Half Blood Rising novel Chapter 7

My nerves were slowly beginning to get to me. Lachlan’s lover kept glaring at me, so I gave her one of my sharpest death stares. Afterwards, she tossed her hair behind her and smiled at Lachlan. Our conversation about my origin earlier on had left me a bit restless. I didn’t want him sharing my personal information with that bitch. I looked away—whatever. I wasn’t going to allow him to have that sort of effect on me right now. I was stronger than that.

“Come on, sit down,” Oldman said. “We are only having an informal chat right now.”

Jerry lightly nudged me, and I took a seat next to a girl with short, bright pink hair. She was a shifter. I sensed her energy, and her aura was bright, inviting, and positive. Her inner magical energy was much more defined than anyone I’d ever met before. I’d read in one of the books at the library that they tended to keep within their packs, and they stayed away from humans. She gave me a bright smile; her bottom lip was pierced, and she had several tattoos on her arms.

“I was just showing Miss Jaymin to her room,” Jerry said.

“We’ve only been together a few minutes. I wasn’t expecting everyone to arrive so early.” Principal Oldman smoothed her skirt and turned to address the room.

“Welcome to Moonlight Academy, everyone, the first school to ever be established in order to educate supernatural young creatures,” she began, glancing around the classroom. “In a moment, I will be going around and introducing each of you, but first, I would like to tell you that, each one of you here today are from different backgrounds, different breeds. That doesn’t matter, because you are all students here.

“Here at Moonlight, we work with everyone, but we aren’t the kind of academy you are most likely used to. The high council gives us certain jobs and tasks, and, sometimes these missions can be quite dangerous. Everyone present has just been accepted—you’re all new—and you will be assigned together as one team. In exchange for taking part in these ‘missions,’ you receive a free education, along with room and board. If these jobs are complicated, many times students receive financial rewards.”

This sounded too good to be true. We were going to get paid for being students and taking part in missions? There must be a hack somewhere. Others didn’t seem too concerned, so I decided to continue on and listen. Oldman was fae with a certain taste and style. She must have been good at her job if she managed to work her way up into this position. After the meeting, I was planning to find the library and do some research on this place.

“Any questions before we start the introductions?” she asked, but no one said a word, so she continued, “Let’s start with Karina. She’s a shifter from Sweden, and, unfortunately after being exiled from her pack, she had to learn how to survive on her own, and, sometimes, in the toughest of environments. Her gifts will be quite useful in this group.” Principal Oldman smiled and turned her head. “Then to my right, we have Marco—he’s fae. In the past few years, he’s been living in London. He earned his living by stealing valuable items. I’m certain I needn’t remind you that fae magic can be extremely unpredictable. Marco is quite skilled, and I hope each of you will get on well with him.”

I glanced at the dude on my right. He was dark haired, tanned, and a very handsome supernatural. He didn’t look like a thief at all. Oldman wasn’t prepared to say that the fae were the most powerful creatures amongst all supernaturals, but I sensed what she meant. I suspected that Marco had lived for quite a long time.

They could manipulate the weather, read your mind, and make you go completely mad. These were just a few of their abilities, but most had to learn their skills over years of study under someone’s guardianship. Marco winked at me and Karina—he seemed extremely confident.

Oldman paused and sipped a glass of water, then she turned to me. “And here is Jaymin, half-vampire and a rogue. She has been hunting creatures wanted by the council for the past four years—very dangerous fugitives, I might add. Her track record is quite impressive, so be watchful of her. And opposite Jaymin, is Judas, a full-blooded vampire. At some point Judas will tell you his own story, but for now, let’s just say he’s got his own business on the side.”

She turned toward the pretty boy, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Now, let me introduce you to Lachlan, he’s my assistant, but he’s also a student here at Moonlight. His family has strong connections to the Elite, but that doesn’t mean his place there is secure. Lachlan is also a vampire with large social and economic influences. He secures jobs for the school that are complicated and dangerous, but with huge financial rewards. He can manipulate your mind and make you forget things, so be wary.”

Well, well, well. Pretty Boy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so I’d been partly right about him. Maybe that was the reason why the mages wanted to get information from him. Lachlan smiled at Oldman, and this time, I did roll my eyes. Lachlan didn’t scare me, he only got on my damn nerves, with his self-important attitude. I knew his type: he probably had rich parents or other wealthy family members.

Oldman had called me a rogue, and I was all right with that. Marco winked at me once again when I glanced at him. Damn it. He was probably reading my mind now.

“And last, but certainly not least is Ramona, a pure-blooded vampire with healing abilities and spectacular fighting skills. She grew up in Ukraine in an orphanage, so she can relate to some of you.” The principal completed the introductions around the table.

Ukrainian, well, that was unexpected. She just looked Slavic, but she must have been turned when she was young. I was a little taken aback by the fact she could heal people. I’d never heard of a vampire who could do that sort of thing. And on top of that, she was his girlfriend.

It was a decent group to be part of, and it looked like, for now, I was stuck with pretty boy and his top-model vamp. Too bad, but I had to make this work somehow. I wanted this opportunity, and I was willing to do whatever it took.

“Today is orientation day. You can check the subjects we offer and review your schedule. Remember, you’re a team, so you will be working together closely. In the afternoon, I’ll call upon each one of you to sign an agreement with the school—the contract I mentioned earlier on,” Oldman added, and I assumed this was the end of the meeting. “Oh, if you have any questions, now is the time to ask. I always forget about that bit.”

“I want to ask about the Elite.” Marco went first with one of the most important questions. “I decided to enrol here because I want to get in. Can you tell us about their requirements?” He had a deep voice, and his darker skin shone in the bright morning sunlight.

The room was air conditioned as was the entire school, just another added bonus. Other supernaturals most likely weren’t affected by the heat like I was. I was curious about the Elite Academy, too. Many supernaturals had talked about it, but to me, it had always been like a distant dream that would never be fulfilled. And now, I finally had the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to prove myself—that I could get accepted if I worked hard enough.

She instantly laughed. “I have that kind of effect on everyone. My energy is always so wild,” she said, rubbing her hands together. We began walking towards the dorms as she started telling me about her wardrobe. She was right; it was strange to say, but I kind of liked her straight away, and I felt we were going to get on well. She was very loud and outspoken about certain things.

“What do you think about the classes and missions Oldman was talking about?” I asked as we walked inside our new room. This was so surreal. I had my own place, and I didn’t have to wonder where I would be sleeping the next day.

Deep down I was curious to know why she’d been exiled from her pack. Shifters had always been such a mystery to me, but I knew asking her would be too forward. I’d only just met her.

“They have lectures about potion making, and, apparently one of the teacher’s is an ancient warlock. There is a subject on Immortals, which seems pretty cool, and classes where they teach us martial arts, too. Old languages and a few others. Oldman showed me the list when we met. I didn’t have to think twice about it.” She sighed. “I wanted to be here.”

Then I noticed she had two huge suitcases on the bed. She began to unzip the larger of the two. It was still pretty early, and we had the whole day ahead of us. I needed to have a shower before I met up with Oldman. I wanted to sign the contract and be done with it.

“Look, I have these dresses that will look wonderful on you. You have great legs, and it’s time to show them off.” She threw several outfits at me. They were very short with vibrant colours. I normally wore trousers, so they weren’t something I was willing to try on.

“Errrgh … I don’t wear dresses,” I mumbled, feeling ungrateful. Heat rushed to my cheeks.

She laughed, shaking her head. “Well, you should. Those old jeans aren’t doing anything for your figure, although you have a great arse,” she added, winking at me and I had to laugh. Then she threw a few more pairs of shorts and pants at me. Within moments, I was almost sorted with an entire wardrobe.

An hour later, I finally had a chance to shower. The bathroom was shared with other female students. I didn’t really care—these conditions were exceptional. It was bliss … to finally feel clean warm water running down my body.

This was going to be my new life as long as I didn’t screw anything up. I walked past other students in the corridors. There were vampires, faeries, shifters, and a few others I didn’t recognise. Deep inside me, I knew I’d made the right decision. I was finally in a place I could call home.