A University of Betrayal (The Blairville Legacies #2)

Chapter 25

Larissa

When I returned to the DeLoughrey estate this Friday afternoon, I found a black and gold motorcycle key wrapped in a fine velvet box on the desk in my room. Next to it was the message:

Your new motorcycle is waiting for you in the garage. Have fun.

Of course, you don’t say no to a message like that, especially not as someone who had been infected by the motorcycle virus and had made the streets of Sacramento unsafe.

With inhuman speed, I had rushed into the garage, which was a hall full of sports cars, BMWs and other interesting cars.

I hadn’t been surprised, even though I had been amazed when I touched all kinds of vehicles and took photos. Of course, you could afford something like that if you built your wealth on a wine empire and a thousand other economic investments in various global markets.

At some point, I had discovered the black Ducati Panigale V4 Speciale and my eyes almost fell out of my head. I had never taken so many photos of a motorcycle before, especially one that cost around thirty thousand US dollars and that nobody was driving yet because it wasn't even available on the official market.

The nameplate with the inscription For Larissa finished me off.

Someone had gifted me a damn motorcycle and completely new protective clothing that fitted my body perfectly.

Of course, I’d gone for a ride straight away and damn, that had been the most epic ride I’d had in a long time.

I had probably just needed to relieve some stress. Something I could only do on a motorcycle at at least one-hundred mph.

I’d tried a few stunts but had been careful because I didn’t want the new bike to be ready for the scrapyard.

It seemed like a gift, but I would never be able to fully accept it as mine. I hadn’t grown up like that.

I’d returned to the estate a good three hours later and put the pretty gem back into the garage.

Someone should have prepared me for the “I see I made the right choice for you” from none other than Tristan DeLoughrey. Then I would never have gotten on the bike and wouldn’t feel so stupid now, like I was now in this man’s debt.

“Thank you,” was all I’d been able to reply tonelessly before I’d rushed back to my room and spent an hour under the hot shower.

Tristan had given me a motorcycle and equipment…

I had refused to train with my supposed father all week. He was a monster. He had killed our mother and made sure I learned what it meant to live on the streets. And now I’d ended up here with the rest of his messed-up relatives on a gigantic estate in a town that was far too wild with paranormal creatures. And all that was left of my family was said father, two uncles – one who seemed to work for the mafia and one who I had almost slept with – unknowingly about the truth – and an idiotically annoying twin brother.

And then everyone was so respectful when it came to Bastien...

Make sure Bastien doesn’t find out. Bastien is responsible. If Bastien knew, Bastien would... Bastien, Bastien, Bastien.

If there was one thing I had realized, it was that this extremely attractive man had a special position, which, in my eyes - unlike Adrian – he had earned. I was told that he had already survived many dangerous missions, was the head of a specific FBI department – the so-called DUIO in Blairville – and had been personally trained by the head of the clan. Which brought us to the only person with a higher position than Bastien.

Alan Wake

Petri Alanko

“Nobody jokes with him. Absolutely no one.”

“I get it,” I said, rolling my eyes as I forced myself into the tight dress. Another one of those princess things that suited me, but I didn’t really feel comfortable in.

“Why...” I pulled the fabric over my hips. “Do you always have to be dressed...” I bent so I could pull it up over the rest of my body. “So fucking fancy?”

I heard a laugh from the door, where Miles was waiting for me.

“Argh!” I gasped out loud.

I couldn’t manage to close the dress.

“You’re having trouble putting on a dress? I thought you were a girl.”

I tried again and snorted angrily when I couldn’t manage it.

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to put you in one of those dresses!” I cursed as I still couldn’t get a grip on the zipper.

Miles just laughed, but I skillfully ignored his remarks and turned my attention to the shoes. Another burden.

I admired Camille, how she walked around like a model all the time, sometimes in designer suits, sometimes in skin-tight dresses, without slipping or getting her clothes dirty. She wore all types of heels and boots like a goddamn fashion queen.

“We have to go, Larissa.”

I angrily threw a shoe against the ajar door. “Shut up and help me.”

“Are you naked?” Miles asked seriously, and I yanked the door open.

His face wandered over the dress I was wearing without staring for an uncomfortably long time.

“Camille seems to know what suits you, sis.”

“Don’t call me that, and you better zipper the damn thing up!” I turned around, annoyed, and let Miles zip it up. Then I turned back to him and he grinned mischievously at me.

“Don’t laugh so stupidly.”

“It’s just really weird having a sister all of a sudden.”

I laughed and picked up my high heels. “Don’t you complain about anything being weird. My whole life has changed overnight, and I can no longer separate reality from illusion. I no longer sleep, I burn myself on silver jewelry, I’m no longer hungry, but I crave blood intensely every three days and a bunch of rich snobs are holding me captive against my will. That you are supposed to be my twin brother is the least of it.”

I slipped the black velvet pumps over my feet and straightened up to check my reflection. I still hadn’t gotten used to how intense everything looked, every single color. My dress was black and red this time, as was half of my evening wardrobe.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t want to get used to it.”

“I know what you mean.”

I wheeled around.

Miles was standing by the window, leaning on the black-painted window sill while looking outside.

Before I could say anything, he continued, “Bastien really gave you the apartment with the better view.”

It was indeed an apartment. Not only did I have a dressing room and the modern luxury bathroom, but there was also a door that I hadn’t even noticed at first, which led to an adjoining mini kitchen and finally to a study.

And of course, everyone in this godforsaken castle had their own apartment.

Miles paused for a moment, then turned back to me. He wore his chin-length hair loose today, which really flattered his face.

“Too bad, I’d say.”

I gave him a mischievous smile and pulled up the hem of my dress to be able to walk at all. This gown was definitely from another century. At least the design.

“God, Camille. What did you give me here?”

“Karma.”

“Shut up, Miles.” I shoved him aside, but he just laughed. “You better tell me if there’s anything else I should know about this Nicolaj.”

Except that he had a quirk that made the entire clan dress as if we were in the 1800‘s. Even Miles wore a tailcoat that looked museum-worthy, though classy.

Miles gave me his arm, which was less awkward than with Bastien a week ago.

“He’s the oldest living Legacy Ruisangor...”

I looked up at Miles questioningly. “As if I know what that means.”

Miles lowered his voice. “A strong gene in his bloodline allows him to produce heirs, and they in turn carry the same gene that makes them Ruisangors with certain gifts. Legacy Ruis age to their most attractive stage of existence, which was probably essential for survival back then.”

What he was implying was that we drank human blood. David had already explained to me that many Ruisangors seduced their prey for it. A sick thought that reminded me of the disastrous visit to the bar.

A question popped into my head as Miles led me down the wide corridor.

“What was that again about transforming?”

Miles continued. “Only Legacy Ruisangors can transform, and those transformed people are called Transformed. They don’t have any of the special gifts.”

How creative.

At least Miles was useful whenever I had a question.

I thought about how everyone in this house was a Legacy Ruisangor. Everyone except Laurent. I think could feel it… Whenever I was near a Legacy Ruisangor, I felt something like… darkness emanating from them. Laurent was the only Ruisangor with whom this darkness felt faint. Could that be the meaning behind that strange feeling?

“What gifts?” I continued to ask, confused.

“We have powers, not like the Quatura with their elemental magic. I’d say we’re a bit more fun.”

What Miles meant by fun was still a mystery to me.

“What’s your gift?”

Miles grinned and let his eyes wander over the pictures on the wall. “If I told you, you’d laugh at me.”

“Tell me,” I urged him, but he just shook his head.

“Some other time.”

“Whatever.” I snorted. “As long as I don’t get any weird powers.”

“You’re a Legacy. You’re definitely going to develop a gift.”

Thanks, Miles. Thanks for the hope. Not that something like that wasn’t cool, but it would definitely just get me into more trouble.

I laughed sarcastically. “I’m going to kill myself first.”

“Good luck with that.”

I forgot that I was pretty much immortal. Not only did I not age, I couldn’t even be killed. I could have used that ability in Sacramento. Several times. Especially the part about the fast-healing injuries.

“There must be a way…”

“Special wooden stakes from hunters.” I looked confusedly at my brother. “Better described as magic-infused wooden stakes.” The whole magic thing confused me the most. “But no one knows anything about this magic needed for it because it vanished off the face of the earth.” Miles looked at me smugly, as if it had been his doing. “Fortunately for us.”

“So, that’s why this Nicolaj is still alive?” I snorted, even if it meant reminding myself that I was about to meet the clan head.

“You really should behave yourself when he’s around. He hates to be interrupted, and he’s very scary to little girls like you.”

I ignored Miles’ teasing and the fact that he was holding a throwing knife in his hand again, tossing it up and down and catching it again and again as he led me through the estate.

“Scary? I thought we were immortal. There’s still such a thing as fear for you guys?”

“He can make you suffer, believe me, you don’t want to experience that first hand.”

My shallow breath hitched, and I looked to him as we crossed the hallways with increasing speed. “It sounds like he did something to you.”

“To us, Larissa,” Miles corrected me quickly.

The thought was shocking.

“Your clan leader is hurting you?” I asked.

The urge to stay in my apartment until Nicolaj was back in California was growing rapidly.

“Not anymore... Unless we allow ourselves a major misstep.”

“You were raised with violence?”

“Ruisangor children tend to be wild.”

I thought back to my childhood. And I didn’t know whether they or I had been more difficult. All the teachers who had called me the troublemaker, so many children I had encouraged to do stupid things – what you did when you were a child. It had felt normal. But it seemed to be running in my blood.

“You must have suffered the most,” I thought out loud.

Miles looked at me in surprise as we took one of the grand staircases leading downstairs. “Why?”

“Because you’re the most rebellious.”

He eyed me for a moment, only to laugh again. “That may be true, but you’re very wrong. I was under Camille’s care.”

This time I looked at him in surprise.

“Adrian suffered the most.”

“What?”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t imagine how Adrian could be the one who had tested the patience of the clan leader the most.

“I had the good fortune to get sorted out early enough. I wasn’t good enough in Nicolaj’s eyes.”

“What? Why is that?” And good enough for what?

“It’s a long story that has a lot to do with our father.”

Miles turned, his gaze fixedly straight ahead.

By now I realized that this man was a touchy subject for him. I just hadn’t dared to ask any more questions. And I had been hiding from the man who was supposed to be my father for three days; more or less successfully. I didn’t know who he really was or what he had done to Miles, let alone our mother. She was dead. That fact was enough for me to keep my distance.

“Adrian was not so lucky. His gift and everything about him must have appealed to Nicolaj. They’re also close, but I can’t say much about that. Adrian never talks, but in training you can see the marks Nicolaj has left on him. Just a warning.”

“God...”

“He never existed for Nicolaj.”

Suspense Cinematic Mystery

cleanmindsounds

Miles’ last words sent a shiver down my spine. But there was nothing more I could ask. We were already in front of the dining room, where you could usually hear Camille and Bastien’s voices. Today it was dead quiet.

I took a deep breath, which I didn’t even need, because breathing was something only human creatures did. But not Ruisangors. We could hold our breath forever. Basically, we were actually dead. The thought completely displeased me. Creepy. Just like the atmosphere in the dining room, which had far fewer candles than usual. And this time they were dark red.

I recognized the faces. They were all there.

My gaze involuntarily lingered on Adrian, who was sitting frozen at the table, staring at his untouched glass of blood. I didn’t want to know what he’d been through.

“Ah, Miles, what would an evening be without the late-night prowler.”

The pleasant, deep voice that had just exposed Miles belonged to a person I could barely recognize as he sat hidden in the shadows.

I saw Miles give a forced smile and nod before he released his arm from me and let go of me to take his seat.

Great, now I was standing here alone. On top of that, everyone was once again staring at me like I was a fucking circus attraction, even though we were all dressed like we were in one of those expensive documentaries.

I saw the shadow move and this certain person stood up and walked around the table toward me.

Shit.

“But this time, I can overlook it, because I see...” Finally, the person stepped out of the shadows and a man came into view. “That you brought your delightful sister with you.”

Standing stock-still, I stared at the man who didn’t even look much older than Bastien. How could he have been his mentor, and how many years ago had he stopped aging?

Suddenly he took my hand in his, covered with a black velvet glove, bowed slightly and indicated an unfinished kiss on the back of my hand.

I eyed him suspiciously.

What century was this guy from?

His features reminded me of the model David Gandy. He was a little taller than me, maybe as tall as Miles or Tristan, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the scar on his face that looked like the claws of a large animal had scratched his face. One small and three big furrows which stretched across his entire face from top left to bottom right and, together with the dark red glowing eyes and the smile on his lips, looked... frightening.

Without hesitation, I stepped back and immediately regretted it. At the table, a certain tension automatically took over.

I looked at Miles, who had raised his eyebrows, then back at the man who was now looking at me.

Shit, man, he was actually scary.

“Sorry, it’s just these... scars,” I said to defuse the situation, but in retrospect, it sounded even ruder.

Miles rested his head in one hand, rubbing his temple – a gesture that screamed I’d messed up.

“I’m sorry…”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Larissa. The only one who should be sorry is the Senseque who inflicted this mark on me... with the poison in his vile claws.” He was talking about the werewolves. “But don’t worry. That problem was quickly taken care of.”

My stomach turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. He hadn’t...

The man just smiled as if he were the sweetest soul in the world, but something menacing crossed his face.

I studied his striking features, the black hair and the three-day beard.

“Why don’t you sit down, girl?” He pulled a chair back for me, and with reluctance I took a seat opposite Adrian, who was staring fixedly at the table as if he were mentally absent.

The man left my chair and walked around the table to sit down again.

From here, I had a better view of him than I had a moment ago.

His eyes no longer glowed red, but were now a cold gray, colder than Bastien's.

Bastien no longer looked scary next to him. He was also silent and only glanced briefly at Adrian. A mimic language was being spoken here, the content of which I didn’t understand.

I spotted Camille’s eyes on me, scrutinizing, as if she were worried.

“Sacramento is a heap of misery,” the man began to speak.

Sacramento. The city where I had grown up. A heap of misery? Why was he even talking about this city?

“Infested with these miserable renegades. And the businesses are getting harder and harder to keep.” He took a sip from his glass. A glass filled with blood. Like the one in front of me. “We should move all our capital investments to the east, strengthen our influence here in the north too, before other clans come here and make claims, but unfortunately these filthy Copelands are still in our way.”

The man, who appeared to be Nicolaj, seemed to have a hatred for the wolves, and not without reason. The scars on his face, which should have healed by now, marked him.

I didn’t want to know what had happened back then.

“Horrible creatures,” he sighed dismissively, and Tristan nodded.

“Why?” I asked.

The others present paused what they had just been doing and looked at me in shock, and I wondered if I had interrupted him, but I hadn’t. What was wrong with them?

The head of the clan looked at me again. More forcefully than even Adrian could. In such a way that every last bit of blood in my veins began to pulsate.

“They take everything from us, destroy the forests and are wild beasts whose origins are impure and tainted,” he pressed out.

Had I angered him?

“There can only be war between us. Someone has to get rid of them before they have too much power over this island.” He leaned back and lowered his voice. “If you knew the serious damage those creatures have left behind for two centuries.”

Two centuries...

“How old are you?”

Miles choked on his drink and Camille’s eyes widened. The other eaters also paused, as if I had just insulted the man at the head of the table.

Fear spread through the pit of my stomach.

“Excuse me for asking… I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Then, out of nowhere, Nicolaj started laughing. It was an amused and unforced laugh, as if I had cracked a joke. And instantly the tension at the table seemed to ease, even if it didn’t disappear completely.

“I was alive when there was no one you know today. All the history, I’ve been part of it, experienced wars that no man wants to experience first-hand.”

That sounded terrible... But it didn’t make sense. He didn’t look a day over forty. And if it weren’t for the scar, he’d look really good, just like everyone else in this damn family.

“I like your daughter, Tristan,” the man laughed.

Only Tristan wasn’t laughing. He seemed focused on the drink in front of him. Also, a glass, filled with blood. And Camille was staring at the table with her lips pressed together, as if she had a problem with this whole situation.

Only now did I notice that everyone present seemed to be avoiding Nicolaj’s gaze. No one but me and him had spoken to each other yet.

“They have guests,” Nicolaj said coldly, and I watched everything in his face tense up. “They actually think they can bring the Rolanows into our town without facing any consequences.”

No one said anything. And had I not read Jenny Bexley’s online article, I wouldn’t know who the Rolanows were.

“Their alpha is scared,” Tristan said in an amused tone, without taking his eyes off his glass. “He feels cornered. Just like you wanted.”

He looked tense, which made my inner tension grow.

“What are you talking about, boy?” Nicolaj murmured and looked at Tristan, who straightened his shoulders and quickly reached for his glass. “Those filthy dogs want to form an alliance with the Russians. They will marry off their offspring, as they have tried to do many times before.” His jaw looked like it was about to pop out. “And this time I won’t be able to get rid of them easily.”

I felt sick, not like when I was trying to get used to drinking blood, but like when he had made me watch him shoot people.

I chewed faster, harder, trying to pull myself out of the spiral of thoughts and not thinking about back then, but the present was just as disturbing.

Who was this Nicolaj to be so cold-blooded and kill the descendants of the Senseque? Had that scar on his face scarred him so much inside, or was there more to it than that?

Alan Wake

Petri Alanko

The meal had not taken long, as Nicolaj had some important business meetings to attend to and said goodbye to us. As soon as Nicolaj had left the room, the mood had lightened. The people present had all looked at me and finally Bastien had also left without saying anything. A little later, Laurent and then Tristan left too, until it was just the four of us students and Camille at the table.

“That was very bold of you,” she said, picking up her empty glass.

“It wasn’t bold, it was idiotic.”

I gave Adrian a dark look, only to find that his was as dark as night. He seemed angry, for whatever reason, but he didn’t give me time to ask, rising as well and disappearing from the room within a second.

“He’s...” I began, but was interrupted.

“Always like this,” Miles finally sighed and leaned his head back to empty the blood he had poured himself, as if he was the only one who wanted some. The veins in his neck and eyes stood out.

“Adrian has his quirks sometimes,” he continued. “And it’s at its worst when Nicolaj is here. That’s when he completely loses his shit.”

Miles poured himself another drink.

I convinced myself that it was cherry juice, and it worked ever since. Even if everything about it was wrong.

“That’s enough!” Camille snapped at him and snatched the white gold jug out of his hand. Her eyes were glowing red, and I noticed she hadn’t had a drink in Nicolaj’s presence.

Miles’ eyes began to glow instantly, but he let her take the jug and turned back to me. “You’re actually bolder than me.”

“She doesn’t know how to behave in front of him yet, that’s all,” Camille sighed and winked at me. “And she’s allowed to. After all, she’s new.”

Great... new. So, my protected status had saved me from being tortured by this man?

“The puppy bonus,” Miles just sighed and drained the second glass.

He wasn’t restraining himself at all, but it occurred to me that perhaps he hadn’t had a drink for longer than anyone else present. To be precise, since the incident with the girl we’d had to take home.

I stood up. “Excuse me, I have something to do.”

“As long as it has nothing to do with leaving or packing your bags, go ahead,” Miles laughed jokingly, and I looked at him, unimpressed.

“I wish.”

Camille looked at me and I thought I saw pity in her eyes.

I quickly nodded to the others and then headed off. I didn’t know which way to go, but I would find him. Bastien couldn’t be far away.

However, I wandered through the estate and got lost in the dimly lit corridors. There was no Bastien here. Bastien had disappeared.