Half Blood Rising

I went back to the van after ten minutes, when the back door opened, and some human came out. He looked like he worked there, so I quickly walked away, after I left Karina's clothes by the dumpster. I

thought I would appear too suspicious just standing there on my own.

"She's in," I said as I slid inside the van. Everyone seemed tense as the silence descended. The heavy rain had most of the tourists leaving for shelter. Maybe the weather was on our side, besides it was too late for most people. There were a lot of historical buildings around that closed their doors by eight p.m.

For a long moment, all we could hear was the rain pelting against the van. It seemed that a storm was approaching. I kept tapping my foot until Judas turned to look at me, so I stopped.

I hated this part, hated waiting, and not knowing what might happen to her. Silence ticked the minutes away. I started messing with my hair. Marco appeared as though he was using magic; he was probably practising before we had to leave. If I was half-fae, then there was still a lot I needed to learn about myself. Time slowed down, or maybe it was just me. At some point, I couldn't take the tension any longer, so stood up. It was still raining heavily ten minutes later.

Suddenly the van door opened, and everyone flinched, including me. Karina was soaked, but she seemed all right. She was smiling.

"How did you get here so fast?" I asked. I'd been staring at the back entrance the entire time and didn't even see her coming out.

"Magic," she replied, winking at me. "I told you. I've done this many times before, so much so, that now, no one realises when I'm back in my human form. I didn't see Lachlan, but the vampires were talking about him. There are several ancient vamps on the lower level. There are offices on the first floor. I've seen a few students, too, but not sure if they're visiting or if they live there."

"The Elite Academy was established centuries ago," Dimitry said, "but I never knew there was a branch in Russia. I suspect that the ancient vampires are part of the clan, but I still don't understand how they gained access to that building."

Maybe Leonidas had already made a deal with the councillor-well, that would explain a lot. At the same time, I kept asking myself why the clan would be keeping Lachlan there. My head started spinning a little as energy rushed through me like an invisible threat. Marco gave me another wink. He was trying to connect with me, or maybe he was giving me a boost of his power before our grand entrance. "There are doors to the other side that lead to the basement, but we'll have several vamps to go through,” Karina added, and then removed a blade from her boot. "They're getting ready for some sort of ritual or initiation, so we need to hurry."

"Our aim is to get him out of there alive. Are you ready for this? I mean, to use your magic to kill?" Dimitry asked, like he wanted to make sure we were willing to use our abilities.

Everyone nodded, and I pulled out two of my knives. Then electricity rushed through my fingers instantly. I felt good, and I was grateful to Marco for healing me.

"Lead on, female. Time is running out, and blood will be spilled tonight," Judas said, and everyone looked at him like he'd just spoken in another language.

It was still raining damn heavily as we left the van, following Karina. We circled the building a few times. I wasn't sure what this was about, but I trusted her. Maybe she was trying to find a better way in. I was gripping my knife tightly in my hand when we stopped by an old rusty door that was hidden behind some rubbish.

Marco used his abilities to break the lock. Seconds later we were inside. It was a chamber shaped as a chapel. Apparently, vampires weren't allowed inside churches, but I'd tested this theory once or twice and walked into holy places without any problems. Dimitry was pointing the flashlight at the space ahead. We were on the other side of the building, and on this side, I didn't expect any surprises.

It was pitch black in the corridor, but Marco was using his internal light to lead us through. I felt like I was walking into a coffin, but soon enough, the corridor widened further, and my anxiety faded. I hated narrow paths, I kept having nightmares about them.

"Go to the right," Karina said, and Marco turned. The silence was unnerving once again, and for a moment, it was broken by Dimitry's heavy breaths.

All of a sudden, a flash of magic knocked me off my feet. I reacted, realising we were being attacked. My opponent was a vampire, I figured this out soon enough. He wrapped his palms around my throat, and choked.

I heard a hissing sound in my ear. Others were fighting, too, I was seeing flashes of lightning power. I kicked my opponent, but he wasn't letting go of me. Marco was throwing magic towards the group who'd appeared along the side of the corridor. There were three of them, and they were all ancient.

"I can dance with you like this all day long, pretty, but first, I need to drink your delicious blood," my opponent growled with danger lurking in his eyes.

I punched him in the gut with my elbow, and he finally let go. My muscles were stiff as hell, but it gave me a few seconds to pull my energy together. He lunged for me just as I withdrew my knife, stabbing him in the gut. He roared with pain, trying to grab me again. His pupils were dilated, and the smell of blood became too overwhelming. The urge to taste him was distracting, too. What the hell was going on with me?

Dimitry had already slaughtered two vampires, heads were rolling along the ground, and I nearly tripped over one. Judas was drinking from another, and I turned away when he started ripping his throat out. My opponent recovered quickly-he was pissed. I stabbed him in the gut again, and this time, he roared with pain, adding pressure to the other side. He was quick, and his fangs would have pierced my skin if hadn't done it. I could sense his desire and hunger for my blood.

Once the blade was inside his gut, I twisted it a few times, then the magic around me exploded. Light flashed from my palms, and he was thrown to the other side of the basement, landing on the ground. His neck was twisted in an odd angle.

I glanced at my hands, completely baffled. I hadn't even called upon my magic, it just burst out of me. Light magic! Not fire...

Marco was standing by the wall, breathing hard, but his energy caused the fine hair on my arms to rise. There were several decapitated corpses lying around. The lights in this corridor were flashing, but my team remained in one piece. Karina had managed to transform herself into a wolf.

"Anyone injured?" Dimitry asked, looking around, and everyone was nodding. No one had been seriously injured just yet. We defeated a few, but there were several vampires approaching. We could all sense them.

The magic Marco had given me earlier on must have affected my own energy. I'd never felt the urge to use the light in my hands. Not even once. I learnt everything I could on the streets, using trial and error. A lot of times, I was stabbed, cut, and even knocked out. It had been a dark time in my life, and sometimes, I asked myself how the hell I even survived.

Dimitry was leading, and soon, we

found ourselves in the tombs. This was supposedly where Lachlan was being held Bright lights were pointing at each one. It was the basement graveyard where most vampires created their nest, fed, and had sex. A waft of cold, freezing air reached me, and I shivered with repulsion. I would never agree to live like this, even as a half-breed.

"So, what now?" Judas asked. "How are we going to find him here? Do we need to open each tomb?"

"I sense the supernaturals inside," Karina said, walking up to the first tomb. "We need to check each one, he could be anywhere." Each tomb was tightly shut, with a large entrance made of huge yellow stone the size of a car. No human could lift it without special machinery.

"Marco, try to move the first one," Dimitry requested, and we all glanced at Marco. This could easily exhaust him, but we still needed to get out of here alive.

There had been a lot of talk about fae magic in the past, but what I saw next blew my mind. Marco brushed his hair, pulled up the sleeves of his shirt, and released a blue light that literally moved the largest stone out of the way.

The lights were still flashing. I was expecting to see a bunch of vampires barging out towards us, but nothing happened. Then we heard several long hissing sounds—well, it sounded like several people at once, like they were having trouble breathing.

"Newly made vampires, be careful," Dimitry shouted, and a split second later, several vamps attacked us from every direction. We could all sense that they had just been turned, their bloodlust was insane. The ancients must have placed them in the tombs just to tame them for now. We disabled them pretty quickly, but I'd been beaten at least twice by a few, luckily, they didn't have a chance to drink from me. The smell was horrendous: death, sweat, and blood. I kicked several, and they started dropping like flies. Their abilities hadn't been developed yet, so we didn't have to cut off their heads. My knives were useful. This was sad, a lot of them were very young, and probably didn't consent to be turned.

"The ancients must have been using this place as breeding tombs," Karina said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "I bet there are more of them in the others." She had scratches all over her face and arms. The whole team appeared to be slightly battered, but no one was seriously injured.

"Lachlan could be in one of them," I said, thinking if we had to go through this over and over until we opened each tomb, then so be it. We still had to get the hell out of here after we rescued Lachlan. I was worried about Ramona and the others. What if Oldman decided to expel them all? Damn it. I couldn't have that on my head.

"Open the middle one," Dimitry added. "These vampires are weak, and they are disoriented. As soon as we can, we report this to the High Council. They will take care of it." He was bleeding, but his wound was closing fast. Marco had opened

another tomb with higher

magic. It was a blissful feeling, until my fangs descended. This time around, only one vampire came out of the tomb. He was very pale, with a mass of black curly hair, and his eyes were bloodshot. He didn't attack us, so something must have been wrong with him. It was difficult to tell, but he looked dreadful.

Judas turned the flashlight on him, and I noticed that his fangs had descended, too. He must have been feeding on someone, because he had dried blood all over his face.

"Stay where you are," Dimitry shouted. "Who are you, and how long have you been inside the tomb?"

Dimitry's voice echoed around the chamber. The smell of rotten food and alcohol wafted in the air. I wanted to get out of here. This entire place was filled with death and gloom.

"My name is Malcolm, but I don't recall how I ended up inside the tomb," he said, and then he started licking his mouth.

"Do you have any idea of what might have happened before you ended up here? Do you remember anything at all?" Karina repeated once again, shaking her head.

"I heard two men talking about some ransom for a warlock's daughter. I heard them when they were keeping me in the boot of the car. I wasn't this creature that I am now. I didn't need to drink blood." He scratched his head and glanced around in confusion.

"What else have you heard?" I asked, thinking that now we were finally getting somewhere.

"I don't know if we should believe anything he says. He's been drinking from someone," Judas said, circling around the newly made vampire. "He's blood-drunk."

"They were trying to make an arrangement with some members of the council. That one male was calling himself a high mage. The person on the other side of the phone wasn't ready to make a deal." Malcolm kept saying. He seemed aware enough to me.

This was the mage I'd seen in the basement with Lachlan, the one who'd talked about someone with dark magic getting into the academy. I bet he hadn't abandoned this plan, and the others had no idea what was going on. Maybe he was the one who killed the board members.

"Do you remember this deal?" I asked. Dimitry and the rest of the group needed to hear it. I wasn't making this shit up. That mage, whoever he was, worked for someone very powerful.

"The councillor was supposed to allow other breeds into the Elite Academy, breeds with dark magic. He was supposed to influence others to change their votes. Apparently two members of the board died under mysterious circumstances." Malcolm was saying as though he'd memorised it all. Everyone exchanged baffled looks with each other.

"That's what I overheard, too. That mage, he's trying to push new rules on the Elite. Dorothy's only a bargaining chip," I said, looking at Dimitry.

"What exactly are they trying to get out of it, even if they do bring fresh blood into the academy?"

"This is how everything starts. They change the laws, the rules, and unstable characters get into the Elite. It's just the beginning of supernatural world domination," Marco said, and Judas nodded. They both must have finally understood the consequences of such major changes. The Elite Academy was the foundation of supernatural law.

"He's right, and we need to stop this, but first things first: we need to open more tombs and find Lachlan," Dimitry added, dragging his hand through his hair. He was right; we were slowly running out of time and Ramona was gaining the advantage.☐☐☐