Chapter 8
~Lazriel~
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I’d vamp sped all over the place searching for Velra.
But she was nowhere to be found.
She'd disappeared in her shadow magic then also cloaked herself.
She was probably back in her dorm room now—a place I couldn’t follow.
That first time had been a one-off, before lockdown protocol had been put into effect that very same night.
Magical thresholds sealed each Circle. Students could still leave their dorm rooms and use their Circle’s common areas freely, but inter-Circle gates became magically locked.
To breach them, especially without setting off an alert to the dean and security around the place, would require a highly-trained, extremely accomplished magic-wielder, no mere student.
Fortunately—and unfortunately—I knew of such a being.
But… shit… going there, going to him… it really didn’t sit well with me.
Especially when I was in such a fucking state like I was right now.
“Urgh!” I cried, digging my fingers into my hair.
Things had been going so well.
Velra and I had connected on so many levels.
I’d finally had her right there with me, wanting me, relishing being with me. Every moment of it had been incredible, more than I’d even imagined.
And then it had all been ripped away when she’d begun to spiral.
I didn’t fucking care that her magic had hurt me.
I didn’t care about any of that.
It didn’t take away anything from her, it didn’t make me want her less. In fact, given the way I was, it kind of turned me on, to be honest.
But for her it was different, far more complicated.
I scrunched up my nose. I could still smell her so strongly—that lavender, her marking me as she’d drenched my hand. Hell, I could still fucking taste her on my tongue.
And it was driving me crazy knowing she was currently lost to me, that it could be the first and last time all at once. She was deeply ingrained in my fucking psyche now.
I couldn’t walk away from that.
I clenched my fists, chest heaving, heat rolling off me like a storm I could barely contain.
Fuck, I couldn’t go to her like this, even if I found a way to breach into Obscura Circle.
Not while I was in this state.
Teetering on the edge.
That instinctual urge through pain and upset to unleash my inner beast and demon all at once in a grandiose fucked-up display of rage and violence.
I needed to head to Graverun.
A couple of fights should quell things enough for me to think straight, to not explode all over her the moment I stepped across the threshold of her dorm room.
I was still half an acre away from the main building after searching for Velra.
But I couldn’t risk vamp-speeding again, or employing any of my abilities.
I was already barely holding on as it was. Tapping into either my wolf or vampire side would push me over the fucking edge and all control would be lost.
Walking in the slow-ass way like a human it was then.
You know what?
I’d send her a quick text.
Just one.
Just… because I had to.
I pulled my phone from my pants pocket and swiped it open.
I didn’t get any further than that when it was suddenly batted out of my hand as a blast of cool air whipped around me.
I spun to see the vampire I’d punished the other night at Graverun standing there, his long brown hair slicked back in a ponytail as he stood there in some hella tight navy jeans and a matching sports jacket, his chest bare beneath.
Derek… something.
He eyed my phone and tossed it across the grass. “Messaging your hybrid whore, were you?”
I snarled and stepped forward.
“Ooh… testy. Not just a whore then, I see? A mate? Isn’t that what you wolves call it?
Oh, wait, you’re not just a wolf. You’re a disgusting half-breed.
You feeding on me the other night? It was a major humiliation!
How fucking dare you take it there! It’s bad enough to be bitten at all, but by the likes of you?
It humiliates all vampires! It insults every single one of us! ”
“Why do you fucking purists have to turn everything into a political statement? It was a beatdown. Get over it, you fucking pussy.” My eyes flashed, both wolf and vampire blazing forth. “And get the fuck over it now.”
I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes.
But then he covered it up with a sneer. “Arrogant hybrid bitch. It’ll be your downfall.”
He let out a piercing whistle that hurt my wolf hearing, and then a rush of wind ripped through the area as six vampires burst in, three either side of him.
Only two I recognized as being actual students here, so he’d snuck in the other four using the chaos of The Fade party night to do it.
The faculty allowed the wards down this one night only.
Although they didn’t technically support this night, they also knew it was a great outlet for us all, so they let it slide and did things like this instead.
I scented the four non-students, noting that they were triple my age.
He thought that would impact me?
I smiled to myself. He didn’t know who he was dealing with.
Ancient vampire blood ran in my veins.
Fucking fool.
I rolled my neck, feeling the crack of tension release like a war drum behind my ears.
“You’re gonna look back on this night as your greatest and most painful mistake.” I crooked my fingers in a bring-it gesture. “Come on then, shitheads, step on up.”
The first vamp lunged.
I sidestepped and cracked his ribs with my elbow, spun, and sank my fist into the second’s jaw hard enough to send him skidding.
Three jumped on me at once and I roared, then reached back and snatched hold of a shirt, using it haul the fucker over my head and several feet in the distance.
He sprung back to his feet, but by then I ripped the one on my left off me, then spun him around, right into the guy vamp-speeding back toward us. They collided brutally and collapsed in a heap—temporarily.
The one latching onto my right side went to take a bite out of my throat, but I grabbed his jaw and crushed it in my hand, earning a screech from him.
I kneed him in the gut and, as he doubled over, I called my wolf claws and sliced them across his throat.
He collapsed to his knees gurgling and choking on his own blood.
“Hybrid filth!” Derek cried, coming at me from the front, while I felt three more moving in from around me.
A dangerous growl escaped me and I didn’t check it this time.
I was done checking anything.
I let my bloodlust have free reign.
I gave into it and the demon and beast howled in exaltation.
As they hit, everything became a blur of violence, blood, and gore.
Screams rang in my ears.
I ripped one guy’s arm clean off, then used it to beat another across the fucking face until his features were completely unrecognizable.
I ripped Derek off his feet with a swipe to the backs of his legs with my boot.
And then it was open season on the remaining few.
I was gonna rip their fucking throats out, tear their heads from their bodies, decimate every single one of them who—
An explosion of dark red power slammed into them, blowing them back several feet.
In the next second, they were being hauled off the ground and levitated high in the air, held there by a shimmering film enveloping them.
And they were frozen, completely unable to move a muscle, or even blink—or open their poisonous mouths.
Before I could take in the insanity of it all, that same film came for me, sweeping around me and forcing me into the air, my arms and legs outstretched and held there forcibly against my will.
The urge to struggle slipped away quickly, though, as another sensation rolled over me—weightlessness.
Not just physical, but something much deeper.
I was being held still, but it didn’t hurt, it didn’t actually just feel restrictive.
It took away the urge to inflict brutal violence, to rage, to let my bloodlust loose all fucking over.
It was… a form of peace.
Footsteps sounded and then Sylas Morgrave stepped out of the shadows, his hands up, palms flaming with his crimson power, one thrust toward the vampires, one toward me.
He twisted the one holding them and their necks snapped in unison.
The film dissipated and they all fell to the ground with thud after thud, unconscious.
And then he turned to me, striding up to me, then looking me over.
He seemed… worried about me, studying the blood I was drenched in.
“You’re unharmed.” He cursed under his breath. “Graverun King indeed.” He looked around at the body parts, the blood and flesh all over, the unconscious vampires, several half dead, and he shook his head in dismay.
He sighed, then released me from his magical hold.
I dropped to the grass in a low crouch. “What are you doing here?”
“Clearly preventing a massacre.”
I rose to my full height. “If you think I’m going to get down on my knees and applaud your efforts and the fact that you ruined my fun—”
He stepped up to me and grasped my shoulder, using his magic to overpower me, his red glow threaded from his palm to me. “Quiet.”
He pulled his phone out, then dialed quickly.
“Good, you’re still awake. What? No, I don’t want the details of your fuck-fest with your loves.
Well, good, because I don’t want them anyway, Kai.
Listen, I need your help. I have a situation.
Seven vampires needing high-level healing immediately, along with minor memory wipes—Oblivisca will do.
Yeah, exactly, I can’t… not right now. Uh-huh…
rapid-fire necromantic holds for a handful.
Several centuries between them. Of course normally it would be doable, easy even, but it’s clearly not now.
So, can you bridge the gap for me? Yeah? All right, thanks. See you soon.”
He hung up and stowed his phone away.
“You’re calling in Kai Hunter, sorcerer extraordinaire? Don’t you have that covered yourself? Why can’t you handle it?”
“It’s not your concern. Saving your sweet little ass from the repercussions of this is.”
Before I could get another word out, an eruption of rose-gold power filled the area a moment before Kai Hunter materialized in all his glory, black trench coat and all.
He took in the scene quickly, noting the vampires, then eyeing Sylas holding me with his power. “All right there, brother?”
“I have this part handled.”
Kai smirked. “I see. Well, it’s about time you found a new… interest.”
I growled low in my throat.
“Ah,” Kai said, amused. “A fresh one? Really? You?”
“Kai,” Sylas bit back. “Can you get on with it?”
Kai smiled. “Get gone. I’ll handle it from here on out. There’s no need for you to stay. Besides, he clearly needs your attention.”
I didn’t get to react to that one, as Sylas gave a nod to Kai, then swept us both up in a swirl of teleportation.