Half Blood Rising

I didn't know how much time had passed, but more and more people began appearing, walking and talking around me. For a long while, I just sat next to Dorothy, hoping she would come around. I glanced at my dirty hands; I was still shaking badly. Karina and Marco were talking to me, but I placed my hands over my ears, rocking from side to side. All I could remember was the fire and the mage's screams. "Jaymin, is that you?" a voice asked, grabbing my arm. Dorothy was conscious, and she was glancing around, probably more disoriented than me.

"Yes, it's me, and you're safe now," I told her, still feeling the effects of that dark, dirty energy from the mage. I thought that after using my fae abilities, I wouldn't have to deal with it, but the mage's darkness had sunk its claws into me. This happened every time I killed someone, but this time, it felt a hundred times worse. My team was now surrounding me, and the smell of blood was making me nauseous. It was everywhere the corpses were turning to ash as some members of the council tried to preserve them.

"What the hell happened here, Jaymin?"

It was Dimitry. He asked the question and I glanced at him, wondering how to answer that. I needed to pull myself together and tell them everything. I didn't want to be taken by the members of the High Counci for questioning. Moments later, a witch approached and covered Dorothy with a blanket; she was talking to her in another language. I accepted Dimitry's hand and stood, my knees felt like they couldn't hold my upper body. I was so weak, but I had to walk.

"I accidentally walked up on them, the councillor was here, and he was just about to make a deal with the ancient vampire, Leonidas." I started saying when Marco squeezed my arm. His warming energy felt like bliss.

"I think you should stop asking her questions," Karina said to Dimitry. "Now isn't the best time. Jaymin is still shaken up. We need to get her back to headquarters." I was light-headed and tired.

"It was me. I think I killed them all with my fae magic. The ancient started drinking from me, and I thought I was going to die," I whispered to them, and her eyes went wide. Everything was coming back to me, and I looked around, horrified. I'd killed them all-it was me, and soon enough, I was probably going to be arrested.

Marco dragged his hand through his hair, and Dimitry seemed at a loss for words.

"Hen, shut up, and let the High Council deal with it," Lachlan said, who suddenly appeared next to me. "The girl is safe now, so our job here is done. You shouldn't have run away." He must have arrived with the others. He looked at the body of his ex-girlfriend and shook his head. I'd forgotten about Ramona. I didn't think she was dead, but she wasn't moving. I'd only staked her earlier, but maybe it was my energy tha killed her.

Leonidas escaped. I didn't know how, but his corpse wasn't here. We were now connected through his blood.

"Did you really do this?" Karina whispered as we started walking back. "I don't believe it. I thought you were only half-vampire, Jaymin."

Marco and Judas must have stayed behind. The Russian human police were there, too, I was seeing yellow crime-scene tape around the area. A lot of humans gathered around, trying to figure out what had happened here. The High Council was probably working with the human side of the law. Sooner or later, someone was going to figure out I was the cause of this whole massacre. Oldman couldn't protect me, it wasn't her job, but I hadn't planned this. I didn't want to kill them all.

"I got us an uber, and right now, all these questions are unnecessary," Lachlan said to Karina, sounding angry. "We need to get her out of sight, out of here."

My magic was still all over the place as they helped me inside the uber. I felt dizzy and nauseous from all the darkness that I had consumed earlier on. I was half-fae, now everything was clear.

The rest of the night was a bit hazy. I realised Karina and Lachlan had taken me back to headquarters, then Karina helped me to bathe myself-she scrubbed all the blood from the shower. Images from the past kept flashing through my mind until I went to bed. Sleep came as soon as my head touched the pillow. There were no dreams and I was thankful, because I was truly resting, at least until I had to face the real world again.

***

When I awoke, it was night-time. For a long moment, I had no idea where I was. Karina was snoring in the bed next to me, and when I glanced at her, I suddenly remembered everything. The pain was finally gone. I felt good, better than ever before-rested. The clock on the wall was showing around two a.m. I had no idea how long I'd slept. All I knew was, I was in huge trouble.

Memories from the night before floated in my mind. Ramona was dead, the ancient escaped, but what happened to the councillor?

I put on a pair of pants and a T-shirt and then headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Was I truly able to create such powerful energy?

"Finally, I thought you might be in a coma." A voice startled me out of nowhere. When I turned around, I saw Lachlan in his pyjamas, looking cute.

I rubbed my eyes and took several generous sips of water. "How long was I asleep?" I asked him, feeling the familiar sensations in the pit of my stomach as he stared at me with the same intensity in his azure gaze.

"Around twenty-four hours or so. Oldman told us to leave you alone, that you needed to regenerate your strength," he said, and then yawned loudly. Vampires didn't get tired, so I didn't know what that was about.

I was baffled, worried and curious to know what might happen to me now.

"So, what now?" I asked him, although I realised that this wasn't the question that I was supposed to direct to him. On top of that, I was hungry, and this time, not for blood, but food.

"A few council members showed up here," he said, taking a step towards me. "They wanted to question you, but Oldman sent them away. She has been very protective of you, hen."

"Why? Were they going to arrest me?" I asked in a whisper. I wasn't even sure why I was whispering. We were alone, and it seemed everyone else was fast asleep.

"Tell me what the hell happened out there. Everyone is confused as to how you ended up in the middle of everything and survived. For now, the council only wanted to question you. The main thing is, our job here is done. Dorothy's free, the enemy was eliminated, so we're going back to the academy soon enough."

I bit my bottom lip, trying to figure out what to tell him. Things were complicated enough, and I still had no idea if I could really trust him, not with everything I now knew about myself, anyway.

"I need to speak to Oldman first, and you should go back to bed. It's nothing we need to talk about right now, Lachlan. I'm sorry about Ramo-"

"She's not dead." He cut me off. "Unfortunately, she survived, but she's going to be arrested soon." My jaw dropped; I couldn't believe my energy spared her. It was a miracle, and in a way, I was glad she'd survived. At least I didn't have to stress over another dead supernatural.

"Oh, okay," I muttered, and awkward silence stretched between us. There were a lot of things I wanted to say to him, but it was neither the time nor the place. He wanted me, but I still needed time to process everything that had happened. My future was still uncertain. I had no idea what was going to happen to me...

"Jaymin, I was wrong about you from the start," he began, but I placed my finger on his lips. He was warm, and that made me desire him even more, but I couldn't be with him—not now at least. I didn't know why I'd built up this wall inside me, but it was there, nonetheless.

"Let's not do this now. I need some time to digest everything. I'm not really sure what's going to happen once I get back to the academy," said, wanting to press my lips

against his. It was like a push net

pull magnetism... I wanted him. I didn't want him, and yet I couldn't stay away from him. "The council is after me and I'm not completely innocent."

"Oldman has connections, you don't have to worry, hen," he assured me, but he couldn't have known that. Besides, I was an experiment: half-fae and half-vampire. The council was going to find out about me sooner or later. Oldman wouldn't be able to protect me forever.

"I'm going back to sleep, and I suggest you do the same, Lachlan," I told him, knowing well enough that I hadn't given him any concrete information about us or about my past. There was a reason why I kept getting snippets from my past when we were intimate. In this life as a vampire, I was a virgin, but maybe in my other life, I hadn't been.

For me, it was far too dangerous to get involved with a man, especially in my situation, but thinking about it, I probably wasn't completely clueless. My libido had been going slightly berserk ever since Lachlan turned up in my life, and that had to mean something.

"Whatever, hen, but just remember,

you can't get rid of me so easily," he said as I turned around and started heading towards the bedroom. I couldn't stay up right now, because that meant I'd have to really get into the gritty and gruesome stuff with Lachlan. And I didn't want to talk about it. I also didn't trust myself to be alone with him. My thoughts were dirty even now after everything we'd been through.

Karina was still snoring when I

returned to our room, and for a while, I just stared at the ceiling,

trying to remember every detail from

my previous

my previous memories. Fae, there

was fae magic inside me, so

vel.

powerful that I couldn't even comprehend it. It was hard to fall asleep for fear that, tomorrow, I may not be a free supernatural any longer. The council was getting close, and I wasn't anonymous anymore.