Half Blood Rising

"Hold on, we haven't checked this tomb yet. Malcom must've been feeding on someone since he was locked inside," I said, and then a second later, I moved past the newly made vampire and entered the darkness, taking the flashlight from Dimitry. I had to cover my mouth as the smell was overwhelming and instantly made me feel nauseous. Blood was everywhere, dripping down the walls and pooling along the floor-it was all around me. Even dried and crusted blood remained from what seemed to be previous meals. I had to steady myself to keep from gagging. It was gruesome. I'd never seen anything like it. After my first assessment, I assumed the tomb was empty, that no one could survive such horrendous conditions, not even a vampire.

Yet, I kept catching wafts of a familiar scent, one I knew well, so I walked further in until I saw a body. It was Lachlan. But he looked dead, lifeless, and my heart stopped, but then I reminded myself that full- blooded vampires were practically walking corpses. His body was littered with open wounds; Malcom must have been feeding off him for a long time. The clan must have locked them in here together, hoping Lachlan would lose his marbles after constantly being bitten by a newly made vamp.

"Guys, over here, now," I shouted as I tried to drag his body out of the darkness, away from all that blood. I kept telling myself he was going to be all right, that he'd just lost a lot of blood. Damn it, why did I care so much?

"It's Lachlan! Come on, let's get him out of here," Marco said as he stood behind me.

Judas and Karina were there, too. My heart was thwacking against my ribcage.

"He's lost a lot of blood, and his light is fading," Karina added, and that wasn't a good sign. I didn't know how Karina was able to sense something so unique for every supernatural. His aura was weak, but that's all I could see. Obviously, her abilities were much more developed.

Judas and Marco lifted the unconscious Scot and carried him out of the tomb. Dimitry was holding Malcolm who suddenly seemed even more alert and ready to feed again. When he tried to bite the large Russian, Dimitry knocked him out cold.

"He's lucky, very lucky that we got here in time," Dimitry said. "I suspect there might be more newly made breeds inside the other tombs, but we haven't got time to take care of them. We are in too much danger, and the other ancient vampires might notice something is wrong. Let's make our way back to the van."

Dimitry was right; these humans had been turned into vampires for a reason, and, besides, we still needed to track Dorothy. First things first: we had to get out of here without bringing too much attention to ourselves. The other vampires hadn't attacked just yet, but I kept waiting for something to happen.

We knew Malcolm was going to be taken care of by the council members, so we left him in the basement. Outside, rain was pouring down heavily, so perhaps that was the reason why there were only a handfu of guards who'd attacked us earlier. The boys transported Lachlan inside the van. Dimitry must have called the council already, because three black Mercedes' arrived. I'd worked with Tristan long enough to recognise members of the High Council, mages and fae. They usually gave me an anxiety attack. I hated dealing with officials.

Dimitry talked to a few, while Karina and Judas were trying to revive Lachlan. I needed to stop thinking about him this way, especially now. I hoped Dimitry believed me now, and I wouldn't be expelled. Malcolm had drained a lot of his blood-Lachlan was barely conscious. I didn't really know what sort of effect vampire blood had on the newly made vampire, but I suspected it had given him not only strength but magic as well.

Ten minutes later, everyone was in the van. Dimitry shook hands with some officials and climbed in, too, then he banged on the partition window on the other side, and the van started moving. After Marco used his fae magic on Lachlan, his wounds slowly began to heal. The road was bumpy, but Lachlan started coming around.

"Gee, hen, I thought I might never see you again," he said, opening his eyes and noticing me straight away. I didn't want others to notice I'd developed some kind of crush on him. It was bad enough I'd never been with a man as a half-breed.

"Too bad. You have to tolerate me for a bit longer, but you'll be happy to know I almost got the boot," I told him, ignoring the warming sensation around my heart. Lachlan looked terrible and his clothes were torn-he must have been caught off guard by several ancients, because he was very experienced.

"What the hell happened, man?" Judas asked. "If it wasn't for Jaymin, you would have turned to ash in no time."

The driver, whose face we'd still yet to see, was speeding through the bumpy road. Lachlan managed to lift himself up, and my heart began beating more steadily. Someone needed to break the bad news to him, that his girlfriend was the one who'd set him up.

"What did you do this time, hen?" he asked.

"Nothing much, let's just say I was in the right place at the right time, but of course, I had to kill a vampire to find out where they were keeping you," I said and started cleaning my knives.

His eyes were invasive. "Why would you do that?" he asked, and I frowned. Everyone was listening, and I felt awkward talking about it here.

"Someone had to. Your girlfriend betrayed Moonlight. She was the one who sold you out to the clan," I said, wanting him to stop looking at me as if he desired more than my blood. It felt like he was peering into my soul, as tingles spread along the length of my spine.

"Where's Ramona? Can someone explain what happened?" he asked more aggressively, but Karina pushed him back against the seat.

"Just chill and let us get you back to headquarters first, then we'll explain everything. Jaymin saved your life-that's what happened. Ramona's been dirty the entire time. She made a deal with some mage," Karina said, folding her arms against her chest. She was angry and Lachlan's wounds opened again. The smell of his blood... the scent was strong, and I licked my lips.

Lachlan wasn't a patient man and he wanted to know everything, so Karina went through it all until we reached headquarters.

We still had a lot of work ahead of us, but I needed to have a long and very honest conversation with Pretty Boy. I had to tell him I'd overheard him in that basement.

***

"I was wrong about you and I owe you an apology. If it wasn't for you, we would have been picking up pieces of Lachlan from inside that tomb," Oldman said when we returned to headquarters. She touched my arm, and her energy rushed through me instantly. I flinched. I still wasn't used to being touched.

Roxanna told Marco to get lost, and she started taking care of Lachlan herself. She locked the door to her room as soon as he was transported upstairs.

Our job wasn't done in Moscow, but I was already thinking about going back to Kiev. I missed normality.

"I was only doing what I thought was right," I said as she stared at me with a mixture of admiration and curiosity. I had a feeling she was frightened of my abilities. She had no idea what I was truly capable of. "You keep astonishing me, Jaymin, and I must admit, I was wrong about Ramona as well," she said. I stunk and I really needed to take a shower. The smell of Lachlan's blood was overwhelming me again, and I was getting a headache.

"She was a great actress, but the fact of the matter is, we have to find Dorothy. That mage is going to make a deal with the High Council soon enough," I told her, thinking that, maybe, we'd gained a bit of an advantage, but things weren't exactly peachy. The clan had taken Lachlan in order to buy some time. They knew we were closing in on them.

"I'm aware of that, but the board won't just change their admission process overnight. These rules and regulations have been in place for quite a long time," Oldman assured me.

Well, I wasn't so sure. That mage was very powerful, and he worked for someone high up in the council. I was certain of it. "They're probably scared, a few members have died under mysterious circumstances, and this isn't a coincidence," I muttered. Her eyes widened in fear, and her energy rippled around us. I could feel it skating across my skin, and I had to take a deep breath.

"It seems you may know more about this situation than I do." She ran her fingers through her red hair in what appeared to be a nervous gesture. "I need to speak to Lachlan's father urgently. I will try to figure out our next step. This has gone on for far too long." She still looked immaculate as usual.

I said what needed to be said and then went to my room. Karina was already fast asleep. She'd once told me that her transformations were very exhausting.

It felt so good to be able to get in the shower, take my time, and just wash away all the blood that stained my body. I thought of all the times in the past when I had to go to sleep dirty, covered in bruises and dirt. I hated washing myself in public washrooms.

I tried to recall anything before I'd been turned, but that part of my mind seemed blank, other than what I'd already learned. Lachlan influenced me to remember, so maybe I needed to get close to him again.

I already knew how this conversation was going to play out in my mind, and I laughed after stepping out of the shower. Apparently, he wanted me, and my own feelings towards him weren't exactly frosty, either I dried my hair and went straight to bed. I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I drifted almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

Sometimes my body needed to

regenerate, and as a half-vampire, I

didn't

Howeally need much sleep.

However, it was early evening the next day when I awoke. Karina's bed was empty, and there was a tray on the bedside table with sandwiches. I potished them off, instantly feeling hungry again. Even after was full, I still craved blood. It all started after I'd drank Lachlan's blood, and now I knew it had been a huge mistake.

I put on some clean clothes and went to the main room. Everyone was there, well, everyone apart from Lachlan and Oldman. I suspected she'd gone to speak to the High Council. I wasn't certain she'd taken my warning seriously enough.

Karina and Judas were sitting in front of their laptops. Marco was on the phone, speaking in Italian, undoubtedly with a woman. Dimitry glanced up at me from his paper and gave me something that resembled a smile.

"Welcome, Sleeping Beauty." Karina grinned at me.

"Where's Lachlan and Oldman?" I asked, wondering why everyone looked so chilled. I guessed we didn't constantly have to be on the alert, but Dorothy was still missing.

"The Scot has recovered. Roxanna took care of him well," Dimitry said, and then went back to reading his paper. "Good thing we stored some blood for emergencies."

A wave of heat rushed through me, and I wondered where it was coming from.

I left the room without saying a word. I needed to find Lachlan. We had a lot to discuss, and I wondered if his father had any kind of influence over how the Elite Academy was being run. Dimitry's house was rather large and we hadn't had a chance to explore it yet.

"Is he here?" I asked Roxanna. She was hanging the washing on the line.

"Yes, go, go, he's stretching," she

said, this time in English, and I nodded. I didn't really want to see him bare-chested again, but we needed to talk. Last time, this ended badly for me, but this time, I was planning to act completely oblivious as to how I felt about him. Now he was without his girl, so maybe it would be easier. I was surprised we were still stationed in this house; our position had been compromised, and we still didn't know where Ramona was. It was possible she was preparing to raid our headquarters when we least expected it. Dimitry wasn't stupid. I hoped he and Oldman had set up protective wards around the area.

I went inside. It wasn't a big room, and Dimitry must have used it as a gym from time to time-there were a few workout machines set up. Lachlan was pale as usual, but he looked a lot better. Most of his bites and cuts had healed. I made a mental note to ask Roxanna exactly what she'd used to help him. Vampires in general healed quickly, but his injuries were extensive.

He looked at me, and his eyes sparked up instantly-I wasn't imagining it. My heart rate increased, and, at least this time, he was wearing a T-shirt.

"Hen, I was wondering when you were going to show up," he said in a playful tone of voice.

"I think we need to talk," I told him as I stepped further inside the room.

"I owe you one, hen, but what I really want to know is, why you did it?" he asked as he walked up to me. The intensity of his gaze was doing something to me. In that damn moment, I knew I was lost. He'd captured my energy, and I couldn't even move.