Bloodline Legacy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 4), стр. 32
I only just stopped myself from wincing at the label. It made Sasha grin in a way that lifted the menace from his face. “He told me Andrei hates him because Kai killed his family.”
Sasha nodded. “Nobody really understands how it happened. Victoria Amos is his great aunt many times removed. His family were basically vampire royalty. When you get to those social heights you don’t tend to do your own dirty work anymore. That’s what underlings are for. Rumour is that someone in Andrei’s family was secretly communing with demons. Not just for summonings but on a bigger scale. The demon turned them, and they all succumbed to the bloodlust. They massacred a whole village and held up in an abandoned castle.
“Victoria tried to get a stay of execution. Before it could be passed, they kidnapped some children. That’s when...” He drew a finger across his throat. “They say Kai was merciless.”
I could just imagine. Coming off the murder of his own family, the killing of children would have set him off big-time. “Afterwards they found Andrei locked up in the cellar,” Sasha continued. “He was unconscious. When he finally woke, he was in the first throes of the bloodlust. Kai had knocked him out before he could turn.”
“Sounds like Kai did Andrei a favour,” Trey said.
Sasha gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, what a present. I killed your entire family but I saved your life.”
I eyed him warily. He held up hands up in a placating gesture. “Hey,” he said. “I agree. He had no choice. But it must have been a hard pill to swallow.”
“I heard Andrei doesn’t drink,” Roland said.
Sasha nodded. “He hasn’t touched blood since it happened.”
My eyes widened. “I thought it messes with you guys if you go too long without drinking blood?”
No wonder Andrei was crazy. Vampires derived their strength and power from blood. The longer one didn’t drink, the more unhinged they became. If what Sasha said was true, Andrei hadn’t had a drink in years.
“How is he allowed to just walk around freely?” Sophie asked.
“He hasn’t done anything to warrant his arrest,” Sasha said. “It’s only a matter of time. The lack of blood is going to make him reckless. He hasn’t been able to find anything he can use to get under Kai’s skin. Until now.”
For the first time ever, I felt something besides apprehension when I thought of the vampiric race. They seemed to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. To drink, they had to at least subdue something innocent. But not drinking made them insane. I suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Andrei.
That was until I looked up and he was watching me again. His amber eyes were like two jewels against his translucent skin. He sat a good ten metres away from us, but he might as well have been right in front of me. I couldn’t tear my gaze away. Something cool brushed over my cheek. It soothed the unease that had curled in my stomach. Andrei smiled. Actually, he was quite good-looking. What would it be like to –
A rough hand grabbed me by the forearm and jerked me sideways. My gaze was torn away from Andrei’s hypnotic blue eyes. Trey shook me for good measure. “Snap out of it,” he said.
I blinked a couple of times. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“He tried to compel me,” I said after my mind cleared.
“He didn’t just try. You got up before I grabbed you!” He was grinding his teeth.
I didn’t even remember that. “Surely that’s not okay!”
“Who’s going to do anything about it?” Diana asked. “They’re all too afraid of him.”
I scrubbed my face. “I don’t think I like these Unity semesters.”
“You and me both,” Sophie said.
“Let’s get out of here before you start a war,” Diana said. The boys didn’t follow us as we got up. Diana and Sophie walked slowly beside me. It was only as we made our way through the crowd that I realised how quiet the dining hall had become. Diana tried to put her back to me to shield me from the prying eyes, but it was impossible to miss. Half the room had seen what just happened. Yet nobody else had done a thing about it.
I rubbed at my neck. As humans, we were susceptible to compulsion. Jacqueline didn’t allow the use of it at Bloodline. But in the real world, what was to stop a vampire from compelling me if I came across one? Nothing. I’d seen that firsthand while at Terran. A chill ran down my spine. For the first time in forever, I suddenly felt unsafe.
A bell sounded all around us. I had my first Magic Resistance class this afternoon. Sophie had her advanced Potions class and Diana had Dimension Integration.
“Meet you at dinner?” Diana asked. It was then I remembered she didn’t know about my training with Giselle. She made a face when I told her. “Oh well, I guess I’ll see you if you’re not dead then.”
She waved at us as we parted ways.
I wasn’t the only one using the step directions to find my next class. It was a miracle we weren’t all tripping over each other because our eyes were glued to the ground.
The footsteps took me in a circular path around the back of Nightblood Academy. The landscape changed from sinister gloom to militant starkness. Where Nightblood’s building was made of dark grey stone, the walls of Dominion Academy were made of tan-coloured bricks in a square pattern. It reminded me of the structure of Gaelic and Welsh castles as opposed to Eastern European opulence. Ivy clung to the base of the castle. There was a damp scent of lichen in the