Captive Monster: Blood Moon Academy Book 1

by Demi Dumond

  I shook my head. Then I heard whispering behind me.

  “She’s the one,” a tall, skinny guy said pointing at me, “Keira’s the girl from the prophecy. She’s going to get us all killed.”

  The other students formed a circle and hemmed me in.

  Ian bared his fangs in a snarl and stepped between me and the other students. “She’s not the girl from the prophecy.”

  A wave of regret washed over me at not having told Ian what I knew. That it was me and the prophecy was true. That the darkness in me was attracting the monsters, calling them here. And that it was only going to get worse.

  The students were even more aggressive than usual, and they held their ground, even against Ian. I frowned. What was going on here? It felt like an escalation.

  At first, I wondered if it was because of the magic I had just demonstrated in Kiln’s class, but most of these people weren’t even in my class.

  “Back off, or I’ll take out every last one of you motherfuckers,” Ian said with a snarl. I could sense the tension in him rising. If this mob didn’t back off, somebody was going to get hurt.

  Ian’s last threat had made at least a small impact. Every one of the students took at least two steps back.

  “Keira, run,” he said.

  I didn’t move. Instead, I assumed my magic stance. If these students didn’t back up, they were about to get a face full of dark purple fireballs.

  Ian turned to me, presumably to ask why I hadn’t already run away. But when he turned to face me, his expression changed from steeled anger to something else entirely. I had never seen that look on his face and it scared the shit out of me.

  I turned behind me to see what he was looking at and standing there was the Headmaster and four guards, each carrying what looked like a stun gun.

  I was sure he was coming for me, although I wasn’t sure why. Then, without a word, the Headmaster stepped forward with handcuffs and snapped them onto Ian.

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  “What did I do?” Ian asked, genuine surprise on his face.

  The Headmaster cleared his throat and projected his voice into the crowd. “Vampire Ian snuck into Administrative Records last night and is hereby sentenced to time in the Dungeon.”

  The Headmaster turned on his heel, leaving the magic guards to push Ian in the direction of the Dungeon.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ian said, still looking at the Headmaster, who was already walking away. “I was in my room like everyone else.”

  “Hey,” I shouted at the Headmaster, who had retreated so quickly I barely had time to react. “It wasn’t Ian!” The Headmaster didn’t stop walking away, though. He didn’t even turn around.

  I didn’t know what to do. I could run after the Headmaster and confess, although he never listened to me anyway. Or I could try to fight the guards. The whole thing was so confusing.

  When I turned back to Ian, he was already most of the way down the hall. Our eyes met for a split second, and then he was gone. My mind reeled. This couldn’t be happening.

  “Ian, no!” I yelled, grabbing the attention of more guards who were massing and trying to disperse the crowd. I prepared to chase after Ian but then a hand covered my mouth.

  It was Malachai. He pulled me backward out of the crowd of students and away from the scene.

  “There’s nothing you can do for him now.”

  He was right. There was nothing I could do. “How did they know?” I asked him. “And why do they think it was Ian instead of me and you?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But it’s probably best for us to lay low for a little while.”

  Things were going from bad to worse. I felt like I just lost my best friend at the academy. He just got sent to the dungeon for what I did. Either the Headmaster was just that petty and incompetent or something else was going on.

  The only thing for sure was that I had to find a way into the dungeon.

  36

  Keira

  The next few days moved forward at a slow, torturous pace. The classes were filled with openly hostile students and constant threats. Things were descending into chaos.

  The more aggressive and unruly the students became, the more distant and uninvolved the teachers and administration were. It was a recipe for disaster, and I was the focal point.

  I didn’t know what to do about that, I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to think straight or figure anything out until I got to Ian. Until I knew that he was okay.

  I had been through every book, map, and resource in the school and I couldn’t find anything about a dungeon. Malachai said he didn’t know. I was getting more and more desperate.

  When the final bell rang for the day. I trudged into the hallway. I searched the faces again until I saw someone familiar, and hopefully not entirely hostile.

  “Bree!” I practically shouted.

  She pretended she didn’t hear me and continued on, but I ran up behind her and pulled on her shirt.

  “Bree, I know we aren’t on the best of terms right now,” I said.

  “It’s all your fault,” she said, a tone of hurt in her voice.

  “I know, and I’m sorry.” I replied. I didn’t even know what I was apologizing for, but she was my only hope.

  Her expression softened. “Look, I need your help. All I’m asking for is directions to the dungeon.”

  Her eyes got wide and she looked at me like I had grown a tentacle on my face. “Why?”

  “They took Ian there and I know that he’s innocent. I just want to see him. Bree, please.”

  “You’re friends with a vampire?” she leaned forward and whispered. “That’s forbidden.”

  “Yeah, yeah. So they tell me. Can you help?”

  37

  Keira

  Thanks to Bree’s directions I had a plan. As soon as I was finished with dinner, but before curfew took effect, I snuck out of the cafeteria.

  The directions were a little confusing, so I drew a map on my hand. If the diagram on my hand was correct, then the reason that I hadn’t run across a dungeon in my explorations of the academy was that there was a trap door under a decorated elephant rug that could only be opened by a magic spell.

  And of course, it was on the lower level. I swallowed hard and sucked in a breath as I approached the exit door that would lead downstairs.

  Despite my terror of downstairs, if these directions worked, I was going to be very impressed with the architect of the building.

  I grabbed the door, switched on my tiny flashlight, and breathlessly made my way downstairs. I cursed myself for wearing my sneakers instead of the pink slippers that made no noise, but there wasn’t any time to turn back.

  Once I got down the stairs and emptied into the lower level, the directions said to head past the ballroom rave area. That was the exact spot Ian and I had seen our very first monster.

  Ah, memories. In fact, I was startled at just how far away the memory seemed. It was just this semester, wasn’t it? Focus, Keira.

  I was on high alert for any sound, any footfall, any source of light other than mine. In reality, any monster could probably have gotten the drop on me right now. The only thing I could hear down here alone in the dark was the thundering of my own heartbeats.

  Okay, one more turn and there it was, the rug. It was a faded looking multi-color Persian. I knelt and brushed it to the side to reveal the trap door. So far, so good. I took one more look around to make sure something wasn’t sneaking up on me.

  That it was time for the magic. The hiding place was very clever, but the spell to open the stairs was pretty basic.

  I assumed my stance, emptied my thoughts, and performed the spell. As soon as I finished the spell the trap door fell downward revealing a row of dingy, faded-red carpeted stairs and a musty smell.

  Bree hadn’t been sure whether there were guards down there or not. As she pointed out, she had never been down there herself and never hoped to be. Fair point.


  I used my flashlight to make my way down the stairs into the darkness below. I debated with myself as to whether it was worse to alert any possible guards to my presence with the use of my flashlight or to fall down the stairs and break my neck. I decided to chance it with the guards.

  When I got to the bottom, I shined the light in all directions, but found nothing of interest. This place was massive, and every tiny footfall of mine made a racket. My stomach clenched in fear. If this was the dungeon, where was Ian?

  “Ian?” I whispered. I hoped that the tiny triple-A battery in my flashlight held out or I was going to be truly fucked.

  “Keira?” It sounded like Ian’s voice, only hoarser. I followed that voice forward and a little to the left. I kept moving forward, and eventually the little flashlight found the metal bars of the cell.

  “Ian?” I called out again softly. I got a very bad feeling. The voice had come from this direction, but I didn’t hear him or see him. I shined the light further into the cell.

  When I found him, I couldn’t stifle my gasp. He was lying face up at the back of the cell, unable or unwilling to move. And he was in a pool of black blood.

  “Oh my God.” They drained him. They fucking drained him. And then they just left him down here. So that’s why he didn’t need to be guarded, they left him here for dead. Well, undead. But from everything I heard in my Supernaturals class, this was vampire hell.

  Frantic, I used my flashlight to find the door to the cell. When I pulled, it opened right away. They hadn’t even bothered to lock it. In his condition, there was no point. That also explained the lack of guards.

  I rushed to his side, slipping in the pool of his blood. I hit the cold, hard dungeon floor with a bang. The blood got all over my skirt and I skinned my knees on the disgusting floor. Everything about the last few minutes felt like a horror movie.

  My first order of business was to stop the bleeding. I scanned his body with the flashlight. It made me want to gag. Who would do this to a student? He hadn’t even done anything wrong.

  Then I found it. The black blood was oozing out of the artery in his left hand. I took off my blazer and wrapped it up, applying pressure. I looked into his eyes. He looked so weak it scared me. I was willing to do anything to help him.

  “No, Keira,” he whispered, reading my mind. “If they find out you helped me, I don’t know what they’ll do to you.”

  “I’m not losing you, Ian.”

  Even in his state, his eyes registered understanding. “How do you know for sure it wasn’t me, Keira. What did you do?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said, unable to meet his gaze. He was in my head, so of course he knew. Now we both knew that he was in here for something that I did. It was more than I could bear. “And you don’t have time for a long story. You need blood.”

  The one lingering question in my mind was why the Headmaster went after Ian. How could he possibly know that the only thing worse than hurting me would be hurting the one person in this place that I loved.

  “You don’t have to do this,” he said.

  “Yes, I do. I’m going to fix this, Ian. You’re going to be okay.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Tell me what you need.”

  He looked up at me and for a very brief moment, the sinful smirk was back. “Then lift up your skirt.”

  38

  Keira

  I had no idea why I had to lift up my skirt. In the movies, the vampires always went for your neck.

  “Now sit closer to me,” he said.

  I scooted over, unsure of what his plan was. That is, until he grabbed hold of my leg. His touch made my heart beat faster and faster. Sitting here with him in the dark, all the warnings about being with vampires came echoing back to my mind. And it only made me hotter for him.

  He spread my legs, sending waves of desire and lust through my body. I could feel the damp need in my core grow as his hands moved farther and farther up my thigh. I moaned as I felt his fingers enter the dripping wet flesh between my legs.

  I no longer cared about what happened next. This was about pure, naked, pleasure. I was beyond all reasoning. My body was on fire for him.

  I scooted my pussy even closer to him, begging him to continue. I dropped the flashlight as I writhed for him in the dark. Every touch felt brought butterflies, his tongue made me weep. I never wanted anything more in my whole life.

  “And now, Keira, I will make you mine.” With a vicious smile, he plunged his fangs into the tender flesh of my inner thigh. Into my femoral artery.

  My scream filled the dungeon. At first, the scream was a reaction to the suddenness of it all. The pain and sublime sensation of his teeth plunging into the tender area of my skin that was already on fire and filled with need from his touch and his breath. Then there was a burst of worry as I felt the sensation of my blood leaving my body.

  Then there was another sensation, one I didn’t expect. The thrill and the throbbing pleasure that rushed through me when our heartbeats merged. I arched my back as the orgasm built to a crescendo and washed over me to the rhythm of our heartbeats. It overwhelmed all of my senses. I could sense his heartbeat now, feel it as if it was my own. The sensation continued to build, even after it was out of control.

  I screamed again. This time because the crescendo of pleasure was already building again. I threw my head back and moaned and shuddered while the waves of ecstasy washed over me.

  Our bodies rocked in rhythm while I grabbed onto anything I could to remind myself this was still reality. I held onto his hair and grasped ever tighter, moaning with pleasure.

  And then it all stopped. Then I was simply lying on my back in a pool of blood on the cell floor of a dungeon.

  “Why did you stop?” I asked him accusingly, my breath ragged and needy and demanding.

  “Because if I didn’t, you would have died.” He sat up and smiled at me. “Humans can only donate so much blood, you know. Now let’s get out of here. Unless you really are into dungeons.”

  I smiled in the dark. That was the Ian I knew. I felt around on the filthy floor for my flashlight, then I helped Ian up. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  39

  Keira

  Believe it or not, I was actually glad for that stupid curfew. It made it easier to get Ian back to his dorm so he could rest and recover and then sneak into my room without being seen.

  I was only half dressed anyway, having used my top to stem Ian’s bleeding, and my skirt was covered in blood. I’m sure I looked like I barely survived a horror movie. And that wasn’t very far from the truth.

  There was only one last hurdle as I crept back into my dorm room. I hoped Ivy wasn’t around, there was no way I was in the mood to explain the events of the last hour or so to anyone. I just wanted a hot shower, a change of clothes, and some time to think.

  When I got inside, however, I wasn’t alone. Malachai was in my room. He was pacing back and forth, a deep frown on his face. He nearly barreled into me as I let myself in. And he was holding the prophecy book I had hidden in my nightstand.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Waiting for you.” He looked like he was going to say more, but his voice trailed away as his eyes darted from my eyes, to my breasts, which were barely contained by the lacy black bra I had chosen to wear today.

  Before I knew it, his eyes fell even lower until he was staring between my legs, where I still felt a trickle of blood. The knowledge washed over me that I was covered in blood. And he was too busy ogling me to even ask if I was okay.

  “What the hell happened to you, Keira?” he asked. Well, demanded, really. And there was no way I was going to have this conversation with him. At least not right now.

  “Look, all I want is a shower and some time to myself, okay?” Ever since that night in the Administrative Records Room, things had been better between us. I felt some kind of bond. I had to trust and hope that he would let me give him an explanatio
n for all of this on my terms and on my timeline, which was not right now.

  Malachai’s golden eyes darkened. “There’s no time.” He took a step forward, leaned down and kissed me.

  It was the last thing I expected, especially after the accusatory look he gave me when I walked in.

  And yet his kiss felt warm, safe, and dangerous, all at the same time. The kiss was deep, frantic, needy.

  I pushed him off of me. I was confused about what was going on right now. “What the hell, Malachai? Why are you doing this right now? And what do you mean there’s no time? No time for what?”

  There was a madness in his eyes, a desperation. “I need you to understand what I feel for you.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Tell me you understand,” he insisted. “Please.”

  “I don’t understand, Malachai.” I said it softly, but I wanted to shout at him. I wanted to hit him with my fists, I wanted to understand what the hell he was talking about.

  That’s when I heard the door, and the rush of footsteps, and the crowd shoving their way in. What was happening?

  “It’s too late,” he said to me, his expression melted back into sadness. He walked from the sitting area into my room and grabbed a silver gun off of my nightstand. “I’ll try to hold them off, you go change.” He said it matter-of-factly, like he knew it was going to happen.

  I shrieked when the reality of the situation hit me, grabbing clothes out of my closet and running into the bathroom. I threw on clothes, wondering if Malachai would be hurt or killed trying to protect me like Ian had been.

  Malachai was a moody, sexy, fallen angel and a pain in the ass, but he didn’t deserve that. As soon as I was finished throwing my clothes on, I summoned all of the magic I could before I went out into the common room where Malachai was in a standoff with the mob that had come to my room.