Descending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)

For a long moment I just stared at him, trying to digest what he’d said. None of this was funny. My heart was pounding inside my chest. He was looking at me so intensely. I almost felt like he was seeing through me, reading my thoughts.

Then I laughed, because I just couldn’t help myself.

“A mate?” I repeated. An image from prehistoric times flashed when a man was dragging a woman by her hair flashed through my mind. “You cannot be serious?”

Obviously, it wasn’t the reaction that pretty boy expected from me, but he did smile eventually. Then he took a step towards me and I saw brewing heat in his eyes.

At that point my heart was pounding uncontrollably inside my chest.

“I’m the reason that you have these memories about your past. Maybe you don’t know this because you haven’t been brought up around any vampires but we can only have one true mate during our lifetime. I’m old, very old Jaymin. Ramona was always just a fling, a way to pass the time until I found my mate – you….”

It was time to explain a few things to him.

“Listen Lachlan, I appreciate everything that you have done for me, but I don’t think we are on the same page. Could perhaps you or your family have something to do with my past? Maybe this has nothing to do with lust or being destined to be together,” I told him, still laughing.

This whole thing was just too funny. I had no idea that vampires were supposed to have only one mate over the span of their life. We barely knew each other and right then he was stepping into very dangerous territory. On top of everything, his father was involved with the High Council.

“You’re very special Jaymin and you will need protection once others find out what you are,” he continued and quickly added. “Besides, there is an attraction between us. You cannot deny it.”

“And you’re way too sure of yourself,” I told him. I was glad to see that Karina had just arrived and interrupted this conversation where Lachlan had basically implied that he thought that we were fated mates.

“Sorry for the intrusion, but that vampire Claude is here. He wants to have a chat with all of us,” she said. giving me “the look.”

She must have sensed the tension between us and the strong energy that was turning me on. Damn it, I really had to start controlling myself better when I was around pretty boy. Lately my libido was out of control. I didn’t need to be distracted by my emotions, I had a job to do.

We all needed to find Marisa’s killer and of course, Leonidas was still out there, probably plotting his revenge. Lachlan could maybe have found a better time to bring this up.

“Claude? Who is he?” Lachlan asked, looking unhappy that we had been interrupted.

“Our babysitter,” I muttered, wondering why Kildra insisted that we needed a nanny. Karina winked at me, she probably thought the same thing.

“He’s the vampire that we’re supposed to report to,” Karina explained. Lachlan didn’t look happy, but we had no more time to discuss this right now.

We followed Karina, walking back to the main room. Marco was still on the phone, talking in rapid Italian. Claude stood by the door and my stomach turned a little when I saw him without his cloak. He was very handsome and looked almost like a human in the daylight. His dark skin shone a little, but humans probably wouldn’t notice it and his black hair was very curly.

“It’s good to have everyone together now, so let me begin,” he said addressing everyone, but he was staring at me.

Pretty boy must have noticed, because he instantly inched a bit closer, invading my personal space. He was breathing onto my neck and I felt that heat embracing my core yet again. This definitely wasn’t what I wanted to focus on right now. Karina pulled Marco’s coat, pointing at the vampire in the room. He finally put the phone down and frowned seeing Claude. Judas looked bored. “My name is Claude and I am going to be your guide here in Kildra. Principle Holland asked me to show you around the school. I believe that some of the areas aren’t accessible.”

“Who exactly is this clown?” Lachlan asked in a hushed tone of voice, knowing that Claude could hear him perfectly well.

I didn’t answer, but I noticed that Claude looked in my direction again.

“We are professionals mate, so we don’t need your guidance,” Lachlan said out loud and then added “We can conduct our own investigation.”

“I’m afraid that without me, there won’t be any investigation. Principle Holland has given Madame Oldman specific instructions. I have been a member of the faculty for a very long time and I shall guide you, make introductions to the students and make sure that you don’t cross any lines,” he said, clearly confirming that our movements within the Elite were indeed restricted.

Judas snorted, and when I glanced at pretty boy I could see that he was ready to argue with Claude. He didn’t look happy at all.

“All right, as long as I can chat to the ladies, I don’t really care,” Marco said, giving Karina his usual wink.

“This is a fucking joke. The murderer is trying to disrupt the trials. We need to question everyone that was out that night as soon as possible and we don’t need your help with that mate,” Lachlan said, emphasising the last word.

“Tonight there will be an initiation ceremony, well most students are calling it a party. This will be the opportunity for all of you to conduct your investigation,” Claude said, remaining very calm and composed despite Lachlan’s attempts to make him lose his cool.

Marisa had died in very strange circumstances. I had a feeling that this had something to do with what happened to me a few months ago.

Leonidas had a master. I was certain that it was another mage from my brief vision of the past. That mage had talked about the vampire that created me, the ancient that then handed me to the fae court. I still had no answers, I needed to find him.

“Party, that sounds good,” Marco muttered, scrolling through his phone. I sensed Marco’s magic. His energy was intense and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“Where exactly is this party?” I asked.

“It starts at midnight in the old chapel that has been converted into a social club. It’s an old Academy tradition and it always takes place after Halloween. I’m sure that Mr. Lachlan here can explain the initiation ceremony to the rest of you. After all, it was his father that came up with the idea,” Claude said, then he bowed his head in the old fashion manner and quickly left the room.

I was gobsmacked and looked at pretty boy, wondering if this was true. Lachlan dragged his hand through his hair and exhaled sharply. I was right all along.

Lachlan’s father was pretty important.

“Is that true what he said about your father?” I asked him.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Then, maybe you should speak to him,” Judas said, jumping off the table.

“He won’t tell me anything. My father is on the board, but he isn’t allowed to talk about Elite business and that moron knows that,” he said.

“So, what kind of party is this?” I asked wanting to know what to expect. After all we were in one of the most exclusive supernatural schools in the world.

“The vampires like to exchange blood during these parties. We should be able to find out a few interesting things during this initiation,” Lachlan explained.

“Is Claude going to be there,” I asked.

“I hope not. The faculty shouldn’t have access to it, the party is organised by the Elite student union,” Lachlan added, giving me an angry look. What was his problem?

I ignored him and followed Karina out.

“That was strange wasn’t it?” I said, thinking about this evening and our ruined weekend.

“Well actually, it was kind of expected. Elite doesn’t like sharing it’s secrets. I will be glad to get the hell out of here. The sooner we find the killer the better,” she told me. “Besides, we’re probably going to be moved to the dorms near the Elite. Oldman wants us close. We need to grab our stuff from the hotel in town.”

“We do, let’s go” I admitted. “Are you sure you’re all right? I know that Marisa was your friend.”

I was a little worried about her. Karina was my friend. We’d bonded from the minute I had arrived at Moonlight, and I noticed that in the past several hours she had been lost in her own thoughts.”

A little while later, we were outside the hotel on the busy street. It was still bitterly cold.

“Sort of, but to be honest none of this makes any sense to me,” she muttered.

Then she suddenly stopped, like she recognised someone, and stared ahead in shock.

There were a group of girls that noticed Karina and I too. One of them, a very tall blond one whispered something to the other one. I felt Karina’s energy spiking. All the girls were staring at Karina with daggers in their eyes. The girl was a half vampire like me.

“På festen väntar jag på dig. Var inte en feg den här gången,” one of them said, still looking at Karina.

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here,” she said, pulling my hand and going very pale. Her energy was aggressive as we crossed the road.

It seemed that she was trying to get us away from these girls as fast as she could.

“What was that all about? What did she say to you?” I asked, knowing that this was really none of my business, but I had never seen Karina reacting this way.

“I know her from Sweden… it doesn’t matter. She’s just pissed off that I haven’t kept in touch,” Karina explained. It wasn’t in my nature to press on. Besides, I still didn’t know much about her past. She was born and brought up in Sweden, whereas I still had no idea who I truly was.

Karina was still silent and I knew that something was wrong. Normally she would have been chatting away, but her aura seemed completely off. Oldman had already arranged for all of us to be moved to the dorms in Elite. And apparently the Elite Academy van was waiting for us downstairs.

I figured that we would be staying together like we did in Moscow. This wasn’t ideal, especially now after Lachlan announced that he wanted to mate with me.

When we arrived at Elite we headed upstairs straight away. Claude returned an hour later after I had finished unpacking. I really needed to have a serious conversation with Lachlan. He couldn’t truly believe in such nonsense. True love was just a myth.

Claude gave us a mini tour around the Elite Academy. The whole place had been built in the heart of the city, sort of hidden around this large park. The magical wards were powerful and I doubted very much that any human could cross over here.

Something happened that night when Karina and I had come through that gate.

Someone must have deactivated the wards, leading us inside. As we walked around the grounds, everything seemed ordinary. Even the magic felt practically non-existent.

I realised that studying here would be like a dream come true. If I had it on my resume that I graduated from Elite, then I could pick and choose from any job offers. Elite Academy student have been headhunted for various different supernatural projects all over the world. I would never have to worry about getting a job or surviving, even as a half breed.

Claude showed us around and then left us alone. Lachlan insisted that we all head out in the evening to discuss our next move. Apparently, Oldman had already returned back to Moonlight. I was a little surprised, because I was certain that she was going to stay at least a little longer. I supposed that she trusted us to get the job done.

This was an important job for all of us and I suspected that the financial rewards could also be significant.

“Right, so we finally got the files for both students. One was a shifter from Sweden and the other was a witch. Are there any similarities between the two or maybe they both have been hanging out around the same groups?” Lachlan asked, spreading the files around the table.

I couldn’t understand why he wanted to have this conversation in the restaurant, maybe he just wanted to stay away from Elite. This place was obscure and definitely low key, filled mostly with humans. Most of the tables were empty, which was good. I was pretty certain we wouldn’t be overheard by anyone in here. We all ordered some goulash with dumplings.

I started reading Marisa’s file. It stated there that she was part of the pack from Sweden. I widened my eyes, seeing that she was the Alpha’s daughter. Apparently in the past several months, she had shown tremendous improvements in her abilities, so her parents wanted her to try for Elite. I glanced back at Karina. She was moving her eyes over the file, looking surprised. The other girl was a dark-haired witch from Switzerland. Her magical skills were impressive and it said in the file that she had already passed the Elite trials.

“They have nothing in common. It seems to me that the attack was random. Maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killer must be a student from the Elite or someone that has access to all the buildings,” Judas said, throwing the file on the table.

The waiter brought our food and my magic spiked. The lights in the restaurant began flashing when Lachlan glanced at me.

“We will split up tonight and start asking questions. We need the killer’s profile by tomorrow,” Lachlan said.

“The sooner we have a suspect the better. Besides I have a feeling that Claude will be a huge pain in our backsides. We have restricted access to certain places because of the academy business,” Marco added, taking a huge bite of his dumpling.

“We should hopefully find some leads at the party,” Karina said. She hadn’t been herself since we found Marisa and I had a feeling that she knew more about her than she was willing to share with the group. Rumour had it that magic in Elite was strong enough to influence humans too, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to believe in that. Little did I realise that I would soon be thrown into the centre of an international murder investigation and that was just the beginning…