Half Blood Rising

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.

perform any tests to determine my future, because, honestly, everything is fucked. What the hell do you want from me, Mr. Moore?

the same magic, the burning sensations, were drifting along the surface of my skin. There

I saw pride in them.

can convince Principal Oldman to give you another chance,” he suggested, looking down at my body as though he was assessing me, trying

out. I had no idea why I was acting like that, but he didn’t

Moore,” he called out, mocking me and sounding amused as I turned and

to Dimitry again or Karina. She was in our room, painting her nails. She

around. I had

after the rest of us. She said Lachlan was doing something else, that he

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

Why would they approach him, and why didn’t you say

I felt like crap. “Oldman’s going to expel me, you know. According to Dimitry, I broke all the rules, and I can’t

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.

completely messed her up,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “I need some air;

out, but I told her I really needed to

and buy me some garlic,” she said, handing me some Russian notes. I stared at the money in confusion, thinking she must

“But I—”

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

thinking maybe it would calm me down a little, but

flip inside my chest, and I told myself it was impossible. Was it really the mage who’d

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

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

way here, and I had a few hours, tops, to

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

before they realise he’s missing?” the mage