Page 5 of The First Year Continued (Marked Blood Academy #2)

Sol

We were all but pushed out of the office and we went, stunned into the hallway. We stood there for a few minutes before we were told to stop dawdling.

“Sol?” Roxy asked as I didn’t immediately move with them.

“I’ll be on my way in a minute.”

I pretended to look for something in my bag when I saw suit guy exit the office but instead, he hung back, talking to the headmistress in the more public area of the office. He was followed closely by the other male. Their scent held a hint of shifter.

But something was off.

I wouldn’t even call him mister because he was that weird. But the headmistress addressed him by name. Tyrol.

The way he showed up here and commanded the headmistress was not the usual.

Even his suit was not what it appeared. To the untrained eye, it was an expensive thing, I thought. But being a former well-dressed prince, I knew the seams. The lines.

I had a feeling this man was as fake as his pseudo-designer suit.

I pulled a random piece of paper from my bag, just to look like I was doing something productive and backed up to watch from a vantage point where I wasn’t so obvious. I was good at this. Sneaking around. Except it wasn’t dark.

And even though everything about this man oozed fake, the danger, I was sure, was real.

My wolf had raised his hackles and snarled when he loomed over Roxy, even though he was talking about nothing more than wet books and a potential vampire among us.

I didn’t even know if that story was real. Had there been reports of vampire attacks? Did anyone else have mysterious new bites?

If someone heard of it, there would be no need for secret meetings. Because other students would want the vampire to be found, too. All of us were dealing with enough with our own trauma and post-war wounds both inside and out to want anything to do with a vampire around.

The man who followed Tyrol around, broke off and headed toward the door of the office. His shiny shoes clicked on the floors of the academy as he beelined for the front door, letting the light in upon his exit.

I followed him outside, not too far away so as not to lose him. Outside, the long black car was parked in the driveway. Huh. I hadn’t seen this driveway since the day I arrived here. It was only a few years ago but sometimes, it felt like I’d been at Marked Blood Academy for a decade.

I tried to duck behind a tree since that was the only hiding place outside but as I sidestepped, the man turned around to face me. Slowly, he took off his sunglasses and tucked them into the pocket of his black pants. He was dressed in all black. No suit like the other guy. He wasn’t as important.

“What are you doing, young man?”

“I go to school here.”

He wasn’t amused. “Yes. I’m aware of that. What I mean is, what are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in class or, I don’t know, not following me?”

I scoffed. “I go to school here, and you are the guest. What makes you think I’m following you?”

“Because there are no classes out here.”

He really needed to stop making points. It was pissing me off. “I came out to get a breath of fresh air.”

“Is that right? Even though there’s a courtyard inside the school? Running grounds? A common area?”

Clearly, he’d gotten a tour of the academy.

“Yes. I like the air out here.”

“Either that, or you were following me to find out more about my boss.”

I stepped out from behind the tree. I was only halfway hidden, and there was no fucking point anyway. I’d been caught. That in itself made me cringe. I was never caught sneaking around the academy. I blamed it on the lack of hiding places. “Who is your boss?” I asked.

“Didn’t you just have a meeting with him and the headmistress? Do you have a memory issue? If so, that might hinder the investigation into the vampire.”

Smart-ass.

“I mean, who is he really?”

Employees of people like the suit guy were disgruntled, in my experience, more than willing to talk shit about their employer.

“He is my boss, and he is looking for you and your friends to help us find the vampire among you. Any other details are of no consequence to you.”

“You want us to just blindly work for some guy because he showed up and claimed he was looking for a vampire?”

“Mr. Tyrol is not to be played with, Sol. I suggest you go back to class and begin what you were tasked with.”

I was so tired of everyone telling us what to do. So many rules. Overbearing leaders. Oppression all around us. And now this? Just shut up and do what you were asked to do. “Why?”

“Because.” He stalked over to me. He wasn’t as intimidating as Tyrol, but he had an air of power.

His scent was shifter, but there was more.

No, not more—less. Like he wasn’t all shifter.

He was part. “Mr. Tyrol is a very, very dangerous man. You don’t want to find out what happens to those who cross him. Trust me.”

A few seconds later, Tyrol came out. He didn’t spare me a glance. The assistant or goon of Tyrol opened the back door for him, and soon they tore out of the driveway and onto the road.

My heart thrummed in my chest.

I could simply run away.

Take off right now and run. I would be rogue, sure, but being alone, making my own rules didn’t sound so bad. If it weren’t for the shifter council hunting me down, or worse, the other paranormals out there who hated shifters, I would’ve done it.

No. No, that wasn’t true. I turned around to face the school.

No. My friends were in there.

Roxy was in there.

My wolf would never let me leave any of them, but especially her. Not that I wanted to. She needed us.

And as much as I’d tried to deny it, I needed her. My wolf claimed she was mine. Mine.

Not some girl I wanted to fuck or date or have something casual with, which I didn’t do, but we wanted Roxy to be ours.

Damn it. Life was hard enough with being a shifter and young and now having a potential mate without adding fucking vampires to the mix.

Plus, there was Roxy and Odin and the fact that she had almost drunk him dry.

The scene replayed in my head, no matter how I tried to shake it off.

I put my hand on the door handle and sighed.

What was inside this school was infinitely more important than some short-lived freedom. I made a resolve right then and there to ensure, one way or another, that we made it out of here, and hopefully in one piece.