Out of Shadows (LOXLEY ACADEMY #1)

Chapter 1

~Winter~

Blood.

Glazing my lips.

Dripping onto my tongue.

Leaking from the corners of my mouth.

It coated my throat thickly as I drank it down appreciatively.

The coppery tang with a laced sweetness that could be more pronounced, or even muted, depending on the being’s supernatural species, didn’t particularly register with me.

The taste? That wasn’t what it was about for me.

Nor sustenance.

Nor even a power trip.

I wasn’t plagued by bloodlust.

Nor was I a vampire.

I wasn’t undead, but I was death.

As a Wraith-Necromancer hybrid, it essentially made me death incarnate, yet one such being who walked among the living. As though I were one of them.

At times, I almost believed I was.

But then there were other times like this, where the need to feel alive became unbearable.

And so, I fed.

Or as I preferred to term it—ingested lifeforce.

The feel of a thrumming pulse reverberating through me, flowing lifeblood, and a break from the death-cold stillness in my bones that wasn’t temperature at all, but absence.

That was what called to me about it.

A scream of bliss cut into my reverie and my eyes flicked to the sorcerer I had cradled against me on the circular bed.

He was twisting three fingers in the ass of the Light Fae beauty grinding naked on her back on the crimson sheets. Her wavy blue hair was mussed from him previously fisting it as he’d fed her his cock.

I closed my eyes while he played with her and I sank back into my reverie, stroking his short blond hair as I continued to feed.

Thump. Thump… thump.

That usual warning sparked in my brain; the fingers of my free hand pressed to the pulse point of his wrist registering his heart rate slowing substantially.

I stopped drawing and eased back.

“No… please… more,” he groaned.

He was caught in the thrall of it. It happened to many beings, where they wanted to exist in that consuming headspace for an age, irrespective of the danger.

He grabbed at my nape, urging me back to his throat where excess blood leaked over his skin, down to his right shoulder. His fingers twisted and probed inside Selena, making her squeal and come all over the sheets again.

She collapsed onto her stomach, clearly spent, but not wanting the intensity to end either, as she weakly pushed back against him.

I snagged his wrist and pulled his fingers from her.

Then I broke his hold on my nape and eased him down onto his back on the bed with a hand to his bare chest.

He was so deeply stimulated that the mere pressure of my touch had him bucking and coming all over himself.

“Rest. Take a few moments before you get up,” I told him as he grinned up at me dazedly.

I called my amber magic and swept it over the incision I’d made earlier, healing it quickly—I wasn’t a vampire, so fangs weren’t available to me.

A shudder rolled through me.

Not again.

I blinked the unsettling sensation away, then helped Selena under the covers. “Same goes for you, darling.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

“You’re sure no fucking?” Carter asked me.

I headed over to the chaise in the corner where we’d tossed all the embroidered cushions from the bed earlier.

“We all got what we needed tonight. My sexual participation isn’t necessary.”

“Necessary?” Carter chuckled. “You really are a stalwart and true kind of guy, aren’t you, Winter?”

I didn’t answer, snatching up my gray tee instead and pulling it back on. I shrugged my charcoal hoodie on too, then moved to leave.

Carter called out to me, “The white knight thing is gonna keep you from a lot of fun if you’re not careful.”

“Have a good night,” was all I managed, his words hitting deeper than I would have liked.

Then I brushed aside the velvet curtain and left the private room.

The moment I did, I also stepped beyond the spell that muted the cacophony in the main area of the club, and it hit me rather jarringly.

Polaris.

The infamous supernatural erotic club that provided a safe environment for patrons to explore their deepest, darkest desires without judgment.

It did that to an even greater extent now because, unlike twenty years back, there was no longer an Inhibitor in effect barring the use of magic. The joint owners, Lucian Black and Warlow Boyd, hadn’t faced blowback or much trouble at all with it being freer like that.

My gaze bounced off the golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, shifting to the cages of erotic dancers and acrobats doing their seductive thing, then dipping to the velvet-draped balconies.

The place was packed as usual, beings relaxing in the plush violet and crimson booths, some gyrating on the dance floor.

Throughout, there was also a great deal of eroticism and sexual activity occurring even out in the open.

I caught sight of fuck-and-feeds happening in the booths, some even on the dance floor.

There was a cuffed vampire kneeling on a table having his cock sucked by a magic-wielder while his fangs were buried in a Shadowmancer’s breasts.

A Dark Fae woman with glorious purple waves was being licked all over by three sorcerers.

And… a whole lot more that I really couldn’t be looking at right now.

I made my way through the decadent space toward the bar.

I didn’t drink alcohol. I couldn’t risk not being in full control of my mental faculties, having my judgment compromised in any significant way.

But they didn’t just serve alcohol here or spelled concoctions that gave an extra kick.

They also had one of my favorites—Ginger Chili tea.

It had its own sort of kick and could help to prolong the effects of feeding.

I was just a few feet out when my phone buzzed in my hoodie pocket.

I pulled it out to see a text message, my breath catching in my throat as I took in the name of the sender.

Dad: I’m close to ordering for you, son.

Oh no.

I eyed the time on my phone.

I was twenty minutes late to meet him for dinner.

Not just any dinner either.

It was his words-of-wisdom send-off to me.

Even though we’d all had a send-off dinner as a family just two nights ago. It was… a thing.

More than that.

It was him worried for me and trying not to frame it that way in case it unnerved me or ruined my experience.

People thought the Almighty Necromancer, Sylas Morgrave, was unflappable and often even just a stoic Master of Death Magic, but he was a great deal more than that.

To those he allowed close to him. To our family.

Outwardly, I got why he couldn’t allow that to be known. He used that reputation to deter threats. To protect us.

To protect me.

Because of what I was—one of a kind.

In a dangerously volatile way as far as the supernatural world was concerned.

And the balance of nature for that matter.

Dad: Should I call in the cavalry?

That would be a nightmare of epic proportions.

The cavalry consisted of Pops, also known as infamous wolf-vampire hybrid, Lazriel Thaine, who would scent-track me and burst onto the scene like a wrecking ball to ensure I was well.

There was Father, Cassius Ashmoor, an Immortal, who would blast his way through anything, cross any lines, just to reach me if he believed I was in danger.

And Mom, Velra Nox, with her Wraith-Dark Fae abilities that could do untold damage also.

Although I knew my dad was kind of joking around, because he was definitely well-equipped to lay down a path of utter destruction on my behalf, I still responded swiftly—just to be safe.

And because I obviously didn’t want him to worry, nor to report this to the rest of the family and have them all panicking as well.

Winter: All is well. Just lost track of time. On my way. Sorry. Be there in moments.

Dad: So, I shouldn’t order for you?

My parents were all well aware that I didn’t care for that.

I was a mood eater. I couldn’t tell what I’d want until I was in the moment.

Well, except when it came to my oatmeal for breakfast, then my go-to dessert of Frosted Moon Petal Cake from Vantiqe which Mom had gotten me into.

But we were talking about dinner here, which was a more complicated affair.

Winter: If you want to cause yourself unnecessary grief, go right ahead.

Dad: Don’t be a cocksucker to your sweet old dad.

Winter: You’re neither of those things, come on now.

Dad: Is that where you are?

Winter: Really, Dad?

Dad: Are you?

Winter: Am I sucking cock?

Dad: Well?

Winter: I’m currently texting you, so obviously not. We’re meeting for dinner in moments, can we… table this?

Dad: You won’t discuss it in person. I know better than that. Texts are where you’re more open.

Dad: Besides, can’t I show an interest?

Winter: Not in that, no.

Dad: All joking and inappropriate discussion between father and son aside, I just want to ensure you’re indulging in what you need to. And that you’re safe and being treated right.

Did he know something?

Not about my sex life.

Well, yes, about that.

I’d come to him for advice numerous times when I was younger.

Especially right after Zayn.

Zayn. Now that was a complicated situation.

And then there’d also been the Evira thing. She was—no. Don’t address it.

I shook my head to myself. I couldn’t be thinking about any of that right now.

But… with my dad’s comments… fuck, it could mean that he knew about the feeding.

Or maybe I was just being paranoid.

I hesitated for a moment before typing back.

Winter: All is well.

Dad: And if it wasn’t?

Winter: I’d let you know.

Dad: Okay. See you soon, son.

Hmm. That had been easy. Too easy?

I pocketed my phone and headed out of the club, weaving my way through the crowds.

When I pushed out into the alley, I took a few moments to collect myself and come down from that last feed.

I needed to be on point for this dinner with my dad. It wasn’t usually like that with him or any of my family members. I could definitely be myself around them.