by Demi Dumond
We hadn’t gone far when Ian turned to me. His lips curled up in mischievous smirk that sent a shockwave of desire between my legs. I breathed in his scent, vanilla and pine. It made me want to do bad things to him right here in the hallway.
“What are you in for?” he asked.
I pictured myself locked in a cell with him and my mind went to all kinds of fun places. Then I realized he was waiting for an answer. “Oh, I’m in here for defending myself. Apparently, that’s a big no-no in the magical world.”
“Sounds right,” he said. “We call this the ‘petty crimes unit’”, he winked at me. “Don’t worry, it’s like minimum security around here, they basically let us do what we want.”
Ian picked up the pace, and I had to practically sprint to keep up with him. “Crazy thing, that earthquake,” he said, glancing back at me.
I let myself get taken in and captured by those gorgeous blue eyes of his. They had me mesmerized, and I never wanted to break the trance. I could hear his words, but it was like they were coming from a distance.
I broke eye contact when I heard the part about the earthquake. “Wait,” I said, wondering why he was bringing it up, “are you going to blame me for that too?”
“Oh no,” he said, “not me. It’s probably going to come up, though.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you were the student who came in at the same time it happened.” He stopped walking and put an arm out, blocking my path. He smiled at me as he searched my face, and two pointed teeth became visible.
Fangs. Oh, shit, I thought. “You’re a vampire?” I felt my stomach clench in fear, but I was also so hot for him. I backed up. He looked confused.
“You didn’t know?” He asked. His eyes again probed into my mind, into my soul. I nearly got lost in those blue eyes again.
The heat of his gaze on me fluttered through my body, and my cheeks grew hot.
“You’re a mage who doesn’t believe in vampires?” he asked, surprised.
“I never said that,” I said.
“You were thinking it.” He removed his hand so that it was no longer blocking my path.
In the distance I could hear footsteps and voices. We must have been approaching the main area of the academy. “Hey,” I said. “I’m new to all of this.”
“Uh-oh,” he said, sucking in a breath, his lips turning downward into mock worry, “this place is going to eat you alive.”
I ignored that last bit about the academy eating me alive. The two of us kept going down the hallway toward the voices.
As we passed by a darkened hallway, I heard a muffled moan. When I looked in that direction, I could see that it was a brown-haired skinny guy fucking a blonde girl in a short skirt and a tank top against the wall.
Ian paid them no notice, however. He continued walking without so much as a raised eyebrow. I followed him, running to catch up. Soon we were walking down what looked like a main hallway. We passed marked classrooms with posters on the wall advertising various dances and social events.
I stopped to stare at one of the homemade signs that had a caricature drawing of the creature from the black lagoon smoking something hinky while wearing an ironic looking beanie. Don’t miss the Monster Ball Rave, the sign said. There was no other information on the sign indicating a time or place.
Then I heard Ian’s footsteps fading away and decided to catch up.
I frowned at him. “Don’t you people ever sleep?”
“Not all of us need to or want to sleep. And frankly, it’s rude of you to suggest otherwise.”
“Sor-ry,” I sing-songed, keeping an eye further down the hall where a group of students had gathered.
I decided to ask Ian to skip the tour and just take me to my dorm so I could get a shower and a good night’s sleep. Unlike these other students, I really needed it.
That’s when a golden-haired guy sitting in the hallway caught my attention. He caught my attention first of all because his skin was golden, and secondly because his hair was gold and shimmering, and it hung almost to his shoulders.
If Ian was a vampire, I wondered what this guy was. He didn’t sparkle, but he was golden-bronze colored, with a chiseled jaw. He was beautiful in a perfect, sculptured way, like a work of art.
He wore jeans that fit him perfectly and a white crested tee shirt with the logo on it. He was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall reading what looked like a very old textbook.
The other reason he caught my eye was because even though he was arrogantly stretching his legs across the hallway, students were cutting a very wide berth around him.
All except for one, who wasn’t paying attention. He was talking with somebody and strayed too close.
The golden guy stuck out a giant black boot and tripped him. The poor guy wasn’t expecting it and fell face first onto the tile floor with a smack. The victim groaned and got to his knees. Blood flowed out of his nose and pooled onto the floor.
The golden guy got up quick as a flash and kicked him over onto his back. “Pay attention, Jared.”
“Sorry, Malachai.” Jared’s friend helped him up and the two of them scurried away from the golden giant.
Now that he was standing, I could see that Malachai was even taller than I thought, with broad shoulders and long legs.
How could someone that beautiful be so mean? I guess Blood Moon Academy wasn’t going to be that different from the real world after all. Then, to my horror, Malachai saw me and quickly crossed the distance between us in a flash.
I took a step back. Ian stood his ground and bared his fangs. “Leave her alone.”
“Is this your midnight snack?” Malachai asked Ian, taunting.
“She just got here and she’s with me. Find somebody else to bully, asshole.” Ian answered, not backing down an inch.
Malachai put a hand on his chest and faked like his feelings were hurt. “Bully her?” He asked with a wicked grin. “I want to thank her.”
“Thank me for what?” I asked. I couldn’t help it, I knew it was a bad idea to speak to him and draw his attention, but already there was so much about this place I didn’t understand.
The wicked grin remained. “You’re the new girl. The one who came in under a blood moon during an earthquake.”
“So what?” I asked. Word travels fast around here.
“So, I want to thank you because there’s a prophecy. It says that you will wake the monster. The monster who’s going to destroy this academy, raze it to the ground,” he said with a wide grin. “Finally.”
I stared into his angry, golden eyes. He was being dramatic, but he was obviously very serious. His scent was lemongrass, and a musk that made me clench my thighs together. I should not be this close to him, because I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid of what he’d do to me or what I’d do to him.
“Leave her alone,” Ian said and stepped right into Malachai’s face. The two of them had a sneer fest, practically measuring each other’s dicks.
The arousal I felt this close to both of them was obscene. I was nearly panting. What the hell? Other guys had never had this strong of an effect on me.
Was this because of magic? I felt like I was trapped between two warring mythological gods. And then my mind conjured up a very inappropriate scene of what that would be like. I had to clear my mind to keep myself from moaning.
Malachai stared down at me, searching my defiant blue eyes. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
Then he turned his gaze to Ian. “You didn’t tell her what it’s like here, Ian,” he chided.
“Tell me what?” I asked. I was aware that the other students were eavesdropping now, but I didn’t care.
“About the prophecy. Or the wall. Oh shit, Ian. You didn’t show her the wall?”
“What wall?” I asked.
“The wall of missing students, of course.” Malachai answered with another sneer. “What kind of tour guide are you? Do your job, Ian. Catch her up to speed, before somebod
y does it for you.” He shook his golden hair. Then, just like that he went back to sitting on the floor with his book.
5
Keira
“What the fuck was that all about?” I asked Ian as we made our way around Malachai and continued down the hallway.
“That was Malachai, our resident dick. Well, one of many. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could punch him. And that’s not very far.”
“Yeah, I figured that part out for myself,” I said. “What is Malachai?” I asked. “I mean, you’re a vampire, and I’m a mage. what’s he?”
“He’s a fallen angel. He’s the only one here.”
I had my answer, but I still didn’t know what it meant. Not that it mattered, at least not tonight. I replayed the conversation we just had in my head. “What was that about a wall?” I asked as we left the academic hallways and headed farther into the academy.
“The wall of missing students,” Ian said with a wince. “He’s right about one thing, you have a right to know. I just didn’t think it had to be the first thing you saw. You haven’t even settled into your dorm for hell’s sake. I’ll give you the choice, though. I suppose you’ll see it now or later anyway.”
“Fine, let’s see it.” I said.
With a nod Ian led me down a very long corridor, turned left onto an even older looking hallway, and then another and another. I started to worry, as we hadn’t seen a soul since we left the classrooms.
A flash of fear shuddered over my body. Was he luring me further into this super creepy building just to kill me? He was a vampire, after all. Or maybe he wanted to do bad, sexy things to me.
My body shuddered in a completely different way and I tried to swallow it all down as I shot him a look that I hoped was simply concern.
He shot me an impish smile back. “You’re safe with me.”
Oh shit. It was him that I was worried about up to this point. What else should I be worrying about? And where the hell were we going?
He stopped at a properly marked fire escape door. “You should leave your stuff here.”
I gave him a worried look.
“Just set the bags down,” he said. “Trust me, nobody else is going to be hanging around here at this time of night.”
Believe it or not, that didn’t make me feel better. I set the duffel and my purse down where he pointed anyway, to move things along.
Then Ian opened the fire escape door. I waited for the alarms and stuff to go off, but they didn’t.
“I don’t understand, it says fire door.”
“It says it’s a fire door, but it’s not. It’s an exit to downstairs.”
“Holy hell,” I said, peering nervously down the dimly lit stairs. “How big is this place?”
As if Ian could sense my dread, he gave me a pat on my shoulder. “It’s fine. Don’t worry, I’ll go first.”
I hesitated for a moment before following him.
“The classrooms, dorms, and faculty areas only account for ten percent of the square footage of this place, as far as we can tell,” he called out as he walked. “We hold parties and extracurricular activities down here.”
When we got to the bottom of the stairs, it was into another hallway on the lower level. A shudder ran up and down my spine at the empty, dark, silent hallway.
The silence down here wasn’t just quiet, it was oppressive, disorienting. A girl could get lost down here forever. I looked back at the door we had exited from and noted graffiti scrawled on top.
In the center of the graffiti was the Blood Moon Academy logo. At least I’d be able to find the right door to get back up if something happened.
I looked around, not believing what he said about having social functions down here. The dust and grime on this lower level made the upstairs look immaculate. I scrunched up my nose, since he couldn’t see it in the dark. Because I was totally judging. “You have parties down here?”
“Yes, but only in groups. Nobody comes down here by themselves.” He speed-walked down the hallway and I ran to keep up with him, wondering what his hurry was.
“Why don’t they come down here alone?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, he just pointed at a door. “Look,” he said, excited. He opened a door on the left that was spray-painted hot pink. “There’s a real ballroom.”
He threw open the door after looking both ways as if he was making sure nothing was coming. If he was doing it just to scare me, it was fucking working.
I took a step inside the room because he was adorably excited, and because I wanted to get the hell out of the hallway, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. Not until he switched on the light.
I heard the click and then the entire room was bathed in an eerie but spectacular glow from gigantic chandeliers high above.
The room was enormous with beautiful aqua-blue tile floors and a floor to ceiling sectioned window at the far end of the room.
Unlike the rest of the bottom floor, this room was immaculate. It was amazing. I loved the gorgeous, spooky old ballroom immediately. It had an old-world, Addams Family kind of charm I could really appreciate.
Around the perimeter were dozens of other doors. I could only imagine what those were for.
“Those rooms are clubhouses,” Ian said. “Every type of supernatural has their own room to relax or cool off or what have you. The parties here are very strictly off-book so we have to police ourselves. It can get dicey.”
“I’m sure,” I said, even though I didn’t have any idea. Until tonight I didn’t know magic existed or that I had it or that there were spooky mansions where real-life vampires and fallen angels and such had parties in abandoned ballrooms.
Actually, it was cool as shit. And I had assumed that the doors off of the main ballroom were for sex.
As soon as that thought popped into my head, I saw Ian’s lips curl into that sinful smile. “You’re reading my mind again, aren’t you?” I asked.
He took a step toward me. “I can’t help it. I’m enjoying where your mind is going right now.”
In this dim, chandelier light, he was even hotter. A real-life vampire. If the right music were playing right now, I’d dance with him. Who was I kidding? I wanted him right here and right now looking up at his perfect hair and dazzling blue eyes.
There was something else about him, a presence, a playful sinfulness that was absolutely irresistible. Well, judging by the dampness in my panties, I couldn’t resist him and that was all that mattered. He was tall, dark, and hotter than hell.
My eyes met his intense stare. I blushed and looked away. He could sense my attraction for him. It was bared for him to see, yet he was an enigma to me. It wasn’t fair.
He stepped forward and brushed a hand against my cheek. When his skin touched mine, I felt like I was on fire. In a good way, a way that made my breath hitch.
At the touch of his hand, more thoughts popped into my head. I saw the two of us, naked and entwined. His head went between my legs and I heard my own moan of ecstasy. Then I was astride him and riding his giant cock.
I stepped back and shot him a surprised look. Was he actually controlling the thoughts in my mind?
“What?” He asked with a shrug. “You were right, I know what you’re thinking, it’s only fair for me to return the favor. Now you know.”
I had to admit that his thoughts had sent a longing ache between my legs that I could barely contain. I could still see, hear, and feel the things he was doing to me in my head.
I looked back up into his face, feeling my own thundering heartbeat in my chest. I knew that if I kissed him now there would be no way I could stop myself.
I wanted to run my fingers through that hair and dig my nails into his broad shoulders while screaming his name. I wanted to feel him inside me.
He leaned in for the kiss and I wanted those beautiful lips, I wanted every inch of him. I was still in a half-trance state of arousal, enchanted by him, when I heard a loud thump.
I jumped, startled, and was p
ulled out of whatever the sex trance was with Ian. Now my heart was pounding for a different reason.
“What was that?” I asked, looking around.
“Nothing,” he said, but there was fear in his eyes, I knew he was lying. “It’s fine.”
“I know you’re lying,” I said. “And that’s how literally every horror movie I’ve ever seen goes down. The people who hear the monster coming just ignore it.”
I searched his face to see if he was following my logic. He wasn’t. “And then they get eaten,” I exclaimed. I grabbed his crested shirt and pulled him back toward the door. “We have to get out of here now.”
“Um, what about that wall of missing students?” he asked.
“I think I got it, a bunch of students went missing in this giant haunted mansion,” I said, “and I’d rather come back and see the wall during the day than join them.”
We went to the door and listened. The place was silent as a tomb now. I know, because I could hear my heart pounding in my head and nothing else. Not even my own breath, because I was holding it.
After a couple of minutes of this, Ian opened the door with a creak that sounded loud enough to wake the dead. Dammit, Ian.
I peeked my head around, out into the hallway. First to the right, and then to the left. So far it was clear. I breathed a sigh of relief, surprised at just how scared I had gotten over a single noise.
In my defense, it was literally my first night here and I didn’t feel like I had a handle on anything that was happening.
Then Ian leaned into the hallway too. Except he leaned too far forward, knocking me over. I fell forward onto my hands and knees into the hallway with a fleshy smack onto the tile floor. He stood over me with that sinful smirk, enjoying the compromising position we were in.
I shot him a savage glance. “Not funny,” I hissed. Then there was another noise in the distance. I froze and my head snapped from Ian to the dark hallway where the noise had come from. I was still there on my hands and knees, frozen in fear when something came around the corner.