being held by the clan?” Marco asked as he walked towards me. Another jolt of electricity shot up my spine as he touched me. I expected them all to be loyal to Ramona, but instead, they were here with me. This made me feel a little better about myself.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen him involved with mages. They captured him because, apparently, they believe he can influence his father who’s high up in the council. It’s all about the Elite—these mages want to gain control over the admission process. And Ramona’s been playing us this whole time.” I explained my theory. Although I had no evidence against Ramona, and it was still her word against mine, the bottom line was, I’d screwed this up. Perhaps Dimitry and Oldman were right; maybe I shouldn’t have gone inside and tried to rescue Dorothy myself.

“Lachlan is a strong vampire, so he can take care of himself. I mean, where are you planning to go now? You don’t know the city,” Judas spoke, and for the first time since I’d met the guy, he said several full sentences all at once. He had a deep voice. I’d never noticed… And he seemed genuinely worried about me.

“No idea, but I can’t stay under the same roof with that leech,” I said as I picked up my suitcase. “I’ll call you guys once I find out something useful.”

I knew that they weren’t happy about it. The truth was, I still didn’t have a plan. Karina walked up to me and tried to hug me, but I pushed her away. She was sweet, but this was way too difficult already. My emotions were taking over, and she needed to understand that I had to clear my head, get to the bottom of everything, with or without the team. I used the back door to leave. I didn’t want to be bombarded again by Oldman and Dimitry, and as I was on my way out, Roxanna approached me once again.

“Take this and follow your nose. I always knew there was something wrong with that girl,” she muttered, and I smiled at her. “Leave your bag.” She nodded towards my suitcase, and I thought it was strange, but I did as she requested. If I needed anything, I could always call Karina.

She placed a bunch of bank notes in my hand as she closed the door behind me. I didn’t waste time thinking about it. I ran to the street, stopped a taxi, then told the driver in broken Ukrainian where I wanted to go. It was time to be as far away from that house as possible.

I didn’t have to be angry anymore, at least my team believed me. Now I just needed to find some kind of evidence that Lachlan was indeed missing. The old Russian taxi driver kept staring at me from the rear-view mirror. My knives were on the seat beside me.

I didn’t have a chance to hide them.

When he dropped me outside the large square, it was gloomy, dark heavy clouds were covering the sky. Roxanna had given me quite a lot of cash, and suddenly, I was grateful for it. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who noticed Ramona’s odd aura, and Roxanna was a very old vampire. It surprised me that she was working for Dimitry. I needed to locate Lachlan before it was too late, and then solve the rest of this case. I was tempted to return to the industrial part, but Leonidas wasn’t stupid. The vampires had moved on. Now searching for Dorothy would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moscow was huge.

I walked around a few streets, trying to think on my feet, searching for a vampire-populated area. My stomach started growling again, and after some time, I needed to rest, figure out my next move. I found a large restaurant on the back street, went inside, then ordered Russian dumplings with some kefir. The smell of freshly cooked food made my mouth water.

The waitress had a face like a slapped arse, and she practically threw my food on the table in front of me once it was prepared. Charming, I thought, but apparently Russians were like that. I wanted to laugh, especially after the shit couple days I’d had. They always seemed to be in a bad mood, but I couldn’t complain. Everything looked delicious. I started eating, watching as people walked by from the window. The food warmed my belly instantly, giving me the energy I so desperately needed.

Someone left a newspaper on the side table, and I picked it up. Surprisingly it was in English, so I began reading it until someone familiar strode into the café. I nearly choked on my dumplings as soon as I recognised the vampire who was standing with his back turned to me.

It was Vlad, but what the hell was he doing in here? He glanced around, and, luckily, I managed to hide my face behind the paper quickly enough. I was nervous that he might sense me, as he’d seen me the other night. Shit. This was suddenly going terribly wrong. He started speaking in Russian to someone a few tables away from me, laughing and pointing towards something outside.

I peered over the paper, trying to see if I knew the other guy. He was human, so it didn’t make much sense, at the same time, I didn’t bloody believe in coincidences. Vlad couldn’t be here because of me, or if he was, he must have noticed me from the street. I finished my food, telling myself to be damn careful. Vlad spent another twenty minutes talking to the older Russian, and then vanished in the narrow corridor near the washroom.