Descending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)

I was ready to get up and just head to see Karina straight away, but the boys held me down. I still had to tell them about Ripley.

“All right, all right. I’m calm now and I have something very important to tell you,” I shouted and lay back on the bed.

Then I started talking, telling them everything from the beginning. Lachlan started pacing.

He stopped and looked at me with his pupils dilated when I revealed what Ripley had done. Marco’s magic was healing me.

By the time I finished talking I was exhausted, but I had to see Karina. She wasn’t going to stay blind. We would find the way to heal her if we pulled together.

“I need to go and report this whole thing to Oldman. Holland was furious when he found out that we got into the trials building,” Lachlan said and then left the room.

Everyone was alive. I sensed Juda’s aura outside. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I should have figured out that Ripley was never on our side.

“Adrian Brooks was Leonidas’ student. Ripley was there to make sure that he got through all the tasks,” I said, thinking about that moment when he revealed why Moore was so interested in me.

I felt so sick to my stomach as the images of Lachlan and me began moving in front of my eyes. Everything else was a little blurry. My mother was there, or maybe it was just an illusion. I still didn’t understand that.

I hid my face in my hands, trying to understand her, but couldn’t. Why would she sleep with a creature like Moore?

“Are you all right Jaymin?” Marco asked once again, bringing me back to the living world.

He was probably sensing the anxious energy that was radiating through me. My life was a complete mess. Why on earth was destiny was so cruel, why did I have to be involved with the ancient vampire.

Ripley was a lying scumbag. He just wanted to hurt me, to do what he did anyway. I couldn’t be Lachlan’s half-sister. I had to discover the real truth.

“Please take me to Karina. I need to see her – she saved my life. I would be dead already if it wasn’t for her,” I said, trying to get out of bed.

The pain shot through me and I wobbled a bit. The stab wound around my stomach was deep.

Marco scratched his head, then he looked towards the door. We were most likely in a supernatural hospital, if there was one in Bucharest.

“Fine, but you have to be quick. There’s a female doctor that wants to throw me off the ward,” he said.

“What did you do? Let me guess. You shagged someone in the bathroom, didn’t you?” I asked, unable to hold my smile. This was so typical of Marco. He didn’t care about any rules and he liked the ladies too much.

“Nah, I was trying to flirt with her, but I thinks she’s a lesbian. No one has ever turned me down before,” he stated and I burst out laughing. He helped me out and shortly after that, we left the room and headed to the end of the corridor. Luckily this place was very quiet so no one stopped us. Apparently, Judas couldn’t come in as I was allowed to have only two visitors at the time. I saw him outside.

Marco’s magic helped a little, even when Judas was telling him that this wasn’t good idea. I was getting stronger, but it was going to take me several more days to fully recover.

We stopped in front of a white door and I swallowed hard. Karina’s energy was so weak.

I was petrified to see her.

Marco opened the door and we walked in. Karina laid on the bed. She had bandages around her eyes. She must have heard us, because she instantly moved.

“Is that you Jaymin?” She asked and then her face contorted in pain.

I got to her quickly, trying to hold back my tears. Damn it, she couldn’t see me breaking now.

“Yes, it’s me and Marco. How are you feeling darling?” I asked, situating myself by her.

My stomach was hurting again, but I was focusing on her energy. It was weak and I had to make her comfortable somehow.

“Like shit to be honest, and my whole face is hurting. Not even sure if I have any eye sockets left,” she said jokingly, breathing in and squeezing my hand at the same time.

“Karina I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. We will find a cure I promise you,” I told her.

Then Marco’s phone started to ring. He swore and said that he needed to take this.

“This is not your fault Jaymin. I couldn’t just watch him strangle you. I don’t even know how I ended up in there,” she said. “It sucks, not been able to see, but at least I’m alive. I have to be grateful for something.”

I kept squeezing her hand, not really knowing what else I was supposed to say. The deadly silence stretched for some time. Karina was always positive even in the worst of situations.

I couldn’t let her down especially now.

“Once I get better, and back in form, I will start searching for something that can help you. Lachlan left to report to Oldman about Ripley. He had no idea that he was the killer.”

“Oh dear Lord, Jaymin. I heard everything. I was barely conscious, but I heard what he said to you in the end,” she said, trying to lift herself up and probably hug me.

I helped her to sit up, feeling overwhelmed once again. Of course she’d heard everything, she was there when that bastard died, and she was conscious enough to hear him.

I shouldn’t have lost control like that. I shouldn’t have killed him. He would have been lynched if he had stood in front of the High Court. Now, he’d take the real truth with him to the grave.

“I’m still processing all of this. I don’t know if any of it is actually true,” I said, wanting to run to Lachlan shake him and ask him why he never confirmed that Moore was his real father.

The flashbacks from the past, the connection between us, it all made perfect sense. I was attracted to my brother and that was wrong on so many levels. I had to suppress these emotions somehow, forget about them forever.

“You don’t have any memories from the past Jaymin, but what if this is true. Could Jonathan Moore have had an affair with your mother?” she asked.

I didn’t want to talk about this. I didn’t understand any of it completely.

“When Lachlan and I were intimate, I kept having flashbacks from my past. I saw my mother and I knew what she looked like. In one flashback, my family was speaking in an English accent,” I explained, rubbing my forehead and having these uncomfortable cramps in my stomach. “He was always the one that brought up past memories.”

The attraction had to be eliminated right away, but I didn’t know how I was going to explain this to him.

How I was going to keep him away from me?

“Do you think Moore knows who you are? He sold you to the fae and then left you to die on the streets. You should be really careful from now on Jaymin,” she told me.

“Maybe. I have no idea. He knows that our energies are somehow connected. He surely would have recognised me. I haven’t changed that much,” I stated, breathing steadily.

What was Moore planning exactly, and was he the one behind all this? Leonidas wasn’t working alone. Questions were mounting inside my head.

“What are you going to do Jaymin?” she asked.

“Right now I’m going to find a way to heal you. I won’t do anything about Lachlan until I investigate his father and figure out who I am,” I said.

“He wants you Jaymin. You would need to do something about that too. There is no way that he’s going to stay away from you,” she told me.

She was right. Lachlan was stubborn and he always got what he wanted.

“Well, in that case I will make him hate me. I’ll do whatever is necessary,” I said.

* * *

I stayed in the hospital two more days until I was completely healed. Karina was going to be here alone and I wanted to stay with her.

She was recovering well, but her eyes were severely damaged by dark magic. She was hopeful that some healers in Kiev could somehow help her. Holland wasn’t happy about our stunt, but Oldman had solved the case. We had done everything we needed to do.

The case was closed for good, but not for me. Leonidas was still out there and he was most likely plotting his next move. We had no idea if other students were already in Elite already. Oldman told me not to worry about that. She had sent that message through Lachlan who came to the hospital every day visiting us.

His father was somehow involved, but I still had no proof. Besides, as per Karina’s advice, I couldn’t bring any attention to myself.

We still stayed in our apartment in Bucharest. Oldman flew back to the Ukraine and she expected the rest of us to follow her shortly.

We all refused to leave Karina on her own, so we had stayed. She was going to be discharged tomorrow and we all wanted to return to Kiev together.

Luckily, Lachlan still kept his distance. I had a feeling that he was giving me space after everything that had happened.

My feelings for him didn’t just go away. On the contrary, I wanted him more than ever and I felt disgusted with myself. I sat in the apartment trying to take my mind off my miserable thoughts when I heard a knock at the door.

Judas, Marco and Lachlan had left earlier on in the day. They were heading to Elite to talk to Principle Holland. Apparently Moore had shown up and demanded an explanation. The boys were there to smooth the situation over. Lachlan’s father was the last person that I wanted to see.

I needed some space to think and I needed to pack Karina’s stuff before tomorrow’s flight.

I opened the door, certain that it was probably Marco. He must have forgotten his keys.

I blinked a few times when I saw Claude standing there instead.

“Hello Jaymin,” he said, and before I could even answer he just walked inside and shut the door behind him. I was surprised to see him here in the city. He looked very handsome; wearing a long black coat with his blond hair cascading over his shoulders.

“Hey Claude. What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to ignore his scent. It was incredible as always.

“I heard about the investigation and I needed to see you. How are you holding up?” he asked.

“I’m fine, come on in,” I invited him in.

Soon we were in the living room. Claude must have noticed the suitcases by the door, because he asked when I was leaving. He was giving me that heated look when my phone suddenly lit up.

I grabbed it, seeing a text message from Lachlan.

See you around 30 min hen. We need to talk.