Darkblood Academy: Book One: Half-Blood (A Supernatural Academy Series)

by G. K. DeRosa

  Cillian’s watchful eyes moved from Ryder to me and back again.

  “I’ll be fine.” I couldn’t handle him looking at me like that anymore. “If you guys think I’ll be safe with The Seven then I’m sure I will be. Besides, I’ve got a super cool magical blue safety bubble, right?”

  “Right.” Ryder smirked. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” This time he didn’t stop himself. His fingers closed around mine, and my heart flip-flopped. Turning to Cillian, he lifted his hand to his forehead, saluting. “See you soon, boss. Watch over the kid, huh?”

  The imposing angel rolled his eyes, but a slight smile parted his perfect lips. “Of course. Good luck.”

  As soon as the door behind Ryder closed, Cillian turned to me, a knowing look in his sky blue eyes. “So is my demon nephew taking good care of you?”

  I still found it weird when Cillian called Ryder his nephew. The guardian angel only looked a few years older than him. “Umhmm. He’s a great instructor.”

  “Good.” He stood up and motioned for me to follow him as he typed a quick message on his tablet. “I apologize for not being truthful with you from the beginning, but I didn’t want to assert undo pressure. The move from the human world to this one had to be life-altering enough.”

  I trailed beside him as we descended the stairs of administration and headed toward the main hall. “It was. But I’ve been lucky to have Cinder to show me the way and even some of the other students have surprised me.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Your sister was worried about how you’d acclimate, but I’m pleased her concerns were unfounded. She really does care about you, you know?”

  I nodded. I knew she and Cillian were still tight, and if anyone still loved her, he would be on the top of my list. Kimmie-Jayne had been texting on occasion, but she hadn’t been back to visit since she dropped me off. It stung a little.

  Glancing up, the double doors of the gym drew me away from my thoughts.

  “Are you ready to meet the team?” Cillian asked as he swung the heavy doors open.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that half of the team—the female half—would rather see me dead than protect me. True to form, Raine’s flirty smile morphed into a scowl as she glanced over Drake’s shoulder at my approach.

  Cillian lifted his hands, and everyone quieted. “Thank you for gathering so quickly. I’m sorry about the late hour, but Ryder was forced to leave and I have a new mission for the seven of you.”

  Drake’s eyes caught mine, something unreadable in his expression—as usual. Ash, Triston and Raf stood beside him, and they each gave me warmish smiles. Scarlett looked bored, and Aeria twirled a lock of blue hair around her finger. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. Only Raine seemed intent on handing me over to the nearest demon.

  “As you all know, Luna has been marked. As such, she’s been informed as to the team’s real purpose here at the academy. You all did a wonderful job killing the relix demon and now you’ve been tasked to protect her from what’s to come.” His voice lowered, taking on a dangerous edge. “And more will come.”

  “Why can’t Ryder do this?” asked Raine. “Isn’t she his responsibility?”

  “She is all of our responsibilities, Raine. As is the safety of all the students at the academy.” I swore he suppressed an eye roll, and I liked our headmaster just a little bit more because of it. “In any case, Ryder has gone to the Underworld to speak to his father. Until we can find a way of removing the mark, no one at Darkhen is safe.”

  A chill skittered up my back at his ominous words.

  Drake lifted his hand, waggling his fingers. “I can take the first shift.”

  “Thank you, Drake. While that’s very generous of you, the first shift will be an overnight one and as such, I feel it would be more appropriate for Luna to stay with the ladies.”

  My stomach plummeted. A whole night with Raine? She would definitely murder me in my sleep.

  “She has to stay with us?” Aeria complained.

  “Since the three of you ladies are suite mates it would make the most sense. There’s no reason to put Luna’s roommate, Cinder, in danger unnecessarily.”

  The idea suddenly didn’t sound so bad. The last thing I wanted was for Cinder to get caught up in this mess.

  “She can stay in my room,” offered Scarlett. “I have an extra bed.”

  “Perfect, thank you, Scarlett.” Cillian turned to the other girls. “I need one of you on guard at all times. You can alternate sleeping. If anything happens, call me immediately. I don’t want you taking any unnecessary risks.” Then he pivoted toward Drake. “You can pick up Luna from the girls’ dorm in the morning and escort her to class. I’ll leave it up to you boys to coordinate a schedule. Everyone understand?”

  A mumble of yeses echoed across the empty gymnasium.

  “I’ll be on guard myself tonight, patrolling the campus along with our regular security team. Call me for anything.” Cillian squeezed my shoulders, bending down to my eyelevel. “You’ll be safe with them. I promise. And Ryder will be back with answers very soon.”

  “Thanks, Cillian.”

  As soon as the angel left, Drake sauntered over. His gaze narrowed in on the mark on my chest. “Ooh, that looks brutal. Does it sting?”

  “A little.” I rubbed at the raised symbol. Mostly it just creeped me out.

  “Let’s get this sleepover on the road. Shall we?” Raine swaggered by, motioning for me to follow.

  Oh boy, was this going to be fun.

  Chapter 20

  After picking up a few necessities from my dorm and vaguely explaining what was going on to Cinder, the girls escorted me to their rooms. I had to promise my roommate I’d tell her exactly what was going on tomorrow. And I would. Regardless of what I’d promised Cillian about keeping his elite team a secret. Cinder was my roomie and best friend, and if I asked her to, she’d keep their secret too.

  All of The Seven lived on the seventh floor—the Fae level of the dormitory. Apparently, training and living together were essential to bonding.

  After spending only about twenty minutes with the girls, it was clear Scarlett wasn’t too fond of the arrangement. I couldn’t blame her. Raine and Aeria blatantly ignored the vampire the entire time we trudged through the dormitories.

  Finally reaching the seventh floor, Raine stopped in front of a door with two golden nameplates on it. “This is our room, and Scarlett’s is right next door. We share the bathroom so you can get in that way. If you need to.”

  “Got it.”

  Raine turned to Scarlett, her cute pixie nose in the air and pointed. “You take the first shift since she’s staying in your room anyway. You can wake Aeria up at two, and I’ll take the last shift at four.” She glanced at her watch and sighed. “At least I’ll get six hours of sleep.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered as Aeria and Raine disappeared into their room, and I followed Scarlett down the hall. I wasn’t so sure about sleeping with a vampire, but of the three female options, Scarlett seemed the best bet.

  “Sorry, Raine can be a real bitch sometimes.” She unlocked her door and ushered me in. I couldn’t help but laugh as I walked into the dark room.

  “I’m sorry for you. You’re the one that has to deal with her all the time.”

  Scarlett turned on a light and pointed at the bare bed. “There should be extra sheets in the closet so make yourself comfortable.”

  “Thanks.” I scanned the unfamiliar room, taking in all the posters of rock bands hung on Scarlett’s side. These dorms were definitely bigger than ours—instead of twin beds, they had queens, their closets were twice the size of ours, and there was a fireplace. The Fae really did get the royal treatment at this school.

  I grabbed some sheets from the closet and began to make my bed. “What happened to your old roommate?”

  “Never had one. Since there are only three females on the team, I lucked out.” Scarlett stretched out on her bed, he
r long black hair splaying out across the pillow.

  “So how long have you been on the supe slayer squad?” I sat down, the cushy mattress bouncing beneath me.

  She giggled, a weird girly sound coming from the quiet goth. “I like that. I’ll have to tell Ryder to make the name official. The team has been around for a little less than a year. This is my second year at the academy, but everything changed when Cillian took over as headmaster. The focus suddenly shifted and bam, the supe slayer squad was born. Ash is the newest addition to the team and the school, while Drake’s been here the longest. It’s his third year. Darkblood isn’t exactly structured like human universities. Most students only stay three years before graduating and others even less than that. The curriculum is pretty fluid.”

  “So how’d you get sucked into fighting the baddies?” From what I learned from my classes, vampires were demons too, so I didn’t want to insult her.

  A smile tipped up the corners of her lips. “I’ve just always been a badass.”

  “Now that I could see.”

  She flicked at her tongue ring, and the little black ball danced around the loop. “No, but seriously my sire is the queen of the Royal Vampires so she expects a lot from her progeny which is why she sent me here right after I was turned.”

  I remembered hearing about the Royal Vampires from Hitched. One of the queen’s offspring, Lucíano was one of the bachelors. Gorgeous, of course. “Wait, so how old are you?”

  “Nineteen. Although I’ll spend the rest of my immortal life looking like I’m seventeen.” She shrugged. “Could be worse I guess. I could be dead.”

  “What happened?” I snapped my jaw shut as soon as the words were out, but it was too late. “Unless you don’t want to talk about it,” I quickly added.

  “Nah, I’m over it. I was a half-blood like you actually, living in Azar before the big revelation. My dad’s human, and my mom’s a sprite. She’s one of the Fae queen mother’s personal slaves—er, I mean assistants. Anyway, I was running an errand for the queen in the vampire realm, Nocturnis, when I was attacked.”

  “By a vamp?”

  She shook her head, biting her lip and her fangs slipped out. I clenched my jaw to keep from gasping. I’d never seen her sharp incisors before, and I couldn’t help the squeal of surprise.

  “No, it was a demon,” she finally responded once her fangs retracted. “Carmen Rosa saved my life—or gave me a new one, anyway. The Fae wouldn’t let me stay at Winter Court since I was now a vampire.” She rolled her eyes and huffed. “And it takes a while to get your impulses under control, so Carmen Rosa took me in, then eventually sent me here. When I became particularly adept at my learned power, Ryder recruited me to the team.”

  “What’s your extra ability?” I’d already seen her in combat and she was freakishly fast and strong, not to mention deadly with weapons, but I’d never seen her use magic.

  “Necromancy.”

  I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping that time. “What?”

  “It sounds worse than it is. Basically I can control dead things, and I dabble in some of the darker arts. But we don’t like to talk about that stuff here at Darkhen. Ironic, right?”

  “Wow, that’s nuts. So that means you can control all vampires, since you’re all technically dead, right?”

  She nodded. “Yup.”

  There had to have been a couple hundred vampires here at the academy, not to mention all the ones living in Azar. Her ability was crazy powerful—no wonder they wanted her on the team.

  Scarlett glanced up at the guitar-shaped clock over the entryway and grimaced. “You should probably get some sleep. I’ll keep watch for the next few hours then I’ll pass you on to Aeria.”

  I must have made a face because she chuckled. “Don’t worry she’s not as bad as Raine. Especially when her bestie’s not around. Sometimes I think Raine has more shifter in her than witch. She’s so territorial, if she had a dick, I’m pretty sure she’d pee on us to mark her territory.”

  Now I was laughing hysterically. The image of Raine with man parts was too funny—and creepy. Turning the light by my bed off, I pulled the blanket up to my chin and settled in under the warm comforter. “Thanks for this, Scarlett.”

  “No problem, half-blood.” She winked and pulled a book out from her nightstand drawer. “Goodnight.”

  “Luna, run!” A sharp cry snapped my eyelids open. My arms shot out to my sides as I fumbled in the darkness, my pupils still adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings.

  Glass cracked, hundreds of shards tinkling to the floor. A cold sweat rippled down my spine as my gaze finally focused on the creature hovering outside Scarlett’s shattered bedroom window. Massive black wings beat the air as it poked its elongated crocodile snout through the glass, sharp claws ripping at the remaining splintered wood.

  Scarlett slashed at the sleek black demon with a silver blade, her feet dancing beneath her with every strike. She whipped her head over her shoulder and caught my panicked gaze. “Luna, go!”

  But I couldn’t. My feet were planted to the ground, ancient roots holding them in place. The angry red mark on my chest pulsated.

  Scarlett growled and lashed at the beast again, who’d managed to get two claws latched onto the interior wall. His thick hind legs struggled against the small opening, but he’d be in before long.

  I had to do something. If I couldn’t move, I could at least scream. She was probably the last person I ever thought I’d ask for help, but desperate times… “Raine, help! Aeria!”

  The monster howled, an unearthly lament echoing across the entire chamber, which perked every hair on my body to attention. With a swipe of its massive talons, it sent Scarlett hurtling across the room. She smacked into the far wall, and her neck twisted at an odd angle as she crumpled to the ground.

  A muffled curse escaped my lips as the demon locked its glowing crimson eyes on me. Where were those two? “Raine, Aeria, I could use a little help in here!” The monster stalked closer, and my heart jackhammered against my ribs as all the useless defensive magic spells I’d committed to memory swirled in my head. “Protectum ad armorae,” I spat, praying my blue bubble would appear.

  No such luck.

  The demon snarled, showcasing three rows of dagger-sharp teeth. “You’re mine, little human.” Its raspy reptilian voice sucked all the air from my lungs.

  Breathe, Luna. You can do this. Okay so my magic was on the fritz—nothing shocking there. I couldn’t just stand here and become this guy’s midnight snack. My mind raced back to all my training sessions with Ryder. I eyed my opponent and as his elongated neck lashed out, I ducked and cut under his legs.

  Spinning back around to face him, an open trunk against the wall caught my attention. An entire arsenal of sharp weapons glimmered from within. The demon lunged, but I dodged his attack, sliding toward the old chest. My fingers closed on the first metal object they encountered. Whipping the sword free, my eyes widened as I held out the golden blade.

  Behind me, loud pounding on the door made my head spin. Muffled shouts seeped through the cracks, but I didn’t have time to focus on what they were saying.

  The demon’s slick, tar-like skin glistened beneath the moonlight darting in through the cracked window. It stalked closer, every movement precise and measured. Sinewy muscles bunched and coiled beneath its taut flesh. “It’s time for me to collect my reward. The dark lord will be very pleased,” it hissed.

  The symbol on my chest flared, a ruby glow emanating from the hellish design. I tightened my hold on the sword’s hilt to keep my fingers from trembling. “I don’t think so, buddy.” Jerking my arm back, I thrust the sword as the beast stretched out its neck leaving the vulnerable area exposed. The blade sank into its scaled hide. It let out a hideous screech as it pawed at the dangling sword.

  I didn’t wait around to see what happened next. Scrambling across the room, I reached the adjoining door and whipped it open. Raine and Aeria stood in the entryway with matching shocked e
xpressions.

  “What happened?” Raine shouted. “The room was spelled shut.”

  I hitched my thumb over my shoulder at the squealing demon. “It’s still happening. And Scarlett’s passed out in there with it.”

  “Cillian’s on his way,” said Aeria as she stood on her tiptoes to see over my head. She ticked her head at Raine. “Let’s do this.”

  Redheaded and blue-haired Barbies darted into Scarlett’s room, and I unwillingly trailed behind. The clatter of the sword hitting the ground jerked my attention to the wounded hell creature. Dark liquid oozed from the gash on its neck, but now that the blade was out, it no longer slowed it down.

  Scarlett’s crumpled form caught my eye, and I dashed over to her broken body. My breath hitched when my gaze landed on the sickening twist of her neck. Oh God, she’s dead. No. No. No.

  Wait a second. Nope, she’s a vampire! I dragged her body toward the door and away from the fighting and propped her against the thick oak. “I’m so sorry I got you into this,” I whispered.

  “Watch out!” someone screamed.

  I glanced up right in time to see a scorching ball of fire zipping toward me. Without thinking, I threw my hands out, squeezing my eyes shut. And waited. Waited for the searing pain to burn my flesh—but it never came. Instead, something bounced off my palms like a basketball rebounding off the backboard. Peering through the slits in my eyelids, I could just make out two flaming blue orbs soaring toward the demon.

  My eyes snapped open, bulging out of my head. One fiery projectile smacked straight into its chest and the second right in its eye. The beast shrieked and staggered back, its massive hindquarters crashing into Scarlett’s desk.

  “Now, Aeria,” Raine shouted.

  The beautiful melody I’d heard in class a few weeks ago swirled through the air. I clamped my hands over my ears as my head began to spin. The creature teetered back, his crimson eyes growing hazy.

  Raine ripped my hand from my ear and clasped it tightly in hers, then she grabbed Aeria’s. “Repeat after me! Toree fuocum celis demoniom!”