Brett goes through alphabetically and awards them with their diplomas and for the first time all night, I actually get to my feet and join in with the applause. “Go Jacinta,” I call over their applause as Trey and Daniel let our ear shattering wolf whistles. Her face goes bright red and all I can do is laugh. The same is repeated for Nora, but unlike Jacinta, she eats up the attention.
Next up, their rankings. I begin to fidget and get nervous for her. She has worked her ass off for this and she even had her lucky pen in the exam, but Nora has followed so closely behind her. It will be a tough one. We watch as Brett makes his way back to the podium and presses a few buttons, bringing up the FEDS final rankings on the overhead projector.
“Congratulations, Jacinta Cooper. You have graduated top of your class,” Brett announces.
“Yes,” I squeal getting to my feet once again and jumping around like a loser, not caring about the pain that shoots up my legs in the process. God, I’m so freaking proud of her. If anyone deserves it, it’s her. It’s a shame her parents didn’t come to see this.
She begins making her way back down to our table with Nora right beside her. Tears of joy and relief stream down her face as she falls into Trey's arms. I hate waiting for my hug, but I know she needs this moment with Trey. She eventually moves on to me, but I have to make it quick as the combat students have been called up.
“You’ve got this,” she tells me. “But just in case, good luck.”
“Thanks,” I grin as Daniel reaches for me and swings me up into his arms, making the room burst into laughter at my expense. Oh well, what have I got to lose? He climbs the stairs and sets me down on my feet between him and Trey. I glance down to the crowd to see Mom and Millie both on their feet with cameras already flashing. I scan the room searching out Rylan and find him leaning back in his chair, glass in hand, looking as if he knows exactly how this is going to go.
A grin creeps across my face as Brett starts handing out diplomas. He finally gets to mine and the whole room starts calling out. Apparently, I’m still the local celebrity. Mom and Millie go nuts while the rest of the room get to their feet to applaud. Holy cow. I just got a standing ovation. “Congratulation, Bianca,” Brett says, giving me a knowing look and I realize this is coming from my boyfriend’s dad and not the leader of the Guard.
“Thank you,” I tell him with a grateful smile as he shakes my hand. Rylan smiles up at me with pride shining through his gold speckled eyes, though I also know he’s thinking about what this moment signifies. I have officially graduated and we can finally, truly be together for the world to know.
Brett makes his way through the rest of my classmates when he finally gets to the good bit.
“Alright,” he says. “The moment, I’m sure everyone in this room is waiting for.” He fumbles around with the buttons and turns to face us all. “Congratulations, Miss Bianca Moore. You have graduated top of your class,” he says, then presses the button to make the rankings appear. I turn around and look up and there in the top position is my name followed by Trey in second and Daniel in third. Wow. My eyes quickly scan down the rest of the list to see poor Brax in tenth position. Oh dear...
I did it. I graduated top of my class, just like I promised my dad I would.
I look out to Mom to see tears rolling down her cheeks while the crowd around her stand on their feet, united in their applause. Rylan stands beside Ben and raises his glass to me with a smile taking over his face ‘congratulations,’ he mouths to me.
‘Thank you,’ I tell him then instantly get tackled by Trey and Daniel who throw me off balance in my heels. The three of us tumble right off the stage and hit the floor with a thump. The rest of my class coming running off the stage to jump on top, and from where I’m sitting at the bottom of the pile, anyone would think I’d be dead down here, but both Trey and Daniel’s arms circle me protectively.
The boys all start chanting my name around me while Brett announces for the party to get started before leaving the stage.
My aching body is completely forgotten as my mood shoots through the roof. I am on top of the freaking world.
Best. Night. Ever.
The music is turned right up and the dance floor quickly becomes crowded. I’m surrounded by millions of people all wanting to talk to me and offer their congratulations. Eventually, Mom disappears and seeing as though Ben is gone too, I can assume they’re together. Millie is next to fall off the face of the planet. Slowly the room starts to break away, but we aren’t ready for our night to be over.
It’s mainly just the seniors left, and all the combat students plus Jacinta and Nora sit around a table, laughing and enjoying one of our last times together.
Rylan turns up at our table and looks down at us all. “So, I guess I’m no longer your instructor anymore,” he says to the table as they all cheer in relief.
“About fucking time,” Daniel calls out, though we all know he’s joking, especially after the year they have had together.
“Watch it, kid. I can still kick your ass,” he grins as the rest of the table laughs at Daniel’s expense. Rylan glances over his shoulder before turning back to us. “I guess now that I’m not your instructor, I can party with you guys,” he grins, digging into the pockets on the inside of his jacket and pulling out two bottles of Jack Daniels, making the boys jump out of their chairs in excitement.
“Ugh,” Jacinta, Nora and I groan at the same time.
“Don’t stress,” Rylan says. “I got you girls covered,” he adds as he pulls out a bottle of vodka from who the hell knows where, making us jump up with the boys, cheering in excitement. “Combat room. Five minutes,” he orders one last time before turning away. “Oh, and don’t make it obvious,” he adds, then disappears.
One by one, we sneak out of the great hall and make our way down to the combat room for a real party.
Jacinta and I stumble into the room and immediately take our heels off, throwing them down by the door. We collapse on to the ground on one of the training mats and relax as all the boys slowly trickle in. Nora and Daniel eventually show up with her hair tangled all over the place and it’s a wonder they even made it here.
Rylan comes in and the boys all cheer for him. I get to my feet and grin as he bee lines straight for me. “I thought you’d never graduate,” he says before grabbing me around the waist and dipping me low, kissing me with everything he has in front of everyone. My arms twine up around his neck and I moan into his mouth. Yeah, this is just what I needed.
Rylan places me back firmly on my feet and I grin up at him. The boys around us stare in shock as Nora jumps to her feet. “I knew it,” she yells with a fist pump as Jacinta breaks into laughter, causing the rest of the guys to join in, except Brax, who suddenly has a look of understanding on his face.
“Alright,” Daniel says getting up. “Let’s get this party started.”
With that, the night goes crazy, drinks are opened, music is blasted, and for once, Rylan is right there by my side. It doesn’t take long for the guys to accept us as a couple, but it takes a little while for them to stop staring. “I guess this means we’re going public now,” I tell him as he sits down and pulls me into his lap.
“Damn straight we are,” he grins up at me.
By the end of the night, the boys sit around in a circle, talking about all the different times we got our asses handed to us by Rylan and Ben, and all our amazing memories over the year.
Jacinta and Nora end up falling asleep and that’s when we finally call it a night. Trey carries Jacinta back to his room while Daniel takes Nora back to hers. Rylan and I leave too and he walks me back to my room. “Good Night,” he says as we lean up against the outside of my room.
“Did you want to stay?” I ask a little nervously.
“Seriously?” he asks with a grin. “You’ve got a single bed.”
“It’s really good for snuggling,” I tell him.
“I don’t know, Bianca.”
“Your loss,” I say, tu
rning around and crawling through the window, making sure he gets a good view of my ass as I bend over in front of him and tease him with a little wiggle.
A sharp slap cuts across my ass and I grin knowing exactly what’s coming next. “Fine,” he groans before crawling through the window behind me. It doesn’t take long before we’re crashing into bed together, finishing this perfect day off in the most magical way.
Chapter 14
There’s a sharp knock at the door before it flies open. “Bianca, honey,” my mother’s voice sings as she barges her way into my room.
“Shit,” I shriek as I sit up in bed next to a very naked Rylan and making sure the blanket is pulled up and covering all his important bits.
“Oh, holy shit,” Mom screeches, turning around and slapping a hand over her eyes then doing the same to Millie before I realize I’ve been so concerned with covering Rylan up, I’m still fully exposed to the world, dressed in only a bullet chain. “Um… ahh… we’ll wait outside,” she says, ushering Millie back out the door and slamming it behind them.
I glance down at Rylan who does nothing but laughs as he scoots out of bed, finds his jeans and pulls them up while making me drool as I take in his amazing body. “Morning,” he tells me with a sexy smirk as the sun filters through the window, lighting up his spectacular back.
“Morning,” I grin. “That’s not really how I had hoped this morning would go,” I say, pointing towards the offending people who stand on the other side.
“No, me neither,” he says as he collects his things from my bedside table and drops them into his pockets before leaning down and pressing a kiss to my lips. “I love you,” he murmurs. “I’ll see you later.”
“K,” I mumble against his lips. “Love you, too.”
He grabs his shirt and jacket and within moments, disappears out the window. I jump out of bed and quickly get myself dressed before opening the door for Mom and Millie when I’m presentable. “Bianca Moore,” Mom scolds as she barges past me in to the room. “I come to say goodbye and find you in bed with a man,” she says, still in shock. “I just can’t believe it,” she murmurs to herself before looking up at me. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” she asks.
“Um... no. Maybe ten?” I guess with a guilty smile as Millie laughs to herself on the couch.
“No, young lady. It’s past two in the afternoon. I knew you’d need a sleep in today, but my god, this is ridiculous.”
“Well,” I grin. “I had a very adventurous night.”
“Bianca,” she screeches in shock then looks over to Millie who’s really enjoying herself.
“What?” I laugh. “I suppose my night was quite similar to yours then?”
Her eyes widen in shock and I know without a doubt what she got up to last night. “I am not having this conversation with you.”
“Good, now you know how I felt the other day,” I grin. “Oh, I hope you were safe.”
“Bianca,” she gasps again, desperately wanting to get off the topic.
The PA system through the whole academy suddenly comes alive with a loud squeal before Ms. Peterson urgent voice comes rushing through the speakers. “All new and existing members of the Front Lines report to the academy jet, immediately. Headquarters has been attacked.”
“Shit,” I gasp looking at Mom wide eyed before snapping into it. I quickly grab my uniform that I haven’t had a chance to put on yet, rush around my room collecting my weapons and shoes before looking up at Mom. “Saved by the bell, Mom,” I say stopping as I dash towards the door to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Love you. Duty calls.”
I rush out the door not having time to close it behind me. I run down to the run way where I can see the jet in the distance and all my class mates doing exactly the same thing. I pull on my uniform, not bothering with taking my clothes off underneath and finished getting dressed on the way, jamming my pockets filled with various weapons.
I barge onto the runway just as everyone else is to see Rylan already dressed and ready pacing at the foot of the stairs that lead up into the jet. As he sees us, he ushers each of us up the stairs and tells us to quickly get seated. I take a seat and pull my shoes on. The last few people finally make it through the door and Rylan stands up before us all.
“As you heard, headquarters was under attack,” he starts when someone butts in.
“Fey?”
“No,” Rylan snaps, clearly pissed off to have been interrupted. “Vampires.”
“What?” I say under my breath. All this time we’ve been keeping an eye out for the fey. No one was expecting an attack from the vampires, especially not at Headquarters and especially after we wiped out a great number of them six months ago. They prefer to do their hunting on the streets with innocent victims who can’t fight back. It just doesn’t make sense why they would come into headquarters, and wouldn’t it have been better to target the community where it would have been slim pickings, hardly anyone around to raise an alarm?
I start fixing my hair up into a bun as Rylan continues. “The attack took place first thing this morning. Most members were still in bed at the time. At this stage, it is unclear how many vampires orchestrated the attack. Wires were cut, rendering surveillance inadequate. They broke in through the west wing, so that’s where we’ll be starting,” he says. “We are the closest to Headquarters, so it will be on us to do the initial sweep of the building. You can assume more members of the Front Line will be arriving shortly after we do.”
He looks down at me with worry etched into his face and I know he hates that I’ll be coming along, but we both know that if anyone here can handle it, it’s me. “It’s after two,” I start. “How come we're only hearing about it now?”
His face drops even further. “It’s believed there are no survivors,” he says. “We’re lucky that most members who reside at headquarters were staying here the night after the celebrations. We will have three teams. One searching for remaining threats, one searching for survivors and the last starting first aid for anyone who requires help. Are we clear?” he asks, taking a seat as the jet starts to taxi down the runway.
We all nod in silence as the plane takes off, every one of us lost in our own thoughts.
Jesus. ‘It’s believed there are no survivors’. My mind goes to all the people I met while I was staying at headquarters. Dr. Mandoza and Mr. Richards, not to mention, all the staff and people who helped me out along the way. Rylan can’t possibly be saying these people might be dead.
A few hours later, the jet circles over Headquarters and I look out the window and stare down in shock. Parts of the building are on fire and walls have been knocked down. My heart breaks, if this is the view from the outside then I can only imagine what the inside looks like.
Big, black SUV’s from every direction swarm to get there as our Jet touches down. Rylan stands immediately and we follow him out the door, grouping in the designated groups he split us into on the ride over.
As expected, Rylan has put the strongest fighters on the ‘searching out threats’ team, which of course means I’m right by his side as he leads the group. Trey and Daniel come along with us as do a few other guys that I don’t know, but I’m sure I’m about to get to know very well.
We take off, not waiting to see if the two other groups are doing what they are told.
Smoke from the fires clog my lungs, but we push past it with guns drawn. As Rylan said, we find the West end and get started. Slipping through the massive hole in the wall, I smell the blood on top of the smoke and I just know it’s going to bad.
I spot my first victim immediately, a young girl with her throat torn out and I’m sure her body drained of blood. The poor thing, she would have been their first victim, probably scared out of her mind and didn’t even get a chance to run. We continue down the hallway, following the path of destruction and dead bodies, checking each and every room for threats as we go. The second team follows behind us checking the bodies for pulses, but from what I can tell, thes
e people are well and truly dead.
Tears pool in my eyes, but I push past it as we continue to search out remaining vampires. We get down to the living quarters, the same place I was staying only a few months ago and it hits me that had I not been sent home, I would have been here awaiting the same fate.
I shake the thought out of my head. I’m here to do a job. We rush down the hallway, checking behind each door. Rylan kicks another one open and dives into the room, gun steadily held before him, looking like the deadliest warrior. The room is empty so I check the bathroom and gasp as I push the door open to find a body, but not just any body, Dr. Mandoza’s motionless body, laying in a pool of her own blood with her eyes open in fear.
My hand flies to my chest as it threatens to shatter into a million pieces. Tears begin streaming down my face. “What is it?” Rylan asks, coming to stand behind me.
“It’s Dr. Mandoza,” I tell him.
His eyes close and he lets out a breath, knowing exactly what this woman meant to me.
I step into the bathroom and check her over myself, praying for a pulse, but I know it’s not coming. I gently close her eyes as Rylan puts a hand on my shoulder. “Come on,” he says softly. “We still have a job to do.”
I give him a hasty nod and wipe the tears on my sleeve. “Ok,” I say stepping out of the bathroom and rushing down the hallway to the next room. He allows one of the other guys to take the lead and discreetly stays right by my side just in case I have a breakdown. But I’m strong and he should know that. I love him for it, but he knows I’ll do my job and break down later.
We finish the initial sweep and report that there are no vampires left just as the second and third group return to our meeting spot saying there are absolutely no survivors.
Now comes the hard part.
Respectfully getting the bodies somewhere safe so their families can say goodbye.
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