Breakout: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Academy Bully Romance (Royals of Sanguine Vampire Academy Book 3)

by Sofia Daniel

  Several feet before the castle and its courtyards, we stopped behind a thicket of gorse, and Nero set me to my feet. “There’s a tunnel here that gets us close to the kitchens.”

  “Right,” I whispered. “Let’s go.”

  We walked hand-in-hand behind the trees until we reached a manhole that looked like it led to a sewer. Nero bent down, unscrewed its metal top, and set it aside. Instead of the foul stench I expected to surge from the depths of the hole, all I felt was a warm gust of air.

  “You go first,” said Nero. “I’ll replace the cover.”

  I eased myself into the warmth, placing my feet on thin, rust-covered rungs of metal. Moments later, Nero joined me with the metal manhole lid balancing on his fingertips like a pizza box. He eased the cover back into the hole, encasing us in darkness.

  It was even darker at the bottom, and my feet sank into spongy ground. I tried not to think about it and waited for Nero to finish descending.

  “He says he’s just a scholarship student,” said a male voice through the wall.

  “Of course, he’d say that,” replied a female voice. “The alpha wolf assured us that he was one of the hostages Lord Radu wanted.”

  I clenched my teeth, wishing I had the power to bring her back to life so I could throttle her until her eyes popped. If those hunters took Dante to Radu—I shook my head, not wanting to consider what that monster might do to a handsome, young vampire.

  The man snorted. “She’ll say anything to save her wolves.”

  “Alright, then,” said the woman. “We’ll take him to Justine and let her decide.”

  “Renée,” he said.

  The other hunter paused, and I imagined her shuddering. “Yeah, let’s go and see Renée.”

  Dread rolled through my gut, making me cringe. I couldn’t leave Dante alone with any hunter, let alone a Radite. Turning to Nero, I whispered, “Stay here.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Going in. If the hunters value my potential, they might let me keep Dante as my personal prisoner.”

  Nero shook his head. “It’s risky. You should stick with me in case they decide to punish you for running away.”

  “I’ve only been missing for a few hours, and I’m not in anyone’s bad graces yet.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’ll rescue Dante.”

  Nero wrapped an arm around my shoulder and brought me into his chest. Now that he had become a day-walker, his spicy scent was much less pronounced. “This Renée character sounds like the third most powerful hunter. How do you think you can fight her?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s better than you storming in there and getting yourself captured. If those monsters experiment on you and discover our bond—”

  “Alright.” He gave me a tight squeeze. “Be careful. I’ll stay close by and intervene if anything goes wrong.”

  We retraced our steps through the hallway and back up the metal ladder. Throughout this, thoughts of Dante in the hunters’ clutches plagued my mind. They despised vampires and would probably treat him worse than usual because of his connection to Lord Stryx.

  Nero uncovered the manhole, bringing in fresh, cool air. He stepped out first and pulled me out into the courtyard behind the castle.

  As we hid behind the gorse, he cupped my face with both hands and whispered. “Be careful.”

  Moonlight reflected in his ebony eyes, making my heart melt. Every instinct begged me to ask him to accompany me to the castle, but it wasn’t safe. Instead, I murmured, “I will.”

  After a brief, chaste kiss on the lips, Nero disappeared into the bushes. I took a deep breath, gave myself a mental shake, and walked toward the path that wrapped around the academy building.

  As soon as I stepped out of the woods, a voice asked, “Are you Alicia Stephens?”

  My heart jumped into my throat. I spun around to find a familiar face. It was a man about nineteen with dark hair in a crewcut.

  “That’s me,” I said.

  His brows drew together. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

  “We met in the dungeon on my first day at the academy. They were about to turn you into a knocker.”

  “Right.” His face twisted with anger. “That’s six months I’ll never get back.”

  “They turned me into a knocker, too,” I murmured.

  The man tilted his head to the side. “Did Lord Radu awaken you? I didn’t see you in the ballroom yesterday morning.”

  Right now, the only people I trusted were Gates, the onion woman, and the Stryx brothers. For all I knew, Justine could have sent this guy to uncover the gaps in my story. Zarah had wondered how I had gained the magic to burn through the wards, and she had probably shared her suspicions with Justine and Renée.

  I drew my shoulders up to my ears. “Lady Mantis wanted to make me loyal to her and not to the headmaster. They talked about changing the recipe of the knocker porridge, so it included her blood.”

  His brows rose. “Really?”

  “It must have worn off or something.”

  He shook his head. “The others are talking about you like you’re some sort of prodigy.”

  Lowering my gaze to the gravel, I continued toward the castle. “They shouldn’t. All I did was try to survive in an academy of vampires.”

  The former knocker walked at my side, examining my features, and I took that opportunity to study his energy. All his chakras flickered around the edges as though they struggled against something dark and murky.

  Given that Lord Radu had pulled black energy from mine to clear me of the mesmerism, I guessed the anomaly in the man’s chakras was the fading vampire influence.

  “Lord Radu wants us all in the dining room at nine,” he said. “A few others and I are sending out the message to all the frumosi and hunters.”

  “Alright.” I stopped at the castle’s entrance steps. “Thanks.”

  His brows drew together. “You were with someone. Who was that boy?”

  My heart rate trebled. With his dreadlocks, Nero was pretty distinctive-looking compared to the other vampires. If someone had given the hunters a description of the Stryx brothers, this man would already know who I had been kissing.

  Keeping my voice even, I said, “A frumosi from my year.”

  He chuckled. “Try not to get too attached. Our Lord doesn’t approve of Radites fraternizing with those not yet strong enough to become hunters.”

  My spine stiffened. Had absorbing Zarah’s power elevated me to the highest level of evil? I wondered what made him think I was anything like Renée and Justine. Perhaps whoever had told him I was a prodigy had also shared what I had done to Zarah.

  He continued staring at me as though I was some kind of specimen.

  I stared back. Hadn’t this guy been a student sent out to a Noble House and rejected for being rebellious? At the time, I’d swallowed everything he said about the vampire sisters using him to get pregnant and then discarding him when he became too troublesome.

  But what if he had come into contact with hunters? There was something off about him, and I didn’t care to prolong this conversation.

  “Thanks.” I offered him a tight smile. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

  “See you later.” He turned on his heel and walked back in the direction of the woods. If he thought he could capture Nero, he would be in for a nasty surprise.

  I strode through the marble hallways, looking for signs of the two hunters who had talked about taking Dante to Renée.

  A few frumosi students scurried past, casting me curious looks. One of them whispered something to the other, but I wasn’t in the mood to catch up on the latest gossip. I needed to find Dante before the hunters hurt him.

  “There you are,” said Justine from behind.

  Relief surged through my veins. Justine would know exactly where to find Renée. But if I appeared too enthusiastic, she would get suspicious and ask a bunch of awkward questions.

  Tamping down my enthusiasm,
I turned to her with my brows raised. “Have you been looking for me?”

  “Lord Radu has an important announcement to make in the dining room.”

  “That’s at nine, right?” I glanced over her shoulder into the hallway. “That means I’ve got time to—”

  “No, you don’t.” Justine wrapped her hand around my bicep. “No rest for the wicked. Renée and I need your help with a pesky vampire.”

  My heart flipped like a crepe. “Which one?”

  “That’s what we want to know.”

  The older woman marched me through the hallways, past the windows that overlooked the embracing statues and down an illuminated stairwell.

  I held my silence, practicing what I should say when they brought me to Dante. If I said I didn’t know him, they might take Dante to where the hunters kept the male vampires. Then what would happen to him?

  We reached the bottom of the stairs, and Justine pushed open the door leading to the teachers’ suites. I walked alongside the woman, my heart thrumming with anticipation.

  Perhaps this was a test to see if I would try to protect Dante. It wasn’t as if they really needed me to identify him. Everyone in the academy who hadn’t been trapped as a knocker already knew the Stryx brothers.

  “Here we are.” Justine stopped outside a white door carved with the academy’s House of Draculesti coat of arms. She gave it a gentle knock.

  A female voice from inside shouted to come in.

  We stepped into what I could only describe as a boudoir of purple damask wallpaper, overstuffed, mauve sofas, and golden armchairs upholstered in scarlet.

  A naked blond stretched out on a daybed with heavy shackles around his neck and wrists and ankles. His muscles strained against his bonds, but it was a futile effort, as Renée’s magic held him in place.

  My heart broke at the sight of Dante looking so subjugated, and rage poured out. The wretched hunters had stripped this proud vampire of both his clothes and his dignity.

  Renée yanked him up by his hair. “Is this one of the brothers who made you their whore?”

  Dante’s eyes widened, and his full lips parted in a gasp.

  Justine placed both hands on my shoulders and ushered me further into the room. “He knows you.”

  “Is this one of the sons of Stryx?” asked Renée.

  There was no point in trying to cover up. Anyone with a pair of eyes could tell I had a history with this vampire. I whispered, “His name is Dante. Dante Striga of the Noble House of Stryx.”

  “He kept you as his blood whore.” Justine wrapped a hand around my neck. “I heard multiple reports of how these boys set upon you at once, filling every hole until you choked on cock.”

  Stiffening, I clenched my teeth and tried not to react to her taunt.

  Renée shook her head and grinned. “Dirty boys.”

  “Don’t you want revenge?” Justine whispered into my ear, her words curling around my senses like a constrictor.

  “How?” I asked.

  “Torture him for the location of his brothers.” Justine released me and walked across the room.

  “Me?” I stared down at Dante, my gaze traveling across the length of his nude body. His skin had reddened in places, but so far, no one had bitten him.

  “He’s pretty,” said Renée. “But not my type.”

  “Prove your loyalty to our lord and punish your former master,” said Justine.

  I swallowed hard. This might be an opportunity to create a mating bond and turn Dante into a day-walker. It wasn’t much, but it would make his blood unpalatable to hunters, and he would become impervious to sunlight and infrared weapons.

  My tongue darted out to lick my lips. “Can I rape this vampire?”

  Renée rolled her eyes. “I hardly see how that’s torture for a boy.”

  “They’re used to climaxing everywhere and anywhere they wish. I want to take him to the brink and make him beg.”

  “Tease and denial,” Justine growled. “Nice.”

  “Can I drink his blood?” I asked.

  “As long as you leave him alive,” said Renée. “We still need him as a hostage.”

  Channeling my inner Lady Mantis, I raised my chin and gave Dante my coldest look. His face smoothed out into a neutral mask, but his aquamarine eyes remained wide with fear. I swallowed hard. How difficult would it be to exchange blood and vows while I had sex with him on the day bed?

  A heavy fist knocked on the door.

  “What is it?” snapped Justine.

  The door swung open, and a group of low-level hunters rushed inside. “There are a bunch of dead werewolves near trap C.”

  “What?” Justine snarled.

  “Any survivors?” asked Renée.

  “Four, but they claim not to know what happened to their packmates.”

  “Shit.” Renée clenched her fists. “What about the pigs?”

  The hunter’s brows drew together. “They managed to escape.”

  Renée turned to Justine, concern radiating in her blue eyes. “You don’t think those pigs—”

  “They’re domestic animals,” Justine snapped.

  “With human chakras.” Renée walked through the doorway, shooing the hunters out. “There’s no telling what capabilities those creatures have.”

  “You’re paranoid.” Justine followed her across the room and stepped into the hallway. “Just because—”

  The door clicked shut behind them, leaving me alone in the room with Dante.

  He closed his eyes, relaxed back into the day bed, and blew out a relieved breath. “Untie me before they return. Those hunters want to use us as bait to lure Lord Stryx to the academy.”

  My chest tightened. “I can’t.”

  His eyes snapped open, and he raised his head. “Why not?”

  “They’ll know I’m a traitor, and I’ll never get close enough to Radu to kill him.”

  Dante’s face tightened, and his head slumped back with defeat. “I suppose you’re right, but I don’t think I can go back to that sun-cell.”

  “We’d better bond. Now.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going to turn you into a day-walker.”

  Dante grinned. “I like the way you think.”

  “Move to the middle of the bed.”

  “Right now?” His gaze swept down my body.

  I straddled his hips and reached down between his legs. Dante’s dick was at half-mast, and I gave it an encouraging squeeze.

  He groaned, the sound going straight to my core. “Hurry up.”

  “Hold on a second.” I directed his hardening cock-head to my clit and teased myself to wetness. Ignoring the clinking of the chains encasing his arms and legs, I stared into his blue eyes and tried not to think about him being the hunters’ prisoner.

  “You look so hot fully clothed and with me shackled to the bed, taking what you want.”

  “Ready?” Arousal pulsed between my legs.

  His eyes rolled to the back of his head. “Turn me into a day-walker.”

  If this was a regular day in the boys’ suite, I’d be wringing wet, and then the slide down his erection would be a breeze. But a combination of nerves and the fear of a hunter walking in made me a little nervous.

  Hiking my dress up around my waist, I reached between my legs and circled my clit, wishing the hunters hadn’t shackled Dante’s wrists.

  He raised his head and stared between my spread legs. “You look so amazing, touching yourself,” he murmured. “So amazingly sexy.”

  His words filled my ears and melted away the last of my reservations. I lined him up against my damp opening and slid down an inch. As I was a little dryer than I’d hoped, it was a tighter squeeze, and lightning bolts of pleasure jolted down my thighs and into my belly.

  “Oh!” I bit my lip. This was so much more intense than usual.

  “Touch yourself,” Dante rasped. “I want to see you.”

  Sliding further down his erection and getting stretched wider, I continued
circling my clit. Dante’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he licked his lips. “You’re so tight.”

  Once I had fully engulfed his hard dick, I placed both hands on his bulging pecs and ran my fingers down the contours of his tight torso. His golden hair fanned out against the purple upholstery like a halo, and the dim light of the boudoir brought out his high cheekbones, full lips, and strong jaw.

  “Of all the times I imagined we would finally have sex,” he murmured, his aquamarine eyes shining with affection. “I never pictured anything like this.”

  “Same here.” A happy sigh escaped my lips. Dante was so handsome, and so mine. I ground my hips, bumping my engorged clit against his pubic bone. This was so much more intense than the time we’d tried to have sex in the bathroom, so much closer with us staring into each others’ eyes.

  He bucked his hips, bringing a wave of ecstasy that tore a moan from my lips.

  Dante nicked his bottom lip with his fangs. “You want this?”

  The sweet smell of his blood filled my nostrils and turned my vision red. My gums itched with the urge to plunge my teeth into his neck and feed, but I held back. “Oh, Dante.”

  “Make me cum, and you can take as much as you like.”

  I raised and lowered my hips in a rhythm that sent a new surge of arousal to my core. It pulsed once, twice, three times, urging me to go faster, to fuck him harder… just so I could get a taste of that blood.

  Dante thrust against my movements, moaning as he increased the friction. “You’re wonderful, Alicia.”

  My fear and arousal, mingled with the ecstasy of our love-making, was turning out to be one of the most mind-blowing experiences of my life.

  Sweat broke out across my skin, and heat trapped beneath my woolen cardigan. I shouldered the garment off, letting cool air circulate across my arms and back. We had to hurry. To climax before the hunters returned from questioning the surviving werewolves.

  “Dante…” The words died in my throat.

  Pleasure swirled where our flesh met, building and building until my fangs fully descended and all I cared about was the erection pounding into my core and the taste of Dante’s blood when I made him climax.

  “Alicia.” He squeezed his eyes shut, his face contorted with effort. “You have to hurry. I’m not going to last much longer.”