Descending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)

“Well, this wasn’t all for nothing. I overheard something really important right before Mia attacked you,” I said, thinking that it was time to change the subject. I quickly explained everything to her.

Karina widened her eyes at me. At least she seemed in a much better mood now. She was a tough cookie with a jaded past.

“That makes sense now,” she said, still thinking. “Marisa’s father was an alpha in a rival pack in Sweden. She was always a quiet girl, but I suspect that her father must have paid someone off so she could be allowed to go through trials. I don’t see any other explanation.”

“I think Judas made a few connections. I saw him earlier on, hopefully we will be able to identify this guy sooner rather than later,” I said. “So, have you seen her again … you know that shifter with whom you had an affair with?”

“No, but afterwards the male shifters of the pack came after me for a long while. She stayed with the alpha … I think she had no other choice. At that point I relocated to Norway and this is where Oldman scouted me. To be honest with you I was lucky enough that I survived. My heart was so weak. I was in love with her.”

“I don’t think I have ever been in love,” I sighed. I didn’t know why I was suddenly so nostalgic. “Anyway, I think you should get dressed. It’s bloody freezing and I guess this party is done and dusted.”

Karina laughed.

“I’m a shifter dear, we don’t get cold, but you’re right it’s a little nippy. I keep forgetting that you’re only half vamp. And why was Lachlan so pissed off earlier on?”

“Because I showed up at the party with Claude,” I said, looking down to my feet. “And apparently he used compulsion on me and I didn’t even notice.”

“Uhmmm, so he’s jealous of the big new vampire, that’s interesting,” she said, nudging me with her arm. “How do you feel about him? He didn’t used to like you, but then something changed.”

She was right. Lachlan had wanted to crush me. Maybe he’d felt threatened by me until I saved him in Russia.

I had no idea how to answer her.

It was true that I was attracted to him, but this whole thing about me being a fae was so damn complicated. Besides, right now I couldn’t commit to anyone, especially Lachlan.

“He wants me to be Ramona, but relationships are complicated, especially in our settings. It’s too much and all too soon,” I sighed, wanting to be honest with her.

Then, more and more students started to coming out of the chapel. I’d had enough for tonight and Karina looked worn out. “Let’s go, Claude and the rest of them can clean up. I’m tired.”

“Thank you Jaymin,” Karina stopped me and touched my hand again. She looked troubled. “I appreciate you listening and not judging me. I fucked up, really really fucked up in my life and now I’m trying to make amends. I hope I haven’t screwed our investigation. This girl is still an academy student.”

“She must have passed the trials,” I said and then I realised that I was much stronger than before. I’d kicked the ass of a very mature Elite student. That was impressive even if I did think so myself.

“She was always talented, but I still had no idea how she did it. To me it wouldn’t have been obvious that she could get in. Now all the supernaturals are going to talk about you. This is huge.”

“What is?” I asked her.

“The fact that you kicked Mia’s ass and sent her to hospital,” Karina snorted. She obviously found this hilarious like me, but on the other hand, now we needed to avoid all the attention as much as physically possible. At the same time, I was filled with pride. It seemed that my magic was developing and increasing exponentially.

We headed towards our dorms. My heart was still jackhammering inside my chest. Karina embraced me and gave me a warm smile.

“Seriously I feel like I have gained a real sister. You’re awesome Jaymin Clarence I want you to remember that,” she whispered to my ear.

The warmth spread through me and I instantly felt better. That night, for the first time in a long time, I went to sleep feeling calm. I wasn’t doubting myself anymore. Karina built me up and she made me feel like I finally belonged somewhere. And it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up feeling very sore, my muscles and my head hurt. These were the side effects of my magic. Karina seemed in a much better mood too and I was relieved.

Oldman told us all that we were supposed to blend into Academy life, that meant we ate breakfast in the cafeteria, so we decided to head downstairs and do exactly that.

When we showed up everything about the Academy seemed suddenly very ordinary. I felt like we were back in Moonlight once again. Students were eating, well vampires were drinking blood, but we couldn’t feel any tension. Everyone seemed relaxed. A few students glanced at us as we sat down.

Obviously, the access to the faculty and advanced magic area was limited. Claude mentioned that it was only for selected students. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the world, but being here now it certainly didn’t feel this way.

“And why are you two are in such a good mood this morning?” Marco asked when he approached us later on. He picked up my toast and shoved it in his mouth.

I was outraged that he took my food, but he was right. I was chatting and laughing with Karina and I hadn’t even noticed that everyone was staring at us. We heard snippets and whispers. A lot of them were staring at me. I didn’t understand what was going on. My energy was calm, so I figured it was the gossip from last night’s events.

“We are just happy,” I said, grinning at him, trying to ignore the students that were still staring.

“Did you make any progress last night?” Karina answered, winking at me.

The magic began rising slowly around us, lifting and shifting in the air. These were the little things that I had started to pick up on. The new magical energy was getting into my bloodstream. I had a feeling that this had something to do with the academy wards. The protection spells around this place were very advance.

“Yeah, I hooked up with that witch. She was intense and I barely felt like myself this morning,” Marco said, stretching his arms. Two female vampires, two tables ahead of us giggled, staring at him.

I had to roll my eyes.

“That is not what we were asking and you know it,” I muttered, wondering what the hell had happened to Lachlan this morning.

Marco gave us one of his most devilish smiles and sat down.

“Well, we need to track the boyfriend of your friend,” he said.

“We know that Marco, so did you do anything else last night apart from making out with some hot chick?” I asked him.

That party last night was filled with lust and sex. Marco felt like a fish in the water. He had obviously decided to get to know all the students around the academy on much deeper level.

“Of course,” he muttered. “So, what are you actually insinuating? That I don’t do shit, that I just shag?”

“That’s exactly what you do Marco,” Karina snorted and I giggled. He knew that we were messing with him.

“What can I say, most girls love me and just can’t resist me,” Marco added, puffing up his chest and then dragging his hand through his hair. He truly wasn’t that vain, he just liked winding us up.

Moments later, Lachlan strolled through the room and he didn’t look like himself. He was much paler than usual. His aura was off too. It appeared that he was still pissed off about something.

“Morning sunshine,” Karina greeted him, nudging me with her elbow. Juda was right behind him, appearing to be much more alert.

Lachlan gave her annoyed look and then sat down.

“So, did anyone find out anything useful last night?” Juda asked. Most vampires didn’t need to eat, but this morning there was more than enough students at breakfast. Most of them drank donor’s blood. I didn’t want to ask any questions. It was easier if I appeared clueless.

“Marisa had a boyfriend and apparently she broke up with him the night she was killed,” I said, trying to put my wild emotions and feelings aside. Lachlan was probably still pissed off with me that I’d showed up at the party with Claude. I’d let him manipulate me a little and that was a big mistake on my part.

“Good, then we have to talk to him. We should ask Claude–”

“We are not asking him shit. That clown has his own agenda. Let’s finish up our business here and then do our own thing. Vampires are obliged to help us with this damn investigation,” Lachlan said, looking around. He instantly frowned, because he must have noticed that everyone was staring at us.

We hadn’t had a chance to talk since the party. I didn’t owe him any explanation.

We weren’t together and he had to finally understand that little fact.

“Good call, but the guy isn’t in here. The girl that I was with last night said that he hasn’t been seen since that night when the bodies were discovered,” Marco said, which put all of us in difficult position.

We really needed to make better progress.

“Let’s start asking questions. I have a feeling that supernaturals here don’t want us to find the truth,” Juda stated. Everyone was nodding and Lachlan gave me a long look. He didn’t say anything. I suspected that he was waiting to speak to me in private.

“Yeah, let’s just split up and start hanging around with other students. We won’t find anything by sitting around together,” Karina stated.

The main academy building was filled with gothic features. I didn’t know when exactly the academy had been set up, but the rules had certainly changed in that time.

I nodded to Karina and took my tray back. We all went in different directions. I wasn’t certain if this was such a good idea, but we needed a breakthrough, any kind of progress or possibly a strong lead.

I approached two fae that were siting by the door and just started talking to them about the classes. I wasn’t very good at making small talk, but I realised that I had to build rapport in order to get something.

This didn’t go well. They bluntly refused to tell me anything. Their energies were overwhelmingly strong and they were both very pretty girls. I needed to figure out another way.

After a while it looked like none of us had much luck, but we were getting used to it.

I had a feeling that the all the teachers were working against us, so we really had our work cut out for us.

“I’m going to talk to Claude about this whole situation. Elite must have files that we could access,” I told Karina later on when we returned to our accommodation.

No one wanted to say anything. I’d even gone to the library, hoping to make some kind of connection with someone there, but without any luck. The word had spread fast. Many must have heard about what happened last night, because supernaturals were deliberately avoiding me.

The academy had a truly incredible collections of books. There were several vaults on many different levels. This was my idea of heaven.

Sadly, I was only here to solve this damn murder and figure out who was helping Leonidas.

I sat down in the corner and for a minute, I studied a few ancient magical records of previous Elite students, trying to figure out if Marisa’s relatives had been students here when someone approached me.

“You haven’t been cleared to look through these books,” the older Librarian said. She was a vampire too, a full blooded one.

“I wasn’t planning to take anything out of the library, I’m trying to work,” I told her, pissed off that things around here were so difficult at every turn.

“I have my orders, you need to take this up with principle Holland,” she barked and then walked away. Suddenly there were magical wards everywhere and I felt like I was being pulled away. Damn it. Holland was making this very difficult for us. What the hell was going on?

What was Holland so afraid of? We were only trying to help him and discover who had killed his students.

I thanked her, shook my head and then left. There was no point arguing the point any further. Moments later, I was climbing the stairs, heading towards the exit. I passed a few students on the way, as usual, they stared at me whispering between themselves.

I turned round the corner and headed through a long dark corridor. The silence was unnerving and all of a sudden I felt a dark twisted energy pound through me. Someone’s fear radiated through my veins. It was their aura, sometimes I could sense it around other supernaturals, but only sometimes.

“What the hell are you doing man? We were only talking,” I heard someone’s voice and stopped abruptly. The magic was so potent coursing through my veins that it took my breath away. In the corner, just by the wall, I saw Marco. I knew that I had recognised that voice somewhere before.

He was with two vampires. One of them was a young female. She looked very frightened. The other one was a male, but I couldn’t see his face.

“Leave Maureen. I need to have a serious conversation with this fae,” the male vampire snapped. The female nodded obediently and then vanished leaving Marco alone. “Now, tell me what were you trying to find out from her?”

The male approached the light and then I saw his face clearly. My stomach made a funny jolt because I realised that it was Lachlan’s father. What the hell was he doing in here in the academy?

And on top of that, he was using compulsion on Marco. This was very curious indeed.