Into the Darkness: Reverse Harem (Ravana Clan Vampires Book 2)

by E. M. Moore

  Why this room?

  I slunk forward after a hand fluttered close to the small of my back. There was definitely no need for touching. Sooner or later, I was going to have to talk with Evan about this crush thing. I’d tell him I was too preoccupied with my guard duties for now to start up a relationship with anyone. Then maybe it would spread through the class like wildfire to avoid any future attempts at flirting. I wouldn’t mind a friend right now, but to have to constantly avoid someone because you were afraid every word, every touch meant something more to that person than it did to you was exhausting.

  I took the closest seat, just to try and get away. It wasn’t until I looked up that I realized I was in front of the class. I turned around, but the back seats had already been taken. Figured. I was never one to like the front of the class in regular school, but who knew? Maybe I’d get used to it here. Evan, of course, sat on my right. His attempts at getting me to talk were becoming ridiculous. It was hard to think of one-word answers just to fend him off. By the time footsteps sounded in the hall, I almost couldn’t wait for this vamp-human politics class to start. I stared down, feeling a little off. Maybe it was just from my normal high school experience, but I felt a little naked at not having anything on my desk. No notebook. No pen. Were we supposed to take notes here? I quickly looked around and saw that everyone else had come in the same as me—clear desks, no writing utensils.

  I heaved a sigh of relief when a pair of tan khakis caught my attention. My gaze pinged off Evan’s empty desk and landed on them. It moved up slowly, my heart already in my throat. A familiar vibration in the back of my head called out a warning, but still, my stare moved upwards, beyond a tapered waist to broad shoulders. A strong chin. Dirty-blond hair.

  Intense, discerning gray-blue eyes met mine.

  The class gasped. Luckily, it overshadowed my reaction. My gut twisted, sending a violent shudder through me.

  Christian Ravana’s gaze held mine as he walked to the front of the class and leaned against the instructor’s desk. My chest ached. My fingers itched. My legs jumped up and down beneath the desk. Every part of me wanted to move. To do something, to say something, but I was frozen there.

  He tore his gaze away from me and looked at the rest of the class. “I’m Christian Ravana. I’m filling in for Natalie Rajyvik while she takes care of her new son.”

  Like magnets, his eyes were drawn to mine again. I felt unnatural. Stiff. My heart was almost separated from my body. I didn’t know what to think or feel. In front of me, Christian passed as a classroom teacher in every way. He had a button-up shirt on with a tie. He even had that way of looking at you that made you feel as if you would never know as much as he did. By the time my head and my heart started working again, the only thing I could think was, How could he do this to me?

  A few guys in the back of the class groaned. Not surprisingly. Natalie Rajyvik was beautiful. It was easy to see why Alex Short was drawn to her.

  The girls in the class were quiet however. If I was brave enough, I might sneak a peek at either Liv or Shannon, but I wasn’t sure what my reaction might be. It was Christian up there. Christian who could melt me in a second. Who’d held me and kissed me. Who’d made me feel safe in a car again after so many years of refusing to do the whole vehicular traffic thing. I’d slept next to him. I’d felt his hands curl into my skin with the precision of a musician as if he could play away all my feelings.

  But right now, all of that escaped me. His very presence irked me in a way I couldn’t fathom.

  How dare he?

  His mouth moved, but I didn’t listen. Somewhere, I understood that he had the class laughing and talking, but for me, he was a traitor. A threat that could ruin us all. Within half an hour, a cold sweat broke out on my forehead. I wiped at it, the first move I’d made since he walked in the room. The movement caught his eye and he stumbled over his next words, but he recovered quickly. Not me. I wished I had the ability, but I didn’t. His very presence confuddled my brain as if someone had taken out all the parts, shook them up, and then threw them down to see what shapes they could make.

  Finally, he slapped his hands together. He barely even spoke the words ‘class dismissed’ when I was up and out of the chair, fleeing from the classroom as if it was a category five hurricane. I walked for as long as I could, but then I started to run, my limbs begging for release. The thud, thud of my sneakers reverberated around the stone halls until I skidded around a corner and ran straight into T.J. We both went sprawling to the floor. His ninja reflexes took the brunt of the fall. “Whoa there,” he said, his voice tight.

  It took me a moment to figure out what had actually happened. My mind was in a million different places and none of them centered around my stake instructor. I blinked at him, pulling up to stare down into his face, and to give him some freaking room to breathe. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

  He smirked. “Samuel said you were fast, but damn, that was like a freight train coming at me. What are you running from trainee?”

  A familiar wave of awareness passed over me and then two hands clutched at my shoulders, sending memories skirting all over my skin. The firm hands pulled me up and righted me in front of him. Another hand reached out to help T.J. up, which was readily accepted.

  “Thanks, Christian. I just got bowled over by Ariana here.”

  Christian made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat as an answer. Nerves flirted up my spine. He must have been too close to me. So close yet not near enough to touch, which was like pure torture even if I did want to punch him in the gut for being here. For throwing away everything we had just to be here. Damn him!

  “Sorry, T.J.,” I said, my voice thankfully coming out much more surer than I felt on the inside. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  “And here I thought you were using me as target practice.” He winked and a frigid wave swept over me. It wasn’t coming from me. I liked T.J., but still, the feeling collided with every bone in my body and locked up tight. I rubbed the back of my neck to shake away the feeling. He grimaced. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  I quickly shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Just…” I looked at my arm like it was an extra extremity I hadn’t been able to control in ages and then dropped it to my side. An echo of laughter swept through the adjacent hallway and I used that as my excuse. “I should probably get going. Don’t want to be late for the course. Bye, T.J.” I turned around, Christian’s shoulder the only thing in my line of sight. “Mr. Ravana.”

  His voice was hard, almost pained. “Christian is fine, Ariana.”

  I stepped away without answering. “Have fun,” T.J. called out.

  I waved my hand behind me without looking to acknowledge I’d heard him. Once I got in the other hall, I slumped against the wall. My throat was closing in, making it more difficult to breathe. I steadied myself on the cold stone, then moved to lay my cheek on the irregular surface to subside the heat that infused itself into my limbs.

  T.J. and Christian’s voices carried down the hall. “I’m glad you’re here,” T.J. said. “The trainees need to see that you’re not the enemy. Did it go okay?”

  Christian’s distracted voice answered very precisely. “Surprisingly well. I think Samuel’s onto something.”

  T.J. dropped his voice to a whisper. “Any more news?”

  I strained my ears to hear the answer, but it was useless. There was a very real possibility Christian knew I was standing right here and had either not answered or spoken so low there was no way I would’ve heard without an extra special hearing aid.

  I stalked away, my head a mess and my heart far worse. Christian was here. At The Fort. Anger bubbled to the surface and I twisted it and analyzed it. Wasn’t their presence exactly what I wanted? Well, of course, it was. But it was also damn hard to be around them and not even be able to talk to them as we normally would. He was my teacher now. I couldn’t very well go for a drive with him and end up at the pizza place in the tiny nearby town.
Did he have any idea what he was doing to me?

  I was late for the obstacle course. Samuel pierced me with a glare as I slowly made my way to them. Then, just to be a dick, he paired me with Zeke. I saw the knowing glint in his eye and I hoped he could see my invisible finger giving him the bird. I rocked back and forth on the starting line, waiting to hear Samuel’s go ahead. We hadn’t raced side-by-side in so long, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I’d gotten stronger, faster, but each of us had the same amount of time in the day. He had the same opportunities I had and maybe he’d taken that time to dedicate himself just as much as I had. It was still anyone’s game.

  We waited for what seemed like ages at the starting line that my fingertips started to tingle. Samuel took a breath and I braced myself, my body locking up, gearing itself for the inevitable release, but instead of Samuel’s booming voice calling out for us to go, a buzz sounded. I leapt forward, my whole body practically vibrating when Samuel said, “Hold on.” He reached into his pocket and pulled his cell phone out. He held up a finger as the whole class watched. My entire body shook, like a junkie coming down from a fix. It wasn’t pretty as if my whole system had crashed. “Yeah, be right there.” His face was calm, cool as he addressed us. A few whispers started. “That’s it for today.”

  “Huh?” someone said in the back.

  Samuel wasn’t going to answer though. He was already walking away from us, the mesh from the overhead protection screen saving him from the harmful rays of the sun.

  “Well, that was weird,” Evan said. He was one of the only voices I could pick out now without seeing him actually speak. It must’ve been from all the quality time we spent together today.

  Our group had already dispersed and had begun to make their way back to the guard building. I looked up at the obstacle course in front of me and sulked. Though I was nervous as all hell to race Zeke again, it would’ve been nice to gauge my time against him again. I wanted to see where I stood. Maybe next class I’d bring my personal stopwatch and time him through it. Then, I could see how our times compared. He must not have had the same feelings as me because he was one of the firsts to walk away. His black shirt strained over his shoulders as he walked. Me? I was a week away from needing a size smaller in clothes. Already my pants were slipping down if I didn’t draw the string as tight as I could over my hips.

  I started to walk toward the guard building, then I stopped mid-stride. Christian Ravana was making his way toward the entryway in the iron gate that led to the Rajyvik main house. His stride was sure, confident. Though he looked every bit the vampire prince I’d last seen him as, there was a certain curve to his shoulders. A paleness to his features that caught me off guard. I’d barely looked at him in class and I certainly didn’t look at him in the hallway when T.J. was right there so I hadn’t noticed it before. He was suffering.

  I ached to run after him, but no good could come from that. If anything, maybe I’d get up the nerve to actually meet his eyes in class tomorrow. And not in anger either, with understanding. Or as much of it as I could muster. When he was in pain, so was I.

  Like I’d done many times before, I dropped by the cafeteria only briefly. I picked up two slices of pizza, a water, and carried my tray to my room. So much had happened today. Not even the workouts were going to be enough to keep my mind from thinking. Christian Ravana was close. He was literally within a hundred yards from me, yet, he might as well be with the rest of his brothers God knows where. In another state? In another country? A small space or big space, it didn’t really matter. There was too much in between to wade through.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  That night, I had the same dream I’d been having about Jake. There was the crash and the horrible scraping sound and the blood, but this time, instead of waking up and hanging out with Jake before we got into the doomed car for its last fateful ride, it was Christian. I saw the short, lanky boy I’d conjured in my head when he told me how Isabelle and Gregor found him at the zoo. He still had the mop of dirty blond hair, but when he was younger, I pictured that his eyes were much more blue, brighter than the gray blue they were now. We giggled and laughed. We smiled for the picture when Mom turned around to snap it. There was a revolting jerk, the glass splintering and the feeling of being thrown upside down. I screamed and put my hands over my ears and when I looked to my right expecting to see Christian in the seat next to me, he was the one missing. They’d taken him.

  I awoke with a start, my breath sawing out of my lungs with all the pressure of an erupting volcano. Sweat dampened my forehead and I could feel the wetness at the nape of my neck, too. My still-adjusting eyes searched the room. I half hoped I’d find Christian there, and half hoped I wouldn’t. We’d already been there, done that, and almost got caught. If we got caught this time, not even his father would be able to save me. I’d be gone from this world for good, my mind wiped clean and thrown out like yesterday’s trash.

  I pulled my legs over to the side of the bed and held my head in my hands. My heart was still calming down, returning to its regular steady rhythm after I didn’t pick up any threat or reason for the bad dream. Ever since they told me about Jake, I’d been having the dreams again, but they were mostly centered around him. This was the first time that Christian had taken his place and I didn’t like it. I’d lost Jake again and although it hurt, I never really had him since I was younger. I’d already mourned his loss from my life. To lose Christian would be devastating.

  Why had he come here?

  I stood up to grab a washcloth to wipe the sweat away from me when I stubbed my toe on the book I’d been reading last night. My mouth dropped open, the words I’d read coming back to me at full force. The horror was fresh, new. There’d been a guard uprising once. It was squashed practically before it even began, but the organizers had suffered greatly. The vampires moved in swiftly, resolutely to secure their place without second chances or promises. One guard. That was all the families were allowed now. The book I’d read before hadn’t gone into all the detail, but it was there in black and white last night. The families were only allowed one guard to keep the ranks from rising. Too many guards posed a threat. To squash that, they kept our numbers low, and sometimes, inadequate. It all made perfect sense now, why they entrusted only one guard to protect all the Ravanas including the four princes. Lately, they’d been bringing back retirees to help, but what then? Panic spread through my chest. We needed more guards, especially with the rogue vampire threat, but was that even a possibility?

  A low humming sound snapped my head to attention. I looked around the room, but saw nothing. It came again, a long vibration almost as if— I sprang to the closet to find my cell phone all put together and in one piece again. The Brooder scrolled across the screen. My fingers tensed at the same time I reached out for it. I hesitated briefly, but then swiped the phone and held it to my ear. “Ariana…” It sounded like painful relief.

  “You put my phone together.”

  “I need you to meet me.”

  Bile rose in my throat. Call it paranoia from the dream or the book or any number of things that were happening lately, but I thought that was a horrible idea. “No.”

  “Walk out to our tree. Jump over the wall and I’ll be there waiting for you.”

  The phone hung up and I squeezed it with all my might before pulling it away from my ear and tossing it back on the carpet. Now that it was on, now that the guys’ names were all staring back at me with missed phone calls and messages, my chest started to rip open. Why were they all doing this to me? I wanted to scream it into the night, let it carry away on the wind for no one to answer, but at least it would be out there.

  Heat pricked behind my eyes. I started moving before my brain even caught up with my physical body. I threw on pants and then a shirt. I grabbed the room key and quietly slipped from my safe haven, pulling the door closed without a sound. Bending over, I tied the key in my shoelaces and moved as ninja-like as I could down the hallway and then out the back
entrance. It was a little trick I picked up while no one else was here. It was amazing what you could figure out when you practically had the whole building to yourself.

  I kept to the shadows of the buildings as I crept across the lawn. I wasn’t sure who I was hiding from or even if anyone would care. They didn’t police The Fort like I’d originally thought when they first brought me here. In fact, no one seemed to care what anyone did as long as they showed up for classes and gave it their all. Then of course, there was T.J. kicking Rick out of his stake class today. That was new. I’d never seen that before. At most, I’d been on the confronting end when Samuel told me I was weak and to try harder. Other than that, nothing. This was a safe place, and here I was heading to the tree to climb up and over the wall to leave it all behind.

  There had to be a reason for it. Christian wouldn’t have told me to do it if there wasn’t a reason. This time when I tried to escape, I had more than enough upper body strength to pull me up on the limb. I inched out across the swaying branch and placed my feet on the top of the stone wall. I couldn’t see the ground below, but I knew it was about an eight foot drop. I twisted around and hung from the top, my feet dangling below to lessen the amount of space between me and the grass. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I landed, my knees collapsing under me as they took the brunt of my weight and then I fell backward.

  Headlights washed over me. I cowered in the grass for a second before I realized it was Christian waiting for me in his car. I picked myself up and ran to him. I threw the door open, the assault of him and this normality almost punched me in the gut. I just stared at him as I had done so many times before, but this was different. This time, I felt the wrongness of it. The crime. The punishment. It was all hanging over our heads, but I didn’t care.