Descent (The Immortal Chronicles Book 1)

by Sloane Murphy

  I stretch out on the green, looking forward to my morning run. Knowing I’ll get to spend time with her again. We’ve run like this every morning since the Elite arrived, and even though I know I’m pushing the boundaries of what I should and shouldn’t do, I can’t bring myself to stop.

  All we do it run, we talk occasionally, but more often than not, we just enjoy the comfortable silence and each other’s company. I think since she lost her friends, she’s crying out for someone to depend on, someone to be there for her, and that asshat Tyler obviously isn’t doing that.

  The rage that bubbles up just thinking about him is overwhelming. There is something off about him, I can’t put my finger on what it is, but I just don’t like him. And I refuse to believe it’s down to jealousy like Dimitri says. Either way, I’m keeping an eye on him.

  I see her coming, having already started her run from her dorm round to the front gate, and I can’t help but be taken away by her. Even running in just her jumpsuit, her hair up, her beauty is undeniable. The jumpsuit hugs her every curve and makes my mouth water. I can’t help the direction my thoughts take as I watch her sway her hips as she slows when she gets closer.

  “Good morning Adelaide,” I say. “I’m impressed at your dedication. Are you ready?”

  “Please, I’ve already done three laps this morning. Are you ready old man?” she says I can’t help the bark of laughter than escapes me.

  “Old man? I barely look twenty-five. Anyway, isn’t it true that you’re as young as you feel? I could still run rings around you.”

  “Ha! You could try. I’m sure that stamina of yours would fizz out,” she smirks at me. Her flirty manner has become more obvious the past few days as she’s become more comfortable around me, and I’m not going to deny enjoying it.

  “My stamina knows no bounds Miss Tate.” I wink at her and take off at a speed I know she can catch up to. I have to remember that she’s only human, having to hold back is nothing I’m not used to, having been around humans for as long as I have, but I find myself wanting to show her everything. Who I really am. The wonders this world holds. I want to give her everything, and never let hurt touch her again. To protect her from the evil I know this world holds. For now, I will settle for this. For her friendship, for her trust

  “Come on slow poke!” I call back to her. “I thought you had this.”

  “Yeah, yeah old man. I was taking it easy on you, letting you think you had the lead,” she laughs. “What’s the fun in beating you when you can see it coming?” And with that she pushes herself harder to take the lead. I let her keep her lead for a while, before joining her pace and running side by side with her.

  I hear the bell ring in the distance, the advantage of being what I am.

  “Time to go Addie, same time tomorrow?”

  “You can count on it,” she says, before starting towards the main building. She turns and waves back to me as she’s halfway to the building, catching me watching her. What can I say? I’m a guy, and her arse in that suit deserves watching.

  I stand on the mats and roll my shoulders. Defence class is the one class I've not needed to worry about. I've been the top of my class for years. Yes, I've only fought other humans, who in reality are no match for Demons or Vampyrs, but I've got this test.

  Dimitri steps onto the mat. Oh hell no! Our test is fighting him? I'm so screwed. I groan internally and clench my teeth. That mothertrucker is going to enjoy this. His goofy smile is a disguise; I know he's going to knock me on my ass as soon as he gets a chance. It's then I realise there's more Vampyrs in here than just Dimitri, the Heads of all eight Vampyr houses sit at the head table, watching my every move.

  Breath Addie, you can do this. Just focus and remember your training. Do not let him stay on the attack, otherwise you'll tire. Let your size work for you, no one thinks a five foot three human is a match for a Vampyr. I lock eyes with Xander, and I see the smirk that graces his face. Dick. He’s seen me fight, but he’s looking forward to seeing me get my ass kicked, it’s written all over that pretty English face of his.

  I take another deep breath and take a step forward, Dimitri meets my eyes and his face changes, he becomes the warrior I know he is, and I watch his entire body transform. He nods to me, showing the Heads that he is ready, I nod back and hope to god he doesn't kick my ass.

  ***

  Ugh. He totally kicked my ass! I'm now a sweaty, exhausted mess. I was so happy about landing a few hits in the beginning that I got lazy. And I know it. Dammit! At least I pinned him, and he didn't get a kill shot. I want out of this hell hole, and passing this class is a must to get out. I hate the evaluation stage. So many tests, to see which place in society fits you best. No choice about what I want to do. What they tell me I'm doing is what I'll spend the rest of my life doing. I hate it. It's the only reason I've worked so hard; I refuse to be someone at the bottom of the ladder. I was not meant to be someone's maid, plus, have you seen my room? Tidy isn't exactly my strong suit.

  I grab a bottle of water from the table and stand at the back of the room, as I sneak a peek at the Heads of houses. Sure I've seen The Eight here before, they're here every year at the evaluations, but I've never had chance to watch them closely. They sit, so human like, and yet they seem like statues too. For beings that can move so fast, they can be eerily still.

  Xander Bane might just be the hottest Vampyr I've ever seen, but he's also a total dick. I don't get why he thinks he's so much better than everyone else. I mean, everyone knows that the Valoire Princess died whilst his house was on watch. Who knows, maybe that's why he's such a dick, maybe the guilt eats at him. Still no excuse though. Dammit, why does he have to be so pretty? I stand at the back of the room studying the frown lines on his face, when I notice that he's looking at me. Feck! It's not like I can just look away! And now he's just watching as I stand here and gawp at him. I need to look away. Any time now would be good. Why am I still looking at him! I see the edges of his mouth turn up as he watches me continue to stare. For the love of all that's holy! I bite my lip praying to whatever forces there are for this to stop. I can feel the heat in my face. I’m with Tyler for crying out loud. Some stupid, whiplash-worthy mood swinging Vampyr shouldn’t have this effect on me!

  The bell rings to announce the end of the latest evaluation, and I manage to tear my eyes away from him. Thank feck! Poor Benny though, looks like he took a beating; he's bruised and bloody on the mats, as Dimitri offers him a hand up.

  Dimitri works through the class, some doing okay, others not so much. I almost cheered out loud when he knocked Noah out after a few minutes, even if they were an intense few minutes!

  We were asked to wait outside while the Eight deliberated, and I can’t help my nervous excitement. Right now is where I’ll find out if I made it. I can’t even imagine not, not after everything I’ve gone through to get here. Dimitri is out here with us, trying to keep us all in line as we wait to be called back in.

  The door opens and we all file in. They call us up each by name, alphabetically by surname, telling us if we passed the Eval, and if we’d like to be part of the guard if we passed. They then approve or deny the request. I’m so excited! Ty has already been approved, and I totally failed at holding in my squeal of happiness for him, now we can both be together in the guard too. Noah is called forward and I snigger to myself. After that performance there is no way he can get in the guard. He steps forward and is addressed by Xander.

  “Noah Remington, you have passed your evaluation. Well done. Is it your wish to join the Red Guard should you graduate the Academy?” he asks.

  “Sir, yes sir. It would be an honour.” Noah recites the standard answer. Xander looks at him, scrutinising him inch by inch.

  “Approved.”

  My jaw hits the floor. No. Freaking. Way. I can’t believe he was approved! They must be in real need of people for the guard if he got through after that. I look at Dimitri, who’s shock mirrors my own. Noah walks back to the back of the room and
smirks at me. Fecking ejit.

  “Adelaide Tate,” Xander calls my name and I momentarily freeze. This is it! I look to D, who nods in encouragement, a small smile on his face. I walk over to where Noah just stood and stand to attention, as is required.

  “Adelaide Tate, you have passed your evaluation. Well done. Is it your wish to join the Red Guard should you graduate the Academy?” he asks me, the same as he has done to everyone else. I’m so excited right now I could bounce.

  “Sir, yes sir. It would be an honour,” I shout back at him. He examines me, and while I’m sure it only lasts a minute, it feels like forever. Then I hear him speak, and it’s as if I’m inside a bubble. I can hear Dimitri shouting, but it’s muffled. It just happened. That moment I’ve been working towards my entire life.

  And I failed.

  I didn’t get in. I replay his words in my mind as I’m frozen to the spot. “Denied. Your request has not been approved.” I walk to the back of the room in a daze, unable to process what just happened. I can still hear Dimitri shouting, but I just can’t register it.

  Ty is stood against the wall behind me, his arms crossed. He looks pissed, but not as pissed as I’m going to be I’m sure. I will not let them see how much they just broke me with that ruling. I walk over to him, grab his hand and drag him out of the room.

  “Addie!” I hear my name shouted from behind me, but I can’t stop. If I stop now I’ll break, and I can’t do that, not after everything, so I ignore the shouting and pick up my pace. I drop Ty’s hand and take off at a run, back to my room. I get to my room and the door is open, I look inside and fall to the floor as the tears descend. Ty catches up to me and finds me here. I can’t believe someone would do this to me. Ty comes down to my level after seeing the room and gathers me in his arms.

  “I am so sorry baby girl. For everything. We’ll fix this.” He picks me up in his arms and I bury my face in his neck.

  Everything about him brings me comfort. The feel of him wrapped around me, his smell so earthy. I wish that just for a few seconds, I could lose myself in it all and stop caring about everything else. He walks me over to his bed and lays us down on it, I’m totally entwined in him. I open my eyes to look at him and he’s staring down at me, stroking my hair. I look around, and that’s when I notice it’s as bare in here now, as it is next door. I feel the dam I’ve been building up to hold it all in shatter, and I can’t hold it back anymore. They’ve tried to erase them. All of Livvy’s things are gone from our room, even her bed, all that’s left are some things they left on my bed. It’s the same in here with Logan’s stuff. It’s all gone, and it hits me that they’re really gone, and now the guard is gone too.

  I’ve never felt so helpless and so useless. It’s not a surprise I didn’t get in the guard. They’re gone because of me. I cry on Tyler’s shoulder, crying so hard that I can’t catch my breath, while he holds me, stroking my hair, just letting me be. I cry until I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.

  “It’s ok baby girl, just sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up. Right here,” he whispers into my hair before he kisses my forehead.

  “I love you Ty,” I whisper before I see darkness.

  ***

  When I wake, the room is shrouded in darkness, and Ty is still wrapped around me. I lay in the comfort of his arms and start to relax and close my eyes again, when it hits me. My eyes fly open; I’m definitely awake now. Holy shit! I did not say that before I went to sleep right?

  I squeeze my eyes closed tight hoping and wishing that it was all just a bad dream, but considering where I am, I know it wasn’t. God damn it! Why would I say something so stupid? It’s not even true… Is it? I lay here quietly panicking, knowing that if I try to move and leave he’ll wake up, and I really don’t want that!

  “Addie, please stop thinking so loud,” Ty grumbles half asleep, and I can’t help but giggle. Oops.

  “I think I should go back to my room.” He responds by hugging me tighter.

  “Not tonight Addie, I don’t want to be alone tonight. I need you here,” he murmurs to me, and I let out a deep breath. “I need you here. Please.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I say before kissing him and snuggling into his chest. There’s no way I’m going to leave him now. I hear him release a breath and it occurs to me that he’s struggling as much as I am, he’s just holding it all together for me, and I’m so thankful that he’s still here, and that he’s mine.

  “I love you Addie. Forever and always,” he says just before his breathing evens out, and I know he’s asleep. Today has been one of the worst days of my life, probably number three on the scale, but this, this makes it all seem like a test to see if I was worthy of someone like him in my life.

  Dimitri follows me to my office and I can feel the anger rolling from him. In all our years as friends I've never seen him so invested, and so worked up over a girl.

  "Xander what the fuck are you thinking?! That girl is the best damn fighter I've seen in a long time, and considering how old I am, that says a fucking lot! She could be the best warrior of her kind. Hell, she could be better than some of ours!" he yells as soon as the door closes. I sigh as I drop into the leather chair, seated behind my huge mahogany desk.

  "You don't understand D, there's so much that you don't know. About her, about everything, and I can't explain properly. You just need to trust me when I say that she can't be part of the guard."

  "I trust you, but you've got to give me something here man. She pinned you in practice. I can't remember the last person, man or beast that managed to do that. There's just something about her you know? I feel like she's my little sister, and I want her to have everything she ever wanted. The look on her face when you rejected her, it damn near tore my heart out." I run my hand through my hair, while desperately hoping he lets this go. That practice where she pinned me was like pure and utter torture. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t hold back. I hadn’t with anyone else, but the bloody vixen caught me out. She is so fucking talented, her movements so swift and graceful, she’s like an avenging angel. I was distracted by her tongue poking out of her lips, she does it when she’s focusing, and I couldn’t help but think about it and all of the wondrous things… and then she bloody pinned me. She was on top of me, straddling me, panting, her hair in my face. Fucking. Torture. Keeping myself in check with her on top of me like that was not the easiest thing to do. Imagining naked grannies humping was the only thing that would work. I smirk before answering him.

  "Oh I know D, believe me I know." He couldn't even begin to understand the hold she has over me, and while I try to fight it every damn day, I know that soon, it's probably going to win.

  "If you think I didn't die a little inside, then you're wrong. I felt her pain, her heartbreak. Then I saw the emptiness take over, and I know you've seen it too; that other side of her. That's part of why she can't join the guard. What we are, it affects her too much. What they are affects her too. I know I sound like a cryptic son of a bitch, but you know I wouldn't keep it from you if it wasn't what's best for her." I can almost see his brain ticking away, trying to piece it all together. Maybe he'll work it out on his own, and then I'll finally have someone I can speak to about it all, but until then, the secret is mine to burden. He nods at me, and turns to leave. He stops at the door and looks back at me.

  "You know you can't stop whatever path she's on Xander, and from the sounds of it, she needs all the help she can get. It's bad enough they're not told the truth in their classes, but if you're keeping something from her that could change who she is fundamentally, then she needs to know sooner rather than later." He finishes and leaves, closing the door behind him. Shit. This is turning into an absolute shit storm. I hate that I’ve been put in this position. Seventeen years ago, I agreed to help with a plan, and while I would have never made a different choice, I sometimes wish one of my brothers had been the one to make the oath I made.

  ***

  “Please Xander, I have no
one else to turn to. She is an innocent life in this never-ending war. Kellen doesn’t understand, he cannot be reasonable in this decision. His anger clouds his judgement.” She begs me as she clings to my arm. I look down at her, a woman begging to save the life of her child, there is no possible way I can turn her away. The bundle wrapped up in her arms looks up at me, and I feel as if she can see my soul, what is left of it anyway. I feel the pang in my heart and know that this decision will affect many things to come, that the weight of this will ripple through the coming years with no idea of the repercussions.

  “Are you sure of this Lan? Defying him could be the end of you. The end of me. Of us all. If he ever found out, I dare not think of the consequences.”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire existence. I have been alive a long, long time Xander. She was created for a reason, even if we do not know that reason right now, even if I have no memory of it. It is not her fault. I can feel her Xander, she is born for greatness. I cannot kill her just because he decrees it. On this, he is wrong, and if he wasn’t so angry at the universe right now, he’d see that. He will come to regret his decision, which is how I can be safe in my choice,” she says with such conviction, that even if I hadn’t made a decision I would be swayed to her will. I can see the fire in her eyes, the determination to save her daughter. I will take her to the Nursery. They will care for her as a human, that is all they will know her as.

  “I have hidden her from this world, she has been cloaked by my magic. She, nor anyone else around her will ever know who, or what she is. Her appearance will be changed, so that she is not recognised. This is the only way I can think of to keep her safe, until the time comes that she needs to be exactly who she is.” She kisses her daughters head and I see her magic take hold. The child’s features will change significantly, so no-one would ever know what she is. She hands the child to me with a tear running down her cheek.