Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Over the next three months, I threw myself into my studies, the one thing I felt good at.
I read as much as I could about vampires and the history of Veil Haven.
My mother’s ancestors, Klara and Victor Sinclair, were some of the founding members of Veil Haven.
They were both arcanists and had the idea to create the portals with overlapping runes.
They studied how the vampires portaled on the shadows and inverted it.
They had linked up with nine other arcanists in an attempt to create a permanent portal from Los Angeles to New York City and found Veil Haven by accident.
A safe realm with sunlight, water, oxygen, and, most importantly, no vampires.
It seemed like it was a gift given from God.
They moved the Veil Stone here, emptied their mortal schools, and began to build at once.
It was all so fascinating. Harper and Luna were teaching me to read runes.
Luna obviously had a special affinity for them, but I still hadn’t shown them my forbidden one.
The shadow mark. I was scared it would change how they looked at me.
Like Akari and Asher had looked at me differently when they’d seen it. Celia too, even if just for a second.
These thoughts circled my head, but I pushed them away and focused on my training.
Now that I had hunter marks, my physical training was different.
The marks began to tingle and glow when I practiced sparring, and slowly I felt my body respond.
My hits were harder and I was faster. The people I was sparring with were starting to get hurt, and they kept moving me to another person until finally I was paired with Asher.
“Hey,” I panted, having just accidentally pushed Harper across the padded training room.
“Hey.” Asher held his rubber practice stake in a fisted grip.
Things had been kind of weird between us. I felt like he was avoiding me. Three months had passed since that day we hugged in the library and I’d shown him my mark, and since then, we’d barely seen each other outside classes.
I had half wondered if he and Daphne would get back together since that seemed to be their thing.
But from what I saw, they looked to just be friends.
They sat together sometimes at lunch, and sometimes she sat with her best friend, Jasmine.
I never saw them be physical, like holding hands or anything, but I was starting to wonder if I had imagined the part where Asher said he wanted to kiss me.
The first week at school here was a wild overstimulation, so I quite possibly could have.
But every time I thought that, I would catch Asher looking at me from across the room in a way that made my heart ache.
Even now, he was glancing at my lips. I didn’t understand him.
Was he interested in me that way? I peered across the room at Daphne, who was chatting with Jasmine.
Maybe it was her. Out of respect for a recent breakup, he didn’t want to pursue anything new?
“Begin,” Professor Kade said, and I was thrust back into the moment.
We were practicing takedowns, trying to get someone flat on the mat, so I reached out to sweep Asher’s legs, but he jumped over mine with ease.
“Come on, Tyson. You can do better than that,” he taunted.
“That nickname has died,” I growled, trying to forget that I’d actually bitten a vampire’s ear off.
Gross.
He frowned, lunging for me and grasping my upper arms as he took me down to the mat, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs.
Some whoops and hollers sounded around us.
“I think that Tyson thing was the coolest thing ever. You’re brutal,” he told me as he straddled me and had me pinned to the mat, his weight solid and warm, his knees bracketing my hips.
Brutal? Why did he make that sound like a good thing?
I felt a sharp tingle on my forearm where my runes were, heat blooming under my skin, and reached up to grab his waist, my fingers curling into fabric.
With one hard heave, I threw him off me and down to the mat beside me.
Scrambling to get up, adrenaline buzzing through my veins, I reached him just as he was trying to right himself and crawled on top of him, pinning him where he lay.
Now my legs were straddling his waist, and I had his arms restrained above his head in record time, my grip firm, my balance locked.
The room exploded into cheers, and I grinned, my breath coming a little fast.
I looked down at him and was surprised to see desire in his gaze and something else threaded beneath it. Respect.
“Should I let you win? Or try my hardest?” he thought out loud, his voice lower now, roughened.
That got a smirk out of me as I tightened my hold, leaning in just enough to feel his breath on my skin. “Don’t ever let me win,” I growled.
The next second, I went flying. He bucked up with his pelvis as he yanked his arms out from my grasp, the sudden force sending me off balance.
I rolled to the side and popped up onto my knees just as the rubber tip of his stake pressed against my chest, right where my heart would be.
But my stake was also pressed against his chest, the space between us gone, tension humming tight as a wire.
He grinned, and so did I. Butterflies took flight in my stomach.
Professor Kade clapped. “Okay, Asher and Stella, you will be matched up for the rest of the year.”
Someone made a ohhhhh noise, and Asher backed away from me, glancing at Daphne.
I followed his gaze to see her wearing a soft, slightly sad smile.
Great.
From then on, every class that there was a physical partner matchup, Asher was always my partner. We were nearly matched in strength and speed, with him being only slightly stronger than me.
Celia became my idol. I saw her come back from night shift with a cut over her eye, dirt in her hair, blood on her stake. She was the ultimate hunter.
Christmas break flew by with a few overnights at Harper’s where her family spoiled me with gifts, and now that I had money, I reciprocated.
It was the best Christmas I’d ever had, almost like I had a real family.
But as usual, I couldn’t get the ice wall around my heart to completely thaw because I was afraid of being abandoned. I could admit that to myself.
After Christmas, I spent long days training and longer nights in the library.
I wanted to soak up everything I could about this new life.
Especially with the hunter unit trials coming up in March.
The trials would place us into our hunting units, which would be who we hunted with for the rest of our careers.
Assuming we all graduated and became licensed hunters. The pressure was on.
Each day I was paired with Asher was a grueling lesson in self-control.
I’d never wanted to kiss a guy as badly as him.
The attraction was off the charts, but whenever class was over, he just retreated back to his dorm instead of hanging out.
I wrote him off as hard to read and forced myself to forget about him.
Now I was in a little corner of the Evernight Library that I’d secretly found with a table that faced a back wall of books and a two-seater bench.
I was reading Runes and Their Deeper Meanings when someone plopped down beside me on the bench.
I yelped a little. I’d been so engrossed in the page I didn’t notice until I saw Greyson Reed.
Greyson was also a striker like Asher and had been paired up with me in sparring quite a few times. He was a nice guy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you saw me.” He looked genuinely remorseful.
I laughed nervously and clutched my chest. “I was engrossed in reading.”
His eyes glittered as he smiled. “I think that’s cute about you. How into studying you are while the rest of us are bowling every night or having a dorm party.”
I smirked. “I didn’t have the blessing of growing up in this world. I have to work twice as hard.”
He nodded. “So I wanted to ask you something.” He wiped his hands on his jeans as if clearing sweat from his palms.
“What’s up?”
“You know the winter masquerade ball is coming up, and I asked around. People said no one has asked you, which I think is crazy, and I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go with me?” He sounded unsure, talking fast and rambling a little.
Oh. Greyson? I’d never thought of him in that way. I mean, he was an attractive guy and supersweet. I just…
Asher. My heart tugged at the name.
Ever since I’d gotten here, I’d felt this undeniable pull toward Asher, but even after Daphne had broken up with him, he never showed any interest in me.
Other than that delulu moment he said he thought about kissing me.
He had just been broken up with and was super vulnerable when he said it though.
“Or not. Or just as friends?” Greyson looked panicked, and I knew I’d taken too long to answer.
“I’d love to,” I said. “As your date ,” I added.
Relief rushed across his face. “Oh man. That’s awesome. It’s going to be so fun.”
I nodded, giving him a genuine smile.
If Asher wasn’t into me like that, I wasn’t going to be pathetic and wait for him. Greyson was cute and sweet, and he was asking for what he wanted. I admired that.
“Can’t wait.”
He left with a grin on his face, and I peered down at my book, about to close it so I could go back to the dorm and tell Harper and Luna about Greyson asking me to the dance. But when I saw the words Forbidden Rune , I froze.
A forbidden rune, labeled Noctis Muertis, or the shadow mark, was found to be on Serafina Vale in 1801.
History does not hold a lot of information about what exactly happened at that time as records were later destroyed, but on a sealed crypt in the underground vault beneath Veil Haven, there is a plaque that reads as follows:
SERAFINA VALE
Bearer of Noctis Muertis
Executed by the Hunter Guild
“May her shadow never walk again.”
Chills raced up my arms, and I slammed the book shut.
Executed by the Hunter Guild. My heart raced as I reached up to touch the mark on my shoulder.
It was ice cold, and my fingers shrank away from it as confusion washed over me.
Why did I get this mark? Did it mean I was a bad person?
Would I be killed if the guild found out?
So far, only three people knew about it. Akari, Celia, and Asher.
A haunting realization dawned on me then.
My mother was an arcanist. She knew runes and the Veil Stone better than anyone.
She’d been the one to put them on my body as a baby, which I assumed was for protection from vampires while I grew up in the human world.
But now I wondered if she somehow knew this Noctis rune would be given to me and that was why she said I’d need to buy a property to hide away in one day.
I’d written it off as overly paranoid thinking before, but now, perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea.
Opening my phone, I emailed the real estate agent who’d helped me get Rae a place in Paris.
I told her I needed to find a small, discreet hunting cabin, somewhere remote and off the grid, and I wanted to buy it privately, not even in my name if possible.
There was a risk she’d think I was crazy, but I didn’t care.
Now I was scared. There was a mark on my arm that got the last woman who bore it killed. I had to be smart about this.
Not one minute after I sent the email, she responded.
Stella,
I’d love to help you purchase your next property. This kind of request is common with my wealthy clients. You can buy it anonymously in the name of a trust. I’ll have some properties for you to look through by the end of the week. Do you need a lawyer referral for the trust setup?
Best,
Krista
I mean, this was what the money was for, right? This was why my mom left it to me.
I wrote her back right away.
Krista,
A lawyer to start my trust would be great. I look forward to seeing the properties over email. I won’t be able to see them in person.
Stella
My hands were actually shaking by the time I set my phone down.
I heard footsteps approach and glanced up to see Asher.
“Hey.” He sounded surprised to see me. He was holding a few books in his hands and glanced at the table I was at.
I released the breath I’d been holding and began to pack my stuff. “Hey, I was just leaving.”
“Oh, you don’t have to.” He set his books on my table. “We can share. I don’t bite.” He winked and my stomach did somersaults. Why was a well-timed wink from a good-looking guy the hottest thing ever?
“Nah, it’s cool. I was heading out to go find Harper and Luna and tell them I have a date for the masquerade ball,” I said, seeing if my news would have any effect on him.
His movements slowed, jaw clenching slightly, as he sat down and nodded slowly. “Oh, with who?”
“Greyson.” Again I watched his face for any sign of jealousy, but he was cool as a cucumber.
“Nice guy.” There was a tic in his jaw, a tightening to the way he held his book, but I could be imagining it.
“Yes, well, no one else asked me,” I said. “Are you going?” I was being super obvious, trying to hint everything I could, but Asher wasn’t taking the bait.
“Not my thing,” was all he said.
I sighed. Of course I would crush on the emotionally unavailable guy.
“Okay, well, see ya.” I hooked my bag over my shoulder and walked away.
I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to pine for Asher anymore.
I had bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that my dead mother, who might not be dead, had warned me to buy a bugout property, and the last woman to wear the mark that I now carried was murdered by her own people.
Screw dating. I needed to survive.