Pride of a Vampire (Durand Supernatural Academy #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Jack

The box in my arms wasn’t heavy, and yet I felt like I was being dragged into the floor by the weight of it. Each step up to my new single dorm room felt harder than the last.

This was the last of my things I had from my dorm room with Tate. I didn’t have much to begin with, but in the few months I had been here at the academy, I had accumulated quite a few things. Most of them from Xinyi.

I was sure there were things in Kyren’s room, but I couldn’t bring myself to go there and get them. Fear of running into the vampire who had looked at me with such venom and hatred caused a thick ball in my throat that I couldn’t quite swallow down.

Eight days. It had been eight days, four hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-four seconds since I’d seen Kyren. The vampire seemingly hid away in his room, skipping the class we had together, and not once showing up for meals.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt his absence.

I wanted nothing more than to write him off. To say fuck him and his prejudice against my family. After all, I was the one who was wronged in this scenario. It was his sire who had kidnapped me as a child. It was only natural that my parents would kill him in retaliation.

Somehow, that meant that I was as bad, if not worse, than my parents.

Parents who had done nothing but try to make the supernatural community better. The human death rate was as low as it’s been in a century. The supernatural deaths were even lower, with the Hunter Guild now only targeting those who broke the rules.

Shouldn’t that count for something?

Apparently not.

I shoved the heavy wooden door of my new room open, letting it hit the wall behind it. Letting out a deep sigh, I took in my new room.

Gone was the single bed, the cheap desk and dresser squeezed into a small space, with Tate’s identical furniture on the other side of the room.

In its place, I had a queen-size bed with an elaborate, dark mahogany frame.

An ornate crimson and gold rug spread across the stone floor, and matching drapes covered each window.

I had a full-size dresser, including a vanity, on one side of the room.

Far more space than I needed for the handful of clothes I’d brought with me to the academy.

A study area had been set up on the other side of the room, along with a lush, oversized chair, and a bookshelf filled with my favorites sat next to it, waiting for me to cozy up with a good book.

No doubt my fathers had a hand in the decoration of my new room. Only they would know exactly what would make me feel at home. Unfortunately, the room felt more like a prison cell.

I’d been shipped off to the Siberia of the academy.

My new dorm room was set up in the main academy building, far away from the Vampire Crypt and all the other students.

My parents’ worry for my safety would normally have been annoying, and I’d have fought against being treated any differently than any other student, and yet…

the urge to crawl into my mother’s arms and hide was strong.

With another deep sigh, I set the box in my hands on the nearby dresser, opening it up to evaluate what was inside. My hand froze on the first item inside.

A black shirt.

Nothing inconspicuous about it. I had plenty of black shirts. I preferred them to most colorful ones because they allowed me to blend into the shadows when I was hunting. Except when I drew it out, it was obviously too large for me.

I brought the material to my nose, inhaling the lingering scent of smoke and cloves. Kyren.

Shirt to my nose, I sat on the edge of my new bed. I couldn’t even appreciate the softness of the mattress compared to the single I’d had with Tate. It hadn’t been the most comfortable room I’d ever been in, but it had been mine and theirs.

I lay back on the bed, just breathing what I had left of Kyren. My eyes burned at the thought. A week ago, I had the love of not one but two men. Two incredible men that consumed me from the inside out.

I’d never felt so wanted or safe as when I was pressed between the two of them. I’d never felt such exquisite ecstasy either.

Even now, my body ached for their touch, their kisses, their voices. I’d become addicted to them, and it only made losing them that much worse.

Never before had I felt such depth of betrayal. Not since the day after that one night Julian and I had together before he became my commanding officer.

Of course, I could blame myself. I was the one who wanted to hide my identity from everyone when I first came. I had only been seeing as far as the mission and not the consequences of getting involved with Tate and Kyren without exposing my true self.

If only I’d—

“Hey you!”

I jerked up on my bed, shoving the shirt under one of my pillows.

I smiled softly at the tiny woman standing in my doorway.

Wearing what she called fashion in a pleated purple and black skirt, an oversized sweater ripped strategically to hang off one shoulder, her dark hair was streaked pink, purple, and teal, and tied up into two messy buns on either side of her head.

“Xinyi.” I shook my head, standing. “You aren’t supposed to be up here.”

The human servant stepped further into my room, hands on her hips. “You think I could let them hide my best friend away from me?” She put her fists up in front of her with what I assumed was supposed to be a fierce snarl. “They’ll have to fight me first.”

“I should have known they couldn’t keep you away.” Laughing at her display, I stopped next to my dresser and pretended to survey what was left in the box.

“Damn straight.” She flicked her nose, sniffing and pointing it in the air. “Let’s see them try.”

I laughed again, staring down into the box but not really seeing its contents. I didn’t bother trying to fill the silence between us, Xinyi had a way of doing that all on her own. She’d tell me sooner or later why she came.

Just as I knew she would, Xinyi stood at my side, peering around my arm. “So… how’s it going?”

I forced myself not to stiffen at her question, answering nonchalantly. “Fine. Good. So much happier not to have to share a room anymore. Definitely don’t miss sharing a bathroom.” I made a grimace in regard to the other students’ messes and lack of general respect for others in a shared space.

Xinyi just stared at me. “That’s an awful lot of words for someone who couldn’t say more than three words to me about whether or not pineapple belonged on pizza.

A debate no one can pass up putting their two cents into.

” She turned and leaned against my dresser, her fingers tapping on the edge as she peered up at me.

“So… want to tell me how you really feel?”

I tossed the shirt I’d been folding and refolding back into the box and braced myself on the edge of the dresser, breathing out heavily.

“I’m… okay. Not great. Just okay.”

Her dark brown eyes skimmed over me as she nodded. “Well, you’re not cocooning yourself in your bed with nothing but junk food which, by the way, is a perfectly good — healthy — way to handle a breakup, if I do say so myself.”

“We didn’t… I didn’t…” I wrapped my arms around my waist and turned to lean next to her. “I don’t know what we are.”

Xinyi arched a brow. “Have you heard from…?” She left the end open, probably not wanting to trigger me by saying either one of their names.

“Tate has been… around.” I waved a hand in front of me. “Staring at me with those big puppy-dog eyes as if I’d taken away his favorite toy.”

Xinyi giggled. “Well, you kind of did.” She wagged her brows at me, eyes going up and down my body.

“Ha ha.” I bumped her with my arm.

“So he still wants to… whatever it was you were doing with him?”

Staring down at the stone floor, I dragged the toe of my boot along the line where two of the stones met. “Yes. He’s made it very clear he still wants to be… whatever we were…” I huffed and shoved off the dresser, pacing back and forth in front of her.

“Tate just won’t listen to reason. He thinks that there’s no reason we can’t still be together even though me and…” I swallowed, forcing myself to finish my sentence. “Kyren are… whatever we are.” I threw my hands up, dragging them through my hair.

“So you haven’t heard from Kyren, then?” Xinyi prodded gently, not judging me like some might for being with two guys at once.

My hands dropped to my sides. “No. Not a peep.” I sat on the edge of the bed again, my hand itching to find his shirt beneath my pillow. “It’s like he disappeared into those shadows of his.”

Xinyi moved across the room and sank into the mattress next to me, her hand on mine. “I wish I could tell you something that would make you feel better. But none of us have seen him either. Maybe he dropped out? I can ask Iris if she’s seen him around?”

She paused, her brows furrowed. “He couldn’t have gone far.

Tate is still here, and very few vampires will leave their human servant for very long.

” She placed her hand on her chest. “We’re drawn to each other.

Even if we are miles away, a part of us will always ache for the other and never feel complete.

So if Tate is still here, then that must mean that Kyren can’t be that far away, right? ”

I gave her a tight smile. “Sure.”

“Come on.” Xinyi grabbed my hand. I let her pull me to my feet reluctantly. “You can’t stay hidden away in your tower all the time. A princess has got to eat, doesn’t she?”

I snorted. “I’m not a princess.”

Xinyi grinned, pulling me toward the bedroom door. “Tell that to your loyal fans.”

I groaned and prepared myself to face the masses. Whether I would be greeted with cheers or tomatoes was still uncertain, and I wasn’t entirely sure which one I hoped for more.