Fate Hollow Academy: Term 2, page 27
“There’s so much blood.” Norman clicked his tongue, tapping his shoe on the large tank hooked up to the machine.
Bile crept up my throat. I hadn’t even noticed Norman had come with us, but the tank hooked to the machine had at least a couple of gallons of Alister’s blood. Not to mention the blood that woman drank from him.
Tabitha’s hands flew to her mouth. “I know vampires regenerate blood faster than any other supernatural, but that’s way too much blood to be taken, even from him.”
Blair cracked a smile at me. “He will be okay. He just needs rest.”
Kian’s eyes glazed over for a few moments before nodding at me. “He’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”
Relief flooded me. I turned and pressed my hand to his cheek. “Thank the Fates.”
Alister’s eyes cracked open, and our gazes met. Our bond tugged hard, physically pulling my lips to his, and our magic flared.
He let out a groan of pain, and I moved back, careful not to put any weight on him.
Kian held his palm out to me, and the rubies that had merged were sitting in it as one big ruby. “I think this belongs to you.”
“My sweet ruby.” Alister gave me a weak smile before his eyes rolled back in his head.
Kian dropped the ruby into my hand, and I clutched it tightly before my body slumped back into Damien as my grip on consciousness faltered.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Damien
My shadows twitched toward the vampire, aching to paint the drab concrete red with her blood.
“Vicki Fallon; a disgrace of a vampire that left her husband in Cursina after he caught her cheating with his brother. Relies on her seductive nature to get what she wants. Vindictive, with no morals.” I ticked off my fingers as I listed the intel I’d gathered on her when I first got to the academy. “What am I missing?”
“Vampire-napper and blood thief,” Rhett hissed, kicking off the wall and strolling over to me.
The musky scent of the Dragon Reach’s Library filled the basement, but it was perfect for torture. Norman offered the empty room down here for us to extract information from Fallon. He even offered for us to throw her in with the human specimen, for research purposes.
“But of course.” I grinned, leaning over Fallon as she squirmed in the metal chair we tied her to.
Pathetic thing she was. It made my blood boil, thinking of all the times she’d bitched at my mate.
“Fuck all of you.” She spat, but I sidestepped it.
“That’s what you wanted to do, isn’t it?” Rhett’s horns grew from his skull, and his pheromones leaked into the room at an eerily slow rate. “Even when you were rejected multiple times.”
Vicki groaned, pulling at her binds. “I never wanted those two.”
“Good. We belong to my little bird.” I chuckled, turning toward Thorn, who looked out of place with his long blue hair up in a bun and lips curled back in disgust.
The ice fae was royalty, after all.
“She’s hoping Nate will bail her out of this,” he stated with a frown.
“The fire fae?” My brow rose before my head fell back, and I laughed. “That’s fucking hilarious.”
“Don’t tell me, she seduced him to get him to work for her?” Rhett rolled his eyes, and his tail flicked behind him. He was having issues controlling his demon form lately, but I had to admit, it was nice seeing him lose his cool for once.
“No.” Thorn tilted his head, staring at her with darkening eyes. “He approached her. Specifically, over our mate.”
My horns and tail came out as my shadows lurched toward her, wrapping around her throat. “What about her?”
Ice spread across the wall where he stood, and his jaw tightened. “To get rid of her.”
Rhett and I were both towering over her as she struggled against the binds on her hands and my shadow around her throat.
“She wanted Kit out of the way so she could seduce Rhett, Alister, or maybe Rowan. Nate wanted Kit gone to get to me,” Thorn stated, anger dripping from his words.
Rhett growled, and Vicki flashed her fangs at him.
“No, you don’t.” I used my powers to yank them both from her gums and float in front of her as my shadows came back to me. “What’s a vampire without their fangs?”
Blood oozed from the wound, but I could see the ivory nubs growing back.
“They regenerate fangs,” Rhett answered with a growl. “Should have them fully back in half an hour.”
I brought the two fangs into my open palm and dropped them before smirking. “That’s great news for me. Vicki, tell me. What did you and Nate come up with for my little bird?”
She snarled at me, and I lifted a fang in the air before shooting it toward her forehead. The fang hit her right between her brows, and her pain seeped out, fueling my magic as an erratic laugh busted past my lips. “We can do this all night, vampire. Or, you can start talking. Doesn’t make a difference to me.”
“Stop!” she screeched, shaking her head as if it would dislodge the fang I perfectly stuck into her skull.
“Then talk.” I forced the fang further into her skull, making tears flood down her cheeks.
“Fuck, dude. Don’t stab her brain with that,” Rhett muttered, stepping back.
“I know how deep to push it.” I scoffed. Who did he think I was? I didn’t torture for so long to not know the basics.
“Her thoughts are loud,” Thorn growled. “Want her to speak the words, or do you want me to translate?”
I tilted my head. “Getting the answers is more important… for now. What’d she think?”
Vicki’s brown eyes widened as she jerked her head from side to side with a scream. “Take it out!”
“Nate,” Thorn snapped, and the room dropped a few degrees. “He’s been placing enchanted charms on students to influence them to become obsessive or hateful toward Kit. It was Fallon’s idea.”
“No fucking way,” I muttered, running a hand down my face. “I thought it was fucked the way these supernaturals have been targeting her.”
Irritation flared through me, and I growled. I should’ve known something more was up from the threatening nature of the other students. But I was too focused on her to see the bigger picture of why it was happening.
“I knew it.” Rhett’s pheromones increased, and Vicki arched her back in the chair with another scream. “I knew there had to be a fucking reason so many of the students had an issue with a woman as sweet as her.”
“Sweet?” Vicki cried, her body shaking from a mixture of pain and pleasure Rhett didn’t realize he was giving.
“Rhett, control your pheromones,” I hissed, and he stumbled back before sucking them in.
“Why did you want her out of the way so badly?” Thorn asked. “She’s one being. Your plans surely didn’t need the guys that much. Was it just petty jealousy?”
“I’m not jealous of that little bitch!” Her eyes flashed with anger.
I tossed the other fang in the air before piercing her sternum with it, making her screech. “That was just for fun. You were trying to get rid of our mate because you were jealous of her. You deserved it.” I shrugged before pulling both fangs out and catching them in my hand.
Vicki’s form shuddered as the wounds from her fangs healed. “She’s a weak shifter. What makes her so special?”
“She’s got a heart of fucking gold.” Rhett sneered. “Something you’ve never had.”
Letting out a bitter laugh, she met Rhett’s gaze. “You wouldn’t know what I have because you never gave me a chance.”
“Enough of this.” I sent her fang into her cheek, embedding into her cheekbone with a crack.
Pain enveloped her face as she sobbed. “Ask your stupid questions!”
“Thanks for seeing it our way.” I grinned, knowing damn well even if she gave us everything she knew, she’d be dead for hurting my little bird.
“Why are you with the humans?” Rhett asked.
“Call it job security.” She sucked in a labored breath. “Working for the humans gives me an endless payday. They’ll always have a need for a vampire.”
“Why’s that?” Thorn asked.
“Vampires are strong, and humans admire us.” She laughed, her head lulling to the side. “They’re going to take us with them in their evolution!”
“Evolution of what?” I pulled the fang out slightly.
“The war is to gain more supernatural allies and to infiltrate the territories.” She sighed, and her hair fell in her face. “They will take over Kalista as a new and improved species.”
I shoved the fang back into her upper cheekbone as she screamed. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I can’t—”
“You can!” The other fang hurled into her left eye, deep into the socket. Her screams of pain filled my magic, and my shadows swiped at her arms like a whip.
“Okay, okay!” she sobbed.
I brought my shadows back but kept the fang in her eye. “We’re listening.”
“The humans want to become a different breed of human, like the werewolves, but better! The human specimens are close to the form they all want to become. They want to harness technology and magic in the same way we harness magic.”
“And what kind of magic would they use?” Rhett crossed his arms.
“Ours! All the supernaturals’. They want to take our magical essence and combine it with bionics to create an actual superhuman.” Tears flooded her cheeks as snot dripped from her nose. The blood on her face was a fucking improvement.
“How did you sneak them through the wards?”
“I know the weak spots! I just zapped it with my magical energy to create holes big enough for them to enter!”
”Is that all?” I looked at Thorn, who studied Vicki with a calculated expression.
He nodded. “That’s all she knows.”
Rhett growled, and the room grew thick with pheromones. Vicki moaned, and her body shook violently in the chair before her eyes widened.
My shadows lurched into her chest cavity, retrieving her heart and hovering it over her body.
I whipped my head toward Rhett. “What the hell? Did you just steal my kill?”
“She harassed me for months,” he said, but his eyes were wide with fear.
“He didn’t mean to kill her. He didn’t even realize he was using his pheromones,” Thorn said, and Rhett’s shoulders trembled.
“She reminded me of someone I hated,” he spat. “I wanted her to die, and my pheromones must’ve sensed that.”
“But I was going to kill her,” I whined.
“You two are crazy.” Thorn held up his hands before turning toward the door. “My head feels like it’s going to explode, so I’m going to sleep it off. One of you should report to Rowan.”
Rhett and I shared a glance, and I sighed. “Go report to the firedrake. I’ll clean up our mess.”
Another one of my little bird’s threats had been eliminated.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Alister
A tugging in my chest stirred me awake. Behind my lids, a pink tether trailed out at arm’s length, and I reached for it. My hand hit a soft, warm body, and I forced my eyes open to see my sweet ruby lying next to me in my bed with her eyes shut and her breathing steady.
My body throbbed as my magic awakened again. I winced. Whatever liquid the vampire bitch had injected me with isolated my magic in a way I didn’t think was possible, but I couldn’t even think about that. Not when my sweet mate was curled next to me on my bed with tear stains down her cheeks.
“Alister?” Wren’s voice was groggy, but she grabbed the hand I had on her arm and sat up in an instant. “How do you feel? Is everything okay? When did you wake up?”
Magic simmered between us, and I could feel her worry flood into me.
I jolted up, grabbing her and pulling her into my chest without a second thought. “Sweet ruby, are we—”
“Bonded?” Her voice was muffled by my chest. “Yes. It’s how I found you.”
“You… found me?” I breathed in her bearberry scent that I’d missed so much. The last thing I remembered was Vicki plunging the needle into my neck, but then nothing.
“Everyone else tried, but they couldn’t figure out where you were. When they told me that you were missing, my vision dimmed, and I watched the two tethers weave together. It was the most bizarre thing. They merged as I got closer to you, so I followed them. I never thought I’d have the chance to see a matebond with my own eyes, but the Fates allowed me to see ours so I could find you, even though we hadn’t bonded.” Her small arms trembled as she clutched my back in our embrace. “Alister, if I hadn’t been able to find you, I don’t know what I—”
“But you did. Leave it to you to see the complexity of our matebond but struggle with simple aura reading.” I chuckled as I kissed her soft, white hair. “You stayed with me after you found me.”
“Of course I did,” she murmured, squeezing me tighter, sending sparks of our magic through us. “You were asleep for two days.”
“Two days?” My spine straightened, and my gaze scoured the room. Nothing looked out of place in my room. The black floating shelves held all the gemstones on my wall with none out of place, and the only difference was my mate’s scent filling the room. “What happened to—”
“She’s gone.” She pulled back and ran her fingertips gently over my lips, and our bond pulsed with warmth. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so full of rage as I was when I saw what she was doing to you.”
“You, filled with rage?” I cocked a brow as I stared down at her, but her frown stayed on her lips as she searched my face.
“I wanted to kill her,” she admitted with a heavy sigh. “I tried to. If she hadn’t been a vampire, I would’ve done so.”
“You tried to?” My blood heated. “How?”
She bit her lip and glanced to the side. “Um, about that…”
My gaze dipped to the shirt she wore. It was one of Damien’s. I could scent the demon on it, and it looked like that was all she wore. The v-neck dipped, showing off the vein that pulsed in her neck.
My fangs dropped, and a seething pain erupted from my gums for having been dormant for so long. I leaned down and ran my nose up the column of her throat with a purr as my stomach clenched. “You smell so damn good.”
“Oh,” she breathed, angling her neck to give me more access. “Rowan has been having Damien feed me a ton of meat for meals so that you could feed off me when you woke up.”
”Is that what you want?” I dragged my fangs over her neck, watching goosebumps erupt on her flesh.
“Yes,” she moaned.
I pushed her flat on the bed, shifting my body on top of hers. “If I bite you, I won’t just feed. This time, I’ll mark you and bury my cock so deep inside you, you won’t be able to think of the others for the rest of the day.”
Her pupils dilated, and she moved her arms between us before pulling off Damien’s shirt and chucking it off the bed. “Please do.”
I burned the way she looked bare on my bed with her hair fanned out around her perfect face into my brain.
Wren’s transcendent, and she’s mine.
My lips curved into a smirk as I moved off her and undressed myself with my vampire speed. I was back on top of her a second later and pierced her neck with my fangs as our bodies slid against each other with no clothing getting in the way. My venom poured into her veins.
Her blood flowed in steady gushes down my throat, sating the need to fuel my magic reserves. My sweet ruby’s blood was as sweet as cooked bearberries, and the little mewls leaving her as I fed made my cock painfully hard.
Our bond throbbed, and Wren gasped, fisting her hands in my hair and wrapping her legs around my waist. My cock sank into her wet heat, and our magic surged through where we connected.
“Mmm, Alister…” Her throat vibrated, sending small shock waves through my fangs. “Your venom feels so good.”
Wren’s moans were a fucking melody, and her body writhed underneath mine as I sucked the blood from her neck and slammed into her with a primal intensity.
My fangs heated like a brand, and her moans turned into pleasure-filled screams as my fangs branded her neck with the claim of a vampire. A loud, guttural growl tore from my chest as my fangs rescinded into my gums. The growl switched to a purr as I gently bit over my fang marks before lapping at the blood on her neck.
“You’re claimed as mine now.” I kissed the two permanent fang marks on her neck as I slowed the speed of my hips.
“My turn,” she growled, and her canines punctured my neck. Her teeth embedded into my skin sent lightning bolts of pleasure through my body, and I moaned against her neck as I rammed into her.
“That’s right, sweet ruby. Brand me as yours, just as I’ve done to you.” I weaved my fingers through her hair as the bond amplified our pleasure.
My thrusts became brutal, and she yanked her teeth out of my neck with a strangled moan. “Alister!” Her head fell back on the pillow with my blood smeared over her lower face, and the matebond exploded as our gazes met.
Ecstasy shot between the both of us as our groans echoed off the walls and some gems in my room glowed from the magical energy. I rocked my hips into hers, slamming my cock into her until we both shook with our climaxes. Her pussy clenched, taking everything I had to give.
Her arms and legs that were tightly wound around me collapsed, falling into a heap on my bed. Wren’s lips were pulled into a satisfied smile, and her eyelids fluttered shut. “Best vampire bonding… ever,” she breathed.
I chuckled. “I’m your only vampire mate, you know.”
“I know, but still. So good.” Her chest moved up and down steadily.
“Are you falling asleep?” I brushed my nose against hers, and she let out a low grumble, making me laugh.
My sweet ruby had no idea the lengths I’d go to for her.
THIRTY-NINE
Wren
