She was thoroughly warmed up by the time the doors to the training room opened, revealing two men. Well, one man and one man-boy. She couldn’t tell exactly how old he was but it was obvious that he was older than most of the people in the room by a couple years. He looked to be a college student of some sort.
The older man next to him was in great shape. His bald head shone in the fluorescent lights of the gym and his arm muscles bulged out of his tank top almost comically so. Okay, so he wasn't old, probably more like mid thirties or near that. He looked like a bodybuilder, but then again, so did the young guy next to him.
Try as she might to stop, Blues eyes flickered back to him almost of their own accord. This time though, he was staring right at her. Her breath caught as those chocolate eyes gazed back at her with an intensity she was unaccustomed to. The boy had long, shoulder length brown hair, tied back with a rubber band. He wore a tight fitting black shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. ‘Pants like that should be illegal…’ She grumbled to herself.
The boy smirked. ‘Shit! Did I say that out loud?’ Her face flamed and she forced her eyes away from him reluctantly. Still though, she could feel his eyes on her like a physical caress and she knew it was about to be a very long couple of hours.
The class was introduced to Mr. Orozco, Self Defence Master and self proclaimed ‘Toughest Slayer to ever live.’ She’d rolled her eyes at that. The man was full of himself. He began the class by sparring with the young man he’d come in with.
“Watch as Cole here goes for my jugular…” He called out before they grappled and indeed, Cole lunged for Mr. Orozco's neck, teeth bared and for just a moment, Blue could have sworn she’d seen a fang. ‘Nah… no way.’ She shook the thought from her head.
“See how he focuses on the prize?!” He screeched as Cole frantically snapped his teeth in the instructors face, just as a real Vamp would have.
“Single mindedness is the biggest weakness these bloodsuckers have, always take advantage of that. They don’t care for banter, they don't care about your words. All these creatures want is to drain you of blood!” He pulled a wooden stake from one of the many pockets of his cargo pants.
Blue watched in fascination as they grappled. Cole was strong, she could see that right away. The way his corded muscles bunched beneath the thin fabric of his shirt made her feel a bit breathless. He wasn’t even sweating. His tanned skin looked healthy and strong and those dark eyes seemed to hold a certain glee in them… almost as if he truly enjoyed himself.
One moment the men had been sparring, and the next, Cole had a stake plunged straight through his chest. Blue screamed as she lurched forward to help him. It was instinct and she moved before she could tell herself not to.
“What the fuck did you do?!” She screamed at Mr. Orozco.
She scrambled to Cole on the ground and placed her hands on his chest to keep him from getting up. The rest of the class hushed down, simply watching her and she was confused as to why she was the only one alarmed by the situation. They were acting as if it were normal for an instructor to stab a student in the chest.
“Hold still, Cole. We need to get this thing out of your chest before it splinters.” She told him as she searched him over, almost in a panic. “Why isn’t anyone helping me?!” She yelled to the rest of the room as they watched the spectacle.
A warm hand on her forearm brought her gaze back around. Her eyes met a pair of hard brown ones, but they held a hint of laughter in them.
“I’m okay…I promise. It's only a scratch.” Cole assured her in possibly the smoothest voice she’d ever heard. She ignored the chills it sent snaking down her spine. He was in danger.
“A scratch? You have a wooden spear protruding from your body and you call it a scratch? Are you insane?” She felt his forehead for fever. Clearly he was delusional.
Grabbing her wrist in his hand, he held onto her fingers for a moment and she let him.
“Trust me, I’ve had worse…I’ll heal within the hour, don’t you worry.”
Blue drew back her hand, clutching it to her chest as she studied him a little closer. Suddenly, his eyes seemed a bit too sparkling. His skin was too rich, hair too thick. There was something utterly wild about Cole.
“You're a Wolf.” She stated bluntly. It made sense now.
Cole nodded, cracking a smile and letting a hint of fang peak through. It was oddly appealing and she hated it.
She couldn’t really say she was surprised. She knew there were Werewolves on campus, though there weren't many of them. The few they did have around served as Guardians of the school and nearby land surrounding it. They watched over Arcane like sentinels, keeping the students safe, and in return they gained prime hunting grounds and safety from the humans who would love nothing more than to hunt them. That explained the hole in his chest. Werewolves were incredibly hard to kill. It would take much more than a feeble wooden stake to off Cole, and now she felt like a asshole in front of the rest of the class.
“This seems like something I should have known already…isn’t it?” She asked through gritted teeth.
Cole shrugged with a pleased grin that made her want to smack it off his face. “I’m pretty sure you're the only one on campus who doesn’t know what I am, that's not exactly my fault.”
“Ugh, whatever. Have fun pulling that tree out of your ribcage, Wolfy.” She grumbled and she staggered back to her feet.
“What, no mouth to mouth? I thought you were being all chivalrous and whatnot?” He called after her as she walked away from him and took her place in the group of onlookers, waiting for the lesson to begin again.
She could hear students snickering around her, no doubt ripping into her for being such a dumbass. Looking at him now, how could she have not seen it? Obviously he was a Guardian. He was too tall to be a normal boy, too muscular. Yes, Slayers developed early on and were often much more developed than regular humans, but there was just something about a Werewolf that screamed power.
Now that was something the movies and TV shows got right. Werewolf lore had been passed down through even human history and most of it was pretty spot on. Unlike Vampires, Werewolves were able to retain all of their humanity, even while shifting into their wolf forms. The magic which fueled their transition kept their minds intact, unlike the Vamps who were overcome by the virus. See, Vampirism wasn’t magical, nor was it natural in any way. Somewhere along the line of supernatural history a human had been infected with a demonic virus which turned them into a Vamp and so on until more and more were infected and changed. It was like a plague that spread through humanity like rats.
Many hundreds of years later, the first Slayers had begun to pop up in non magical families until soon there were hundreds, if not more. Nature seemed to have a certain way of fighting off viruses and Slayers were it, the perfect predators. Slayers and Werewolves had created alliances as the years passed. Since werewolf bites were toxic to Vampires in wolf form due to the magic lacing their bloodstream, Wolves often pledged their support to the Slayer communities in return for protection since their numbers were dwindling. It all worked very fluidly and recent years had seen Vampire sightings lessen.
The rest of Self Defense breezed by without any more drama. Some of the other students still watched Blue with judgy eyes now and then but for the most part everyone seemed focused. Blue suspected the renewed enthusiasm must have stemmed from Savannahs death. People were on edge and so was she.
Weapons training hadn’t been as exciting as she had anticipated. Their instructor, a much older man by the name of Mr. Zion had waxed on for what seemed like hours on the history of advanced swordplay. Her hands itched to grab her stakes throughout the boring lesson and she could have sworn a few Slayers had been sleeping towards the back of the room.
Lunch was served in the dining hall, a cavernous room filled with lit torches, crystal chandeliers and tapestries depicting weaponry and several prominent family crests. Circular tables complete with white tablecloths were sp
read out through the room like a restaurant. Piles of food were piled onto plates in the center of each table and Blue mentally rolled her eyes. This was a highschool for crying out loud, why they needed crystal goblets and silver dishware was beyond her.
It was awkward at first, having all eyes turn to her the moment she entered the room. The whispers began shortly after. Waving arms from the other side of the room caught her attention and Blue let out a relieved breath when she locked eyes with Ronnie. David was already next to her and it looked like they were alone at the table.
Blue felt stupid and childish for letting the stares and whispers get to her so much. She had always prided herself on the thick skin she had been forced to develope. Highschool with humans hadn’t been nearly as daunting, but it hadn’t been without it's bumps in the road. She had never been a popular girl. She was a little too weird, a little too off putting for anyone to really stick close to her for long.
“Okay, are you perpetually pissed off? Or does your face just naturally look like that?” Asked Ronnie the moment Blue dropped into her seat.
“I just look like this, trust me, it's a good self defence tactic.” She quipped and David snorted through a sip of water.
“I take it your first day didn’t go so well?” He asked.
Sighing heavily, Blue grabbed a buttery looking roll from the pile and took a big bite before answering.
“Nah, it was fine for the most part, but I can’t believe I got stuck with math class first thing in the morning…Oh! By the way…I made an ass out of myself in Self Defense.”
Her new friends eyebrows rose collectively.
“Now this I gotta hear…Come on, what'd you do, did you hurt someone already?”
Blue snorted. “Do you have so little faith in me already? I thought this might be the start of a beautiful friendship.”
“Come on! The deets!” Ronnie urged, on the edge of her seat. Her red curls were still damp, she probably just came from the gym as well.
Blue took another glutinous bite, swallowing the rest of her roll whole and probably looked super ladylike. A part of her hoped others had seen it.
“Orozco staked some guy in the chest and I thought he was dying. Naturally, I freaked the hell out and now everyone thinks I’m an idiot.”
A moment passed before her friends erupted in laughter.
“Yeah, laugh it up…I really thought he was a goner though.” Stupid Werewolf… She added mentally.
“Hold on, are you talking about Cole, as in Cole Harlan?” Ronnie asked with wide eyes.
“That's the one.”
“Holy shit, Blue!” She laughed some more. “You really thought Orozco killed Cole Harlan?!” The laughter continued and now Blue was getting irritated.
“How was I supposed to know he was a Guardian? It’s not like I was paying that much attention!” She lied. In reality, he’d had her whole entire attention but she would never willingly admit that. Nope.
While Ronnie lost herself to her own laughter, David, bless his kind heart, decided to throw her a bone. ‘Bone…Werewolves…I need to stop.’ She chastised herself.
“Girl, Cole Harlan is one of Arcanes elite Guardians. Nobody messes with that guy. He was a student here until he graduated last year, but even before that he’d already been a Guardian since he was fifteen.”
Her eyes widened at that. That was impressive. Fifteen was much too young to be deemed a full fledged Guardian. Normally, a Were would attend Arcane for the full four years, taking all the same classes as the Slayers plus a few more Werewolf based courses. After graduation, if a Were had been a part of the graduating class, the school would hold a Guardianship ceremony for the wolf. It was a huge event and one of the highest honors a young Werewolf could receive.
“Wow. I really made an ass of myself. I feel a lot better now, thanks.” She grabbed a chicken leg, ready to eat her feelings away.
Ronnie had recovered herself finally, but humor still danced in her eyes.
“I’m sure he’s forgotten all about it by now. Cole’s not really the type to mingle or gossip too much. He’s really serious and mostly keeps to himself or the other wolves. You’ll be okay, probably.”
“That's super reassuring.” Blue mumbled around a mouth full of admittedly delicious fried chicken. She ate in silence after that, lamenting the thought of her next two classes and planned on taking the world's longest nap as soon as the clock struck four.
Six
“And you're just telling me this now? My God, Blue Jay you haven’t even been there for a week!” Screeched Harlow's voice on the other end of the phone.
Blue held it away from her ear, waiting for her sister to stop being dramatic, which was no small feat in itself. She crouched on the bottom step of a large stone staircase that led out the back door of the kitchens. The woods beyond the cobblestone pathway looked eerie in the quiet foggy night.
“I’m sorry okay? I’ve had a lot on my plate and it's just day two. I already embarrassed myself horribly, pissed off one of my oldest friends and might possibly have an instructor who wants to cut off my head…”
Harlow sighed heavily.
“You need to get it together. This is our families one chance…”
“What family?” Blue interrupted. “Because we're all that's left in case you forgot. The Graves might as well be extinct. I’m just here so I can finally get put on a team and do what I was born to do. I have no interest in kissing anyone's boots.”
“Don’t talk like that! Like it or not we’re still a family. We’re still a team and I don’t believe for one second that you don’t care about our reputation. You know we don’t deserve to be cast out…”
Her sister sniffled a little over the line and Blue felt her chest deflate, the anger she’d pent up floated away, replaced with hurt for Harlow. As hard as she was on her older sister, Blue knew that she had always looked out for her, even as a child it had been the two of them through it all.
“Look…I’ll try, alright? But Har, I can’t promise you anything. They already hate me here and they don’t even know me. They only know what lies were fed to them… I honestly don’t know if I’m capable of charming my way out of this one.”
Harlow chuckled “I believe in you baby sis. Just bat those pretty lashes and make a friend or two, it can’t be that hard.”
“You're hopeless, you know that right?” Blue couldn't help but laugh. Harlow was forever the light hearted one and all the cynicism seemed to settle on Blue.
They said their goodbyes with promises to talk later in the week, but just before they hung up, Blue felt a sharp pang of what she could only describe as homesickness in her chest. The feeling was cold, and hard to describe, but it was like a yearning for something she could not identify. She made a mental note to definitely check in with Harlow more than twice a week.
She sat there for a moment, daydreaming of home, but her eyes were lost in the mist. Behind the school there wasn’t much to see but a vast sea of tall trees. Arcane was surrounded on all sides by a thick forest, hiding it away from the world in a place where humans tended to leave alone. It was a foggy night and it seemed to have settled low on the forest floor so thickly that it almost looked like snow cover.
It wasn’t a particularly chilly night, and Blue had no coat with her, but she decided to take a walk in the woods. To any normal person, a walk in the woods alone might seem like the world's worst idea ever, but for a Slayer, it was perfectly safe. Her brand new stakes were securely strapped to her thighs inside her holsters. She grazed her fingers along them idly as she walked.
The forest was quiet, save for the melodic chirping of crickets, reassuring her that she was alone for the moment. There was a dirt path that wound its way through the trees and she suspected it was used for jogging or cars even. As she walked, Blue thought about the abrupt turn her life had taken and wondered not for the first time how she might survive the next two years. So far, she was less than impressed with the school as a whole. She’d dreame
d of attending her whole life but she had always imagined it a different way.
In her mind's eye she had seen herself at the top of every class, creating alliances and growing into the strongest and most skilled Slayer there ever was. Just like her father had always wanted for her. Thoughts of her father made her heart physically squeeze in her chest. Bernard Graves had been an amazing dad. He’d loved his girls more than anything in the universe and he’d made it his life's mission to make them into strong women. She’d only been seven when he and her mother had been ripped away from them in the most brutal way, but she would never forget his love and devotion.
Tears pricked her eyes but she blinked them away rapidly. Blue never cried. That was one of the many lessons she’d taken to heart, though maybe not in the way they had intended. Crying wasn’t a show of weakness, but of strength. Her parents had often told her to let her emotions run freely and it would make her a stronger person. They had taught her that crying was cleansing, allowing for the negativity to seep from her body so that she could start anew. But she never gave in. It was her one weakness. She let her emotions bottle up inside of her, piling higher and higher until the anger, sadness and betrayal threatened to burst out of her skin. When the tears tried to fall, it made her skin itch, like she had no right to cleanse her body of the grief. And so she never cried. Not one single time in ten years.
✽✽✽
Up ahead and through the trees, Blue could see a dark outline of shapes she could not identify. There was darkness all around her, but shafts of moonlight filtered in from above, lighting up the pathway for her easily.
Soon she found herself standing at the small iron gates of a graveyard. Her eyes widened as she gazed out at the blanket of stone graves and mausoleums that spread out for miles. The forest trees were thinned, creating the illusion of a valley surrounded by a wall of trees. Fog undulated between every headstone. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was sure she’d seen this place before. Vaguely, she could remember visiting the graves of her grandparents with her mom and dad, but childhood memories were fuzzy like that. She could usually remember specific times and instances, but not how she got there or where exactly she was.
Blue Blooded: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Arcane Academy Slayers: Book 1 ) Page 4