Half Blood Rising

I went back to the van after ten minutes, when the back door opened, and some human came out. He looked like he worked there, so I quickly walked away, after I left Karina’s clothes by the dumpster. I thought I would appear too suspicious just standing there on my own.

“She’s in,” I said as I slid inside the van. Everyone seemed tense as the silence descended. The heavy rain had most of the tourists leaving for shelter. Maybe the weather was on our side, besides it was too late for most people. There were a lot of historical buildings around that closed their doors by eight p.m.

For a long moment, all we could hear was the rain pelting against the van. It seemed that a storm was approaching. I kept tapping my foot until Judas turned to look at me, so I stopped.

I hated this part, hated waiting, and not knowing what might happen to her. Silence ticked the minutes away. I started messing with my hair. Marco appeared as though he was using magic; he was probably practising before we had to leave. If I was half-fae, then there was still a lot I needed to learn about myself. Time slowed down, or maybe it was just me. At some point, I couldn’t take the tension any longer, so I stood up. It was still raining heavily ten minutes later.

Suddenly the van door opened, and everyone flinched, including me. Karina was soaked, but she seemed all right. She was smiling.

“How did you get here so fast?” I asked. I’d been staring at the back entrance the entire time and didn’t even see her coming out.

“Magic,” she replied, winking at me. “I told you. I’ve done this many times before, so much so, that now, no one realises when I’m back in my human form. I didn’t see Lachlan, but the vampires were talking about him. There are several ancient vamps on the lower level. There are offices on the first floor. I’ve seen a few students, too, but not sure if they’re visiting or if they live there.”

“The Elite Academy was established centuries ago,” Dimitry said, “but I never knew there was a branch in Russia. I suspect that the ancient vampires are part of the clan, but I still don’t understand how they gained access to that building.”

Maybe Leonidas had already made a deal with the councillor—well, that would explain a lot. At the same time, I kept asking myself why the clan would be keeping Lachlan there. My head started spinning a little as energy rushed through me like an invisible threat. Marco gave me another wink. He was trying to connect with me, or maybe he was giving me a boost of his power before our grand entrance.

“There are doors to the other side that lead to the basement, but we’ll have several vamps to go through,” Karina added, and then removed a blade from her boot. “They’re getting ready for some sort of ritual or initiation, so we need to hurry.”

“Our aim is to get him out of there alive. Are you ready for this? I mean, to use your magic to kill?” Dimitry asked, like he wanted to make sure we were willing to use our abilities.

Everyone nodded, and I pulled out two of my knives. Then electricity rushed through my fingers instantly. I felt good, and I was grateful to Marco for healing me.

“Lead on, female. Time is running out, and blood will be spilled tonight,” Judas said, and everyone looked at him like he’d just spoken in another language.

It was still raining damn heavily as we left the van, following Karina. We circled the building a few times. I wasn’t sure what this was about, but I trusted her. Maybe she was trying to find a better way in. I was gripping my knife tightly in my hand when we stopped by an old rusty door that was hidden behind some rubbish.

twice

felt like I was walking into a coffin, but soon enough, the corridor widened further, and my anxiety faded. I hated narrow paths, I

The silence was unnerving once again, and

I reacted, realising we were being attacked. My opponent was a vampire, I figured

in my ear. Others were fighting, too, I was seeing flashes of lightning power. I kicked my opponent, but he wasn’t letting go of me. Marco was throwing magic towards the group who’d appeared along the side of the

I need to drink

gut with my elbow, and he finally let go. My muscles were stiff as hell, but it gave me a few seconds to pull my energy together. He lunged for me just as I withdrew my knife, stabbing him in the gut. He roared with pain, trying to grab me again. His pupils were dilated, and the

along the ground, and I nearly tripped over one. Judas was drinking from another, and I turned away when he started ripping his

with pain, adding pressure to the other side. He was quick, and his fangs would have pierced my skin if I hadn’t done it. I could sense his desire and

few times, then the magic around me exploded. Light flashed from my palms, and he was thrown to the other side of the basement, landing on the ground. His neck was twisted in an

even called upon my magic, it just burst out of

the fine hair on my arms to rise. There were several decapitated corpses lying around. The lights in this corridor

one had been seriously injured just yet. We defeated a few, but there were several vampires approaching. We

the streets, using trial and error. A lot of times, I was stabbed, cut, and even knocked out. It had been a dark time in my life, and sometimes,

supposedly where Lachlan was being held. Bright lights were pointing at each one. It was the basement graveyard where most vampires created their nest, fed, and had sex.

now?” Judas asked. “How are we going to find him here? Do we need to

Karina said, walking up to the first tomb. “We need to check each one, he could be anywhere.” Each tomb was tightly shut, with a large entrance made of huge yellow stone the size of a car. No human could lift it

all glanced at Marco. This could easily exhaust him, but we still needed to

but what I saw next blew my mind. Marco brushed his hair, pulled up the sleeves of his shirt, and released a blue light that literally moved the largest stone out of the

I was expecting to see a bunch of vampires barging out towards us, but nothing happened. Then we heard several long hissing sounds—well, it sounded like several people at once, like

least twice by a few, luckily, they didn’t have a chance to drink from me. The smell was horrendous: death, sweat, and blood. I kicked several, and they started dropping like flies. Their abilities hadn’t been developed yet, so we didn’t have to cut off their heads. My knives were useful. This was sad, a lot of them were

have been using this place as breeding tombs,” Karina said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. “I bet there are more of them

opened each tomb, then so be it. We still had to get the hell out of here after we rescued Lachlan. I was worried about Ramona and the others.

incredible magic. It was a blissful feeling, until my fangs descended. This time around, only one vampire came out of the tomb. He was very pale, with a mass of black curly hair, and his eyes were bloodshot. He didn’t