Page 16 of Blood Legacy (Eternal Descent (MistHallow Academy) #1)

16

LUKE

The taste of her lingers on my lips as I turn away, battling for control against the savage urge to claim her completely. My hands shake with the effort of restraint, every instinct screaming to take what’s being so willingly offered, what I know deep down is mine.

“Get dressed,” I repeat, not trusting myself to look at her. Not trusting what I might do if I see that naked vulnerability, that offering, for even a moment longer.

She doesn’t move. I can feel her eyes boring into my back, sense her confusion and hurt. “No,” she says again, her voice stronger. “Not until you tell me why.”

The shattered mirror lies in glittering fragments across the floor, almost as an omen of what is happening to my restraint. My bloodied knuckles have already healed, but the pain of what I must do now cuts far deeper.

“Lucius is coming for you,” I say finally, the words falling like stones into the silence between us. “My sire. He wants to take you from me, to hurt you because it will hurt me.”

I turn back to face her, forcing myself to maintain eye contact and not let my gaze wander over the exquisite curves of her body. She stares at me, processing my words, a small crease forming between her brows.

“Why would he care about me?”

“Because he knows I do.” The admission costs me, but there’s no point in denying it. “Lucius takes everything I value. Everything I care about. He’s done it for centuries, and he’ll never stop.”

“So this is about him? Not about me being your student or too young or whatever other excuse you’ve been using?” Her blue eyes flash with indignation. “You’re pushing me away because you’re afraid of what your sire might do?”

“It’s not that simple.” I bend down to gather her clothes, recklessly strewn on the floor, holding them out to her. “Please.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she takes them and covers herself.

“Make it simple for me, then,” she challenges. “Because from where I’m standing, it sounds like you’re letting your sire control your life even now.”

Her words strike uncomfortably close to what Constantine said earlier. I clench my jaw, moving to the window to stare out at the academy grounds below. “You don’t understand what he’s capable of. He’s a monster who’s had millennia to perfect his cruelty.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’ve been trying to push me toward Dante,” she says, and I can hear her approaching, her bare feet not quite silent on the stone floor. “What was that about?”

I close my eyes briefly, collecting my thoughts. “Dante is a pureblood, like you. His family has power and influence. If you were bonded with him, Lucius wouldn’t be able to touch you. Your father would approve of the match, which would provide additional protection.”

“So you were setting me up? Using me like some chess piece to be moved around the board?” Her voice rises, anger replacing confusion. “Did it ever occur to you to ask what I want?”

“What you want,” I repeat, turning to face her. She stands close now, her hair tumbling in dark waves around her shoulders. “What you want is dangerous, Gaida. For both of us.”

“Because of Lucius?”

“Yes, but because of all the other reasons.”

She steps closer, and I force myself to hold my ground. “Dammit, Luke. Stop! Stop with the excuses. I’m here, willing and ready to be with you. I don’t care about propriety or the fact that you are so much older than me. If anything, it’s a reason why I want you. You aren’t afraid of him.”

Her voice, so small, hits me in the heart. “Him?”

“My dad. You will stand up to him if he challenges you. You will fight for me.”

“Is that what you want, Gaida? A hero?”

“Don’t make it sound so pathetic,” she hisses. “I’m a woman who knows her own mind. Who knows what she wants.” She reaches up, her palm resting against my cheek. I should pull away, but I remain still, letting her touch burn through me.

“And what if what you want destroys you?” I whisper.

“That’s my risk to take.” Her thumb traces my lower lip, and I have to fight not to take it between my teeth. “You don’t get to decide what’s best for me, Luke. No one does. Not my father, not you, and certainly not your sire.”

The mention of Lucius brings me back to reality. I capture her wrist, gently but firmly removing her hand from my face. “He’s not just a threat, Gaida. He’s a certainty. He will come for you, and when he does… you have no idea what he did to me. What he’s capable of doing to you.”

Her pulse jumps, distracting me, but she doesn’t back down. “Then tell me.”

“He broke me, Gaida. For centuries, he tortured me, reshaped me, controlled every aspect of my existence. Physical pain was just the beginning. He got inside my mind, twisted my thoughts, made me doubt everything I knew about myself. When he finally let me go, he found other ways to hurt me. Every person I cared for, every connection I formed, he destroyed them all. Some he killed. Others he turned against me. A few he took for himself, corrupting them until nothing remained of the person I knew.”

Her face softens slightly, the anger giving way to something more complex. “I’m not those people, Luke. I’m stronger than you think, and for all his faults, my dad would never let that happen to me.”

“It’s not about you or Aurelius,” I say, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed. “It’s about what I’m willing to risk. And I’m not willing to risk you.”

She approaches cautiously, sitting beside me but maintaining a small distance. “But pushing me toward Dante? That was acceptable?”

I glance at her, feeling a pang of guilt at the hurt in her voice. “Dante can protect you in ways I can’t.”

“Look, I get that you’re trying to protect me. But I deserve a say in this.”

A thump on the door makes me look up as the broken door swings slightly open. Professor Vek calls out, “Luke?”

Gaida glances at me, and she must see the panic that hits me. If she is found in here, the rumour would destroy her, and probably me. She gets it and slides off the bed, rolling underneath it as Vek pokes his head around the door.

“Luke? You okay?”

“Yes, fine, trouble with the lock…”

Vek frowns but then shakes his head. “We have an emergency. A vampire has gone feral and attacked three students before they managed to contain him. Victor Tanner, third year.”

“Do we know why?” I ask, standing up and straightening my cuffs.

Vek shakes his head. “No idea. He just snapped.”

“Snapped? Was he provoked?”

“The students who were there say not. Tanner is usually mild-mannered. This is unusual at best.”

“Dangerous, at worst. How bad are the injuries?”

“Manageable. No fatalities.”

“Where is he now?” I ask, moving toward the door, hoping Gaida will slip out without being noticed.

“Contained in the eastern courtyard. Sinclair is with him, trying to talk him down, but it’s not looking good. We may need to use more forceful methods.”

I nod as we leave my room. I’m relieved that the conversation with Gaida is on hold, but at the same time, we didn’t really resolve anything. In fact, she is probably more likely to keep on pursuing me after I showed her my hand.

That kiss.

I stifle the urge to groan at the memory of my tongue tasting her, sweet and defiant, giving herself to me completely. The way her naked body pressed against mine, desperate for more. The way she surrendered when I gripped her throat.

No.

It can never go any further.

As we descend the tower stairs, I glance back, wondering if Gaida is still waiting in my room. Or if she’s taken this opportunity to slip away. Part of me hopes she’s gone. The other part...

The other part is a danger to us both.

The eastern courtyard is chaos when we arrive. Victor Tanner, usually a quiet, studious vampire, thrashes against the magickal restraints two professors struggle to maintain. His eyes are wild, the blue irises almost completely swallowed by dilated pupils. Foam flecks the corners of his mouth, and his fangs are fully extended.

I peer down at him with interest. “He appears to be regressing.”

“Hmm?” Vek asks, giving me a curious stare. He is a warlock. He doesn’t understand the complexities of turned vampires. No one does unless you have been there.

“When a vampire is turned, they are basically a monster. Only the influence of their sire keeps them calm and under control. Separation can be dangerous for the newly turned. It is my understanding Tanner has been turned for several years.” I pause. Tanner was turned when he was twenty, but that was over seven years ago. His sire dropped him off three years ago, and he has been a model student who has never put a foot out of line. It’s baffling why he would suddenly regress as if he never had a sire to look after him. “It’s like his sire bond has broken,” I add, my voice low so only Vek can hear me.

“Broken? How?”

I stare into his green eyes. “That is what we need to find out.” Louder, I say, “Get him back to his room amongst his own things. It might help him regain some of his composure.” Although I doubt it. He has gone completely off the rails, thrashing and spitting, hissing, covered in blood and sweat.

I study Tanner carefully. The symptoms are unmistakable, but the timing makes no sense. I’ve seen this before, centuries ago, when a sire was killed while their brand-new charge lived on. The severing of that bond was violent, traumatic and catastrophic. I watch as the professors get Tanner to his feet and drag him off to his room. I look up and catch the stony eye of one of my gargoyles. He nods and slips off his parapet to stand guard over the feral vampire.

Turning to the students surrounding us, I say, “As you were.”

They all obey without hesitation. All except one.

DuLoc.

He is standing off to the side, wary, paler than usual for a vampire, his fists clenched at his sides.

I cross over to him, wondering if he will catch Gaida’s scent on me. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”

His gaze meets mine, and I immediately understand what the issue is.

“You are overwhelmed.”

He gulps and nods but doesn’t speak.

“Come.” I take his elbow and teleport him to my office, where I help him sit down and pour him a stiff drink. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be caught dead offering a student alcohol in my office, but these aren’t normal circumstances.

Not by a long shot.

“Do you want to tell me what you felt? It might help both you and Victor.”

He gulps back the whiskey, his hand shaking slightly. “Madness.”

I tilt my head. “Madness.”

He nods. “There were no coherent thoughts in his head. It was a jumble of violence and destruction and blood.”

“No other emotions?” I ask, watching him carefully. “No fear, no confusion?”

Dante shakes his head, setting the empty glass down. “Nothing recognisable. It was like...” He pauses, searching for words. “Like his mind had been scraped clean of all humanity, everything rational, and all that was left was the monster.”

“That’s consistent with a broken sire bond, but for it to happen to a vampire of his age is unprecedented.”

“A broken sire bond?”

I nod, wondering how much to reveal. I may dislike this pureblood who has entangled himself inextricably with Gaida, who gets to have her in all the ways I can’t allow myself to, but if anyone can help make sense of this, it’s him. As far as I’m aware, there are no other Empaths at MistHallow or even on the continent.

“Could someone have done this to him?” Dante asks, his voice steadier now. “Intentionally severed the bond?”

The question sends an icy chill down my spine. “It’s possible. There is a ritual, but it would require immense power and knowledge of very dark and ancient Fae magick.”

“Fae?” Dante’s eyes meet mine. “That threw me.”

I smile. “Just that?”

He snorts, clearly himself again now that he is away from the severe emotional breakdown of Tanner.

“It requires a practitioner who knows what they are doing.”

“You sound like you know how to use this ritual.”

“I may have come across it once. But I don’t think this is it. It’s something deeper, darker, more sinister.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Tanner was a happy, settled turned vampire. He wouldn’t intentionally break his sire bond, and his sire appears to be enamoured with him. She visits regularly.”

“So? What are you saying?”

“I’m not sure.”

We lock gazes.

He smirks. “And I bet that pisses you right off.”

“You could say that.”

“As much as it pisses you off that I’m fucking the vampire you think is yours?”

The ice that shoots through my veins is impossible to suppress. I growl and bare my fangs at him, threatening him, a student, a DuLoc, no less, in my office over a woman. What is happening to me?

DuLoc’s smirk widens as I grip the edge of my desk, the wood splintering beneath my fingers.

“Ah,” he says, leaning back in his chair with infuriating casualness. “Pushed a button, did I?”

“Watch yourself,” I growl. “You might be a DuLoc, but I’ve killed more powerful vampires than you for less.”

“But you haven’t killed me yet,” he points out, his blue eyes glittering with challenge. “And you won’t. Because she would never forgive you.”

The truth of his words only fuels my rage. My vision blurs red at the edges, the vampire in me clawing to be unleashed. I slam my fist into the desk, shattering it completely. Papers scatter across the floor as I struggle to regain control. This is exactly what I cannot afford—this loss of rationality, this wild, uncontrolled anger that blinds me to everything but her.

“Get out,” I manage through gritted teeth.

DuLoc rises slowly, still smirking. “Just so you know, she tastes divine. Like sunshine and honey.”

I move before I can stop myself, slamming him against the wall with one hand around his throat. “Don’t.”

He should be terrified, but instead, he continues to torment me. “She moans your name when I fuck her. It turns me on. Makes me harder knowing she is using my cock while she thinks about you.”

“Enough!” I roar, tightening my grip until I feel his windpipe beginning to crush beneath my fingers. The rational part of my mind screams at me to stop, that I’m crossing a line I can never uncross, but the vampire, the possessive beast inside me, wants nothing more than to tear his throat out for daring to touch what’s mine.

“There he is,” he chokes out. “The monster behind the mask. Take her, show her what she means to you. Stop pushing her away.”

“I would destroy her,” I growl, but my grip loosens slightly.

He rasps for air, but his eyes remain defiant. “You’re destroying her now. Every time you push her away, every time you make her feel like she’s not enough. That’s the real damage.”

I release him abruptly and step back, my hands shaking with rage and fear. Fear that he might be right.

“She deserves better than to be a pawn in your twisted game with Lucius,” Dante continues, rubbing his throat.

“You know nothing about what I’ve endured, what I’m trying to prevent.”

“I know enough.” He straightens his clothing, meeting my gaze without flinching. “I’m an Empath, remember? I feel what you feel. It’s like drowning in someone else’s pain.”

“And her?” I ask quietly, needing to know, to torture myself with it.

“I can’t read her, my ability doesn’t work on purebloods. But I know how desperately she is clinging to the hope that you will see her. She’s told me as much.”

I grab the bottle of whiskey and press it to my lips, taking a long gulp.

“Lucius won’t hurt her. Her father will protect her. I will protect her if that is what you want. I will go to her father tomorrow and tell him of my intentions.”

His gentle tone almost breaks me. It’s everything I should want for her, but it’s everything that crushes my soul. I should tell him to do it. To go now.

“Go to him,” I say, my voice hollow. “Tell her father, bond with her. End this torment for all of us.”

Dante studies me for a long moment. “You know, for someone so ancient, you’re remarkably stupid.”

My head snaps up, fangs dropping again at the insult. “Careful, DuLoc.”

“She would agree to a bond with me. She does want me. But why does she have to choose? Why does she have to use me as a substitute for what she wants but can’t have? Why can’t she have us both? More bonds. More protection.”

I stare at him, struggling to comprehend what he’s suggesting. “What are you saying?”

“She wants us both. You for your power, your wisdom, your control. Me for my wildness, my freedom, my pure blood.”

“That’s not possible,” I say, though the idea has already taken root, a dangerous seed of possibility.

“Why? Because of Lucius?” Dante challenges. “Wouldn’t she be safer with two bonds instead of one? Double the protection, double the power defending her.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“You keep saying that, but you never explain why. What aren’t you telling me?”

I turn away, unable to look at him. The truth is a burden I’ve carried alone for centuries. “Lucius doesn’t just want to hurt those I care about. He wants to possess them, corrupt them, twist them into weapons he can use against me.”

“You are being selfish.”

I glare at him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. And all I’m hearing from you is selfish bullshit about you and what Lucius wants to do to you. What about her? About me? Are we not allowed to be considered by the great Luke Blackthorn.”

His words hit me like a stake to the heart. Is that really how I’ve been? Selfish? I’ve spent centuries running from Lucius, protecting others by pushing them away. But have I been protecting them, or just protecting myself from the pain of losing them?

“Professor!” A cry outside my office cuts short probably the single most important conversation of my life, apart from the one prior to this with Gaida. If that’s not an omen, then what is?

“Yes, Carys,” I say as the door flies open, and she stops dead, looking like she’s seen a ghost.

“It’s happened again,” she whispers.

“Tanner?”

She shakes her head. “Another.”

Dante and I exchange a glance, knowing this conversation is on ice. We have bigger issues to deal with.