Ever Dark Academy, Vol. 1

15. Unwanted Meeting

UNWANTED MEETING

R yder shifted the cloak over his broad, bare shoulders as he surveyed the Weryn who would accompany him in the parade. All of them wore cloaks, too, and nothing else. They would be shifting after all and why destroy good clothing? The cloaks were long, brushing the tops of certain people’s feet, but the hem only came to mid-calf on Ryder. He flexed his bare toes on the grass sward, relishing the coolness of the earth underneath his feet.

His gaze only swung towards the unlit Weryn Palace once. It was a beautiful structure with its deep wrap-around porch, gracious covered balconies and occasional tower spearing the sky.

Huge trees with wide, spreading branches and thick roots shrouded most of the palace from view. Ryder imagined that if he ever stood on one of the palace’s balconies that it would seem like he was living in the trees. In fact, the path up to the front entrance of the palace was lined with these same trees whose branches reached up above him, nearly fifty feet high, and formed an almost arched roof over the pathway.

Silvery balls of light, similar to the mysterious glowing balls on Earth that showed up on abandoned mountains or in deep marshes, appeared between the trees and bobbed lazily over the path. Some of them were so near the palace that he could see a bit of the rooms beyond the mostly shaded windows.

When he had flown over it in bird form, he had found that like the building they were in now, there were vast courtyards and gardens in the Weryn Palace. He had been tempted to land in one of them that had a brightly trickling stream that he could see between the deep, dark trees. But he’d stopped himself at the last moment as electricity had raced through his feathers when he’d dropped down. It almost felt like he was about to shift. But the sensation had been deeper as if some part of him would change forever and never go back to how it had been. He’d avoided the palace after that.

But seeing its darkened entrance now, his heart contracted in his chest. If he truly was Weryn, shouldn't the palace welcome him and open up as it had for Caemorn and Balthazar, along with the other Immortals? Or did it require something more?

The palace opens for the Immortal only after the Immortal opens himself to the palace, a voice that sounded like King Daemon’s whispered in his mind.

His head jerked up as he scanned the crowd for the Vampire King, but Daemon was still in his own palace where the parade would end up that night for the opening ceremonies. Perhaps Ryder had imagined that voice. Or maybe it really was the Vampire King. He didn’t know which was the better thought.

“Everything is in order,” Demos said, stepping up to him. “Smaller shifters in front, followed by the wolves, then big cats and finally the bears, great apes and others. The bird shifters are scattered throughout like you wanted. You haven’t said which form you’re going to take, Ryder.”

“Not sure yet. Maybe bear so that I make sure all get out before me, or bird so I can oversee everything,” Ryder said, still debating the merits of both forms. “Maybe both.”

Ryder was pleased to note that the Weryn looked excited to be there. Without Lawson present to dampen down their natural enthusiasm, Ryder saw that his people were just as interested in the human students--and the other Vampires--as everyone else.

There was no denying that there was a buzz of electricity in the air from being around so many powerful Vampires. Some of the excitement was actually suppressed aggression that came from predators not being terribly fond of being so close to one another. But there was also a surprising sense of comrarderie. Ryder had felt that it was more pronounced in the Weryn overall, but he was seeing it even with the highly individual Kaly.

Regardless of race or sex, most of the Kaly had silvery-white hair. They wore all black so that their heads appeared to glow in the ghostly light of the monstrous Kaly Palace. None knew what the other Bloodlines were going to bring to the parade, but considering the Kaly were masters of controlling the dead, he fully expected dancing skeletons or something equally macabre. But whatever they were doing, they were doing it together. Vampires were seeing other Vampires as “us”. Or perhaps as “pack.”

That should have pleased Ryder, but it just made him feel uneasy and conspicuous. Were the Weryn the only Bloodline with reservations about this school? Were the Weryn being left behind in history’s dust as the other Bloodlines embraced the future? Were either completely right to be doing what they were doing?

“I should ask what’s with the glum expression, but maybe you already know what I’m about to say,” Demos gruned.

Convinced that Demos was going to tease him about Grayson again, Ryder said, “Grayson is supposed to be ingratiating himself with the other students to find out who might be in the Sect or, at least, working with them. I don’t expect to see much of him tonight.”

And he tried not to be disappointed by this fact, but he was not altogether successful.

Demos frowned and lowered his voice, “No, I wish that was what I was going to say, though, in a way, I’m glad to hear that Grayson will be scarce around you tonight. Natasha convinced Lawson to come to the parade.”

The skin prickled between Ryder’s shoulder blades at that same moment as he felt and smelled their Master behind him. It took all of his will power not to spin around and find out exactly where Lawson was. His heart began to beat faster in his chest.

Does your blood run pure, Grayson?

All the saliva in his mouth dried up. He had hoped--no, he had prayed--that Lawson would keep to the Weryn quarters drinking and carousing with the Bloodline, ignoring everything else, before leaving the next day. He had convinced himself that there was little chance for Lawson to even see Grayson, let alone realize the young man’s importance. But Lawson was here and…

Grayson is here.

Ryder’s Vampiric senses immediately zeroed in on that now familiar heartbeat of the young man with edges and wounded eyes. He was farther away from Ryder than Lawson, near the central fountain, but still within eyeshot. He was likely mixed in with the crowd though. One more human among the humans that Lawson shouldn’t give a damned about.

Ryder zeroed in on the beings surrounding Grayson. The heartbeat near the young man was strange. Slow. Very slow. Steady. Very steady. Not responding to the edge of excitement in the air. This person was very much completely in control of themselves. It had to be an Immortal or a very, very old Vampire. And there was the soft pitter pat of an animal’s heartbeat mixed in.

What was going on with Grayson?

Who had he found to keep company with?

Had he gotten himself into trouble already?

A bead of sweat ran down Ryder’s left temple. He could not look over his shoulder at where Grayson was, because Lawson was looking at him right now. He knew it. If he looked, Lawson would look, and their Master would know that something was different.

“What’s wrong?” Demos lightly touched his arm.

“Grayson. To our right,” Ryder muttered.

Demos glanced over casually and his eyebrows rose. “Good gods, he’s with Seeyr. And he has a… a cat with him.”

“A cat?!”

Ryder nearly shot around again, because he thought that Demos meant a Weryn Vampire, once of the big cat shifters. But no, the animal he was hearing was small. Too small. Not even his tiniest cat form was as small as this.

“It’s a… kitten ,” Demos explained with a crack of amusement in his voice. “What has your boy been up to? Leave him for two seconds and he’s paling around with Immortals and kittens. Now that sounds like a good story.”

Ryder had been about to object, almost automatically, to Grayson being called his boy, but he stopped himself. Because he realized that he liked Grayson being referred to in this way. As if he was so connected to Grayson that it was something obvious to all. He then remembered he didn’t want everyone to know, because that meant Lawson would know.

“Why did Natasha bring Lawson here?” Ryder muttered.

“You know why. She wants him to cool down and think about what he’s doing,” Demos answered with a whistle of air through his teeth.

“She doesn’t want our traditions upended though.” Ryder frowned.

“No, but she’s not a fool either. Change is coming. Change is here. I think she believes that it’s just a matter of time before we all come around,” Demos answered.

Ryder looked at Demos sharply. “Do you want us to choose our fledglings from the school?”

Demos pursed his lips. “I don’t know. I don’t think we’ve had a chance to consider everything yet.”

“Things are moving fast,” Ryder agreed.

Ryder saw Natasha herself adjusting her own cloak among the other big cat shifters. She smiled and gave a wave. His smile was rather tighter and wave briefer. He was still internally cursing her for convincing a likely belligerent and angry Lawson out for this.

Slowly, Ryder turned to face Lawson. Their Master strode across the parade route, nearly barreling into other Vampires, a scowl on his handsome face. There were bared fangs from the Vampires he would have jostled, but for Vampire-quick reflexes and glares at the broad back. But Lawson ignored them and beelined to Ryder and Demos. Ryder realized how tense both of them became and how they both hid it with preternatural stillness.

You would have me hate him.

Would I? Or does part of you hate him already?

Ryder swallowed. He drew in a deep breath through his nose and slowly relieved it through his mouth, centering himself. By the thunderclouds that had already formed on their Master’s brow, what was coming was not going to be pleasant. Lawson came to a stop before the two of them. He gave a toothy grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes and he pounded both their backs with beefy hands.

“Do we have a float? Maybe for fireworks? Or are the Horys planning on doing that for their act?” Lawson asked with a slight snarl in his voice.

Lightning was in fact crackling behind some clouds that had newly formed above the city. It was all different colors from gold to purple to blue. And Ryder had to admit that it was both beautiful and impressive. He was certain that the Horys would put on quite a show.

“We’re going to shift in groups as we move all the route,” Ryder explained. “Shift and shift back. It will impress.”

He had already told Lawson this. He kept his tone neutral even as he wanted to snap. He breathed. In through his nose, out through his mouth.

“Why do we need to impress anyone?” Lawson really snarled this time.

The thought of the Weryn not playing any role in the festivities had been discussed between himself and Demos. But Ryder had vetoed that and he was glad he had. He remembered Christian’s icy demeanor towards him already with mostly full participation in the academy. They were on thinner ice than Lawson understood.

“Because being in the parade does not undercut our position regarding how we choose our Children,” Ryder again strove to speak neutrally. “Offending Eyros, Kaly and Seeyr is not the point of our sitting out. Let alone angering King Daemon. So we’re here. And we’re doing this.”

This had also been told to Lawson ad nauseum . His voice was sharper than he wanted. Demos’ eyes flickered towards him. He couldn’t read his Blood Brother’s expression though. Was Demos worried that they would start a screaming match that ended in a brawl? And wouldn’t that give the other Bloodlines something to talk about even though Weryn routinely settled conflicts that way. But between Master and fledgling such fights were rare and considered serious. Or was Demos hoping that he would stop repressing what he really felt and acted?

“We’re like monkeys on display,” Lawson still complained, hands on hips, as he stared out moodily at the building crowd.

“Actually, the big apes will come in the back,” Demos replied dryly, his silver eyes flickering with anger that he couldn’t quite hide.

Lawson finally noticed that neither R6der nor Demos was in a good mood and he swung his gaze to his two fledglings. He studied them both sourly, but then his face broke into a smile and he patted both their shoulders.

“I’m sorry, boys. I wasn’t thinking how hard this is on you. You’re just trying to keep the peace. You don’t want to be here anymore than I do,” Lawson said.

Did Ryder want to be there? No. He would have rather been sitting down with a decanter of blood and wine, staring into a fire. But what he would have really liked to be doing was having Grayson in his room.

He could well imagine being sprawled on the furs and pillows before the fire with Grayson seated between his legs, the young man’s head resting against his bare chest, only a fur blanket covering them as the fire hissed and snapped. He imagined lazily running his hands through Grayson’s hair and then leaning down to brush his lips across the young man’s left temple. This imagining was so vivid that a sense of unreality stole over Ryder and his body felt strange and distant. Unconsciously, his head turned towards Grayson.

And, of course, Lawson saw where he was looking and turned, too, to see what so entranced him.

For now there wasn’t only Seeyr and this little black kitten by Grayson, but Balthazar and Christian were there too. In fact, Balthazar was gushing over Grayson as he took the tiny black kitten from Grayson’s gentle hands. The Eyros Vampire’s eyes were bright seemingly with tears and he kept patting Grayson’s right shoulder and then his cheek and then half embracing him as if Grayson had performed some great service for him.

Christian was smiling too in a far less cold and distant way than he had when Ryder had met him. He looked almost indulgently at his Master. It was clear that there was great love between them despite Balthazar’s many foibles.

Or is that persona he puts on like a coat to obscure the truth of him?

“I cannot believe the Immortals are lowering themselves by catering to that boy!” Lawson scoffed.

Ryder should have felt relieved that Lawson had mistaken his interest in Grayson for interest in the Immortals who surrounded him.

Lawson bumped his shoulder against Ryder’s. “I guess we know who these fledglings are truly for, don’t we?”

“What?” Ryder’s upper lip threatened to writhe back from his teeth.

“It’s obvious that they brought that boy here for one of them! And Balthazar just took a fledgling this year,” Lawson chuckled. “Eager to spread his Bloodline, I see.”

“That’s not…” Ryder bit back the words he was going to say at a warning look from Demos.

“Or Seeyr. Sly old girl. Imagine starving in her own Spire all these millennia! Yet still she smiles!” Lawson’s grin was almost wolfish.

Seeyr’s head turned towards them. There was a bandage around her eyes, or rather where her eyes should have been, so it wasn’t possible that she was physically seeing them. And yet a chill went down Ryder’s spine. Even Lawson quieted and his lips pursed until her gaze seemingly left them and went back to Grayson and Balthazar.

The Eyros Vampire was letting Grayson pet the kitten’s head and seemed to think it was a great honor to do so. Grayson seemed to agree. Or at least, he appeared to like it. There was a smile that would bloom on his face like the sun peeking out from behind clouds. He would try to hide it away again, but then Balthazar would say something charming and Grayson would be practically laughing .

“Tell me that those two didn’t choose humans that were perfect for them ? Not for the rest of us. Just them,” Lawson muttered.

“Well, Seeyr does see the future so she would have known that Weryn wouldn’t be accepting any fledglings from the academy,” Demos said evenly.

“Meaning?” Lawson scowled at him.

But it was Ryder who answered, “Meaning that there are no fledglings for us among the humans. We told the king we didn’t want any and she would have already known that.”

Lawson’s scowl deepened. “Yet we’re still in their damned parade. And the two of you took your own good time bringing back one of the students. But we don’t even get consideration?”

Ryder’s back teeth were clenched so hard together that when he opened his mouth to speak his jaw muscles practically creaked, “We can’t have it both ways.”

“But they are!” Lawson exploded.

That had more than Weryn heads turning in their direction. Lawson’s cheeks were flushed an angry, dull red. The vein in his right temple throbbed visibly. His hands were fisted at his sides. Ryder shut his eyes for a moment and he breathed. In through his nose, out through his mouth.

He was so focused on this that only when Demos shook his arm did he realize the sound of Grayson’s heart was very, very near. His eyelids popped open. Grayson was just five feet away. A look of concern was on his face. He had seen Lawson’s behavior. He had read Ryder’s discomfort. And he had come to help.

That was not something he thought that Grayson did easily or lightly. He knew that much about the young man. He didn’t stick his head up. He didn’t get involved. Except for very certain people like that man Sam. And now, evidently, him. But there was something a little fragile in Grayson’s approach as if wasn’t sure what he expected Ryder to do, but he was going to act anyway.

Ryder didn’t know whether he wanted to scream, cry or vomit. He did none of these things. Instead he stared at Grayson stupidly.

“Hey, Ryder. Hey, Demos,” Grayson said with an easy tip of his head at both Vampires. And then he met Lawson’s steely gaze. He didn’t back down or back away. Even though Lawson had likely fifty pounds of muscle on him at least and, not to mention, he was a Vampire while Grayson was human. “Who's your friend here?”

“Who am I?” Lawson put one of those meaty hands against his chest. A smile was on his lips as if he couldn’t quite believe this boy was interrogating him.

“Yeah. We all know one another. But I don’t know you,” Grayson stated simply with a challenging stare.

Demos met Ryder’s gaze. His Blood Brother, too, looked like he was torn between doing something rash to save Grayson from Lawson’s certain wrath or laughing hysterically at how their best laid plans had just imploded in front of their eyes.

“You do?” Lawson’s gaze flickered to Demos and then Ryder before focusing on Grayson. “Well, you must be the student that these two picked up.”

“Something like that,” Grayson answered.

While Lawson’s arms were crossed over his chest in a defensive pose, Grayson’s were loose at his sides. Ready for whatever was to come, Ryder realized.

Oh, dear gods, he thinks he’s going to need to fight Lawson for me, Ryder thought.

That had him snapping out of the paralysis that had gripped him. He stepped between Lawson and Grayson. He put his hands on Grayson’s upper arms so that he could control where the young man went next.

“Grayson, why don’t we go talk over there?”

“Uhm, okay, but--”

“No, buts. Let’s go.”

Ryder firmly pushed Grayson towards the Weryn Palace, underneath the trees, but hopefully out of sight and earshot. Demos had grabbed Lawson’s arm and kept their Master in place, even though Lawson’s eyes tracked them.

“I thought you were going to mix with the students,” Grayson said firmly even as he relished taking in Grayson’s tall, lithe form.

My boy… mine...

“Yeah, I did. I mean I tracked one already. She wasn’t lying about where she was going though. Ended up saving a cat in a tree.” Grayson smiled at the memory of this and Ryder wished he had been there to see what exactly had caused that smile. Yet then Grayson was focused back on him, eyes sharp. “But forget that. Who is that guy?”

Grayson tipped his head back towards Lawson with an angry press of lips.

“That guy is Demos’ and my… Master,” Ryder answered with a reluctance he could not hide.

He had meant to keep Grayson far away from Lawson, but instead Grayson had charged right over. Yet Grayson’s reaction to Lawson hadn’t been fear, but aggression. And even now his expression didn’t match what Ryder had thought it would be.

Grayson stared at him blankly for long moments before he said, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

And in that moment, Ryder felt more ashamed than he had ever felt though he was not sure why. One should be proud of one’s Master, one’s Sire, one’s Dark Father. But he wasn’t. And now he wished that Lawson and Grayson had never met for far different reasons than he’d had before.

“You’ve made a judgment about him after a few words?” Ryder protested.

“It wasn’t just a few words. It was how you froze up and looked ready to kill him a few times. He can’t be your Master!” Grayson argued.

Ryder swallowed. “He is.”

“But that’s not at all what…” Grayon stopped as he seemed to read something in Ryder’s posture and expression. He chewed his inner cheek. “I thought that Masters were… I don’t know… not that. Loving? Something… I don’t know. Sounds stupid.”

“Lawson is older. He’s one of the Children of a War Vampire… Vampires are not like that now,” Ryder found himself explaining.

Grayson’s forehead bunched. “Yeah, okay, but you told me that the Weryn don’t want things to change. That you want things to be like what you had. But you’re saying that loving Masters aren’t… aren’t what you had… have ?”

Ryder stared at him. That was a good point. He had nothing to answer with. There was the sound of trumpets. Both of them jerked and looked back towards the parade route.

“Looks like it’s staring,” Grayson said softly.

A shudder went through Ryder. Lawson was staring at Grayson with narrowed, silver eyes.

Does your blood run pure, Grayson?

“Yes,” Ryder said just as softly. “We need to get back to our places.”