Chapter 16


    Dimitry seemed pissed because I’d attempted to save Dorothy on my own. I had no idea what the big


    deal was. The stretch of silence became too heavy all of a sudden. Everyone was staring at me, and I


    sensed they were agreeing with the Russian.


    “She’s probably already dead because of you, Jaymin. I gave everyone clear instructions, and you


    disobeyed my orders, exposing us and our ns,” Dimitry shouted. He waspletely losing his shit.


    There was a gold si on his left hand, and the blue diamond was shing with energy. I was


    speechless. Hepletely dismissed the fact I’d nearly died in that old factory building. Either way, it


    seemed no one cared.


    “They won’t kill her, they need her. It’s all about admission—”


    “Stop talking, child, you have already said enough.” The elder vampire stood by Dimitry and silenced


    me, lifting his hand like he was trying to tell me I had no say in the matter. I didn’t want to do this in front


    of the councillor who didn’t seem affected at all by this terrible news.


    “You demonstrated zero respect to the task that was assigned to you. The number one rule of


    Moonlight Academy is to always follow orders, regardless of the circumstances. Your team cannot trust


    you, and no one else will after this incident.” Dimitry continued to scold me as if I was a child.


    This was not the wee I’d expected to have, especially after what I’d been through. This wasn’t fair.


    Ramona and L had interfered. I’d made the right decision to go into that building, and I’d yet to


    ask why they weren’t here.


    “I thought Principal Oldman was supposed to choose the best students for this job. The High Council


    hasn’t received a request for ransom. Perhaps it’s worth looking into the location the half-blood is


    talking about,” the councillor finally said, but I was shocked by theck of empathy and emotion in his


    tone of voice. His daughter had been taken, and he didn’t seem overly concerned.


    I wanted to walk up to Karina, shake her, and ask what the hell was wrong with her. She must have


    realised I was trying to save Dorothy. I would have, at the very least, expected Karina to believe me.


    “You’re all dismissed, and you, Jaymin, need to wait here for the principal. Your future at Moonlight is


    over,” Dimitry said, staring at me and I wanted tough.


    He couldn’t make that kind of decision, and these rules seemed slightly radical, but at the same time, I


    hadn’t told them everything. Ramona and L had approached my subject, and that wasn’t part of


    the n, either. I had to see how everything else unfolded over the next few days before I said


    anything.


    Oldman couldn’t just expel me for that. I’d risked my life to learn more about the n and to track


    Dorothy down. My throat went dry as the idea of having to live on the streets of Kiev or Lviv rushed


    through my mind. That wasn’t a life I wanted to return to, after being given such an amazing


    opportunity. I just couldn’t imagine being homeless again. I didn’t want to live like that again.


    I waited for everyone to leave, suddenly feeling like I was paralysed from head to toe. The elder


    vampire’s presence was doing something to me. I needed to speak to Karina about Ramona and


    L. It was their doing—they’d lured me into that situation. I wondered why no one wanted to listen


    when I’d nearly rescued Dorothy. I was disappointed, to say the least.


    “We haven’t had the pleasure of being introduced,” the vampire said, ignoring the councillor. “My name


    is Jonnathan, and L is my son.” I couldn’t read his aura, and that didn’t happen very often. He


    seemed nk—everyone had an aura—and that was impossible unless he was using a magical cover.


    “I thought as much,” I muttered, thinking about my entire life as one giant failure.


    “My son mentioned that a half-blood was part of the team. The academy hasn’t done any testing on


    you yet, correct? To determine what other magic you have inside you?” he asked, his voice was


    soothing, but he didn’t have a thick Scottish ent like L.


    “No, they haven’t, and I highly doubt they’ll perform any tests to determine my future, because,


    honestly, everything is fucked. What the hell do you want from me, Mr. Moore? Your son isn’t here to


    mock my failure, so I guess you’re going to take his ce?” I shouted at him,pletely losing my shit.


    I didn’t need to take my frustration out on him, but I was pissed. All my pores were opening, and the


    same magic, the burning sensations, were drifting along the surface of my skin. There was something


    wrong with me. I needed to calm down.


    His eyes widened, and I could have sworn I saw pride in them. I’d just disrespected him.


    “The team still needs to rescue the councillor’s daughter. Maybe I can convince Principal Oldman to


    give you another chance,” he suggested, looking down at my body as though he was assessing me,


    trying to get through my wards and inside my mind. It was possible he thought I wouldn’t notice, but my


    “other” nature caused my heart to beat triple-time. I always knew.


    “Go to hell,” I said, and stormed out. I had no idea why I was acting like that, but he didn’t need to help


    me.


    “Go to hell, Mr. Moore,” he called out, mocking me and sounding amused as I turned and left the room.


    I needed to speak to Dimitry again or Karina. She was in our room, painting her nails. She appeared


    relieved when she saw me again.


    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    “Where’s Ramona and L? Why aren’t they here?” I asked her, pacing around. I had to do


    something, fix this before Oldman arrived, but I didn’t have a n.


    “Ugh… I don’t know. Ramona came back a few hours after the rest of us. She said L was doing


    something else, that he was close to finding the girl,” she exined and stood from the bed.


    “Bullshit. I saw them, you know. I saw them with my d—the guy I was supposed to be watching,” I


    said, feeling frustrated as hell. Karina stared at me in utter disbelief. At that point, I was going to wear a


    hole in the rug with my pacing. I was filled with so much damn anger.


    “What? We were all in the same club. Why would they approach him, and why didn’t you say anything


    to Dimitry?”


    “Because L’s father was there, the elder vamp, and I have no idea why they were talking to him


    in the first ce.” The pressure inside my head was mounting. Overall, I felt like crap. “Oldman’s going


    to expel me, you know. ording to Dimitry, I broke all the rules, and I can’t be trusted. This is it for


    me, all that effort… for nothing.”


    “None of us got a lead, but you were the only one who saw Dorothy. You should tell them everything.


    Maybe Ramona isn’t working against us. It’s strange that L’s been gone for so long, though,” she


    said, then touched my arm. This was nice, she was using her energy to calm me down.


    “Dimitry doesn’t want to listen to anything I have to say. He thinks I jeopardised the whole mission. We


    were just about to escape, but she’d been poisoned. The blood from one of the shifterspletely


    messed her up,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “I need some air; it’s the energy from


    L’s father. He was staring at me strangely and seems to be on my side. I don’t know, but I’ve


    never met him before.”


    After I’d taken a quick shower and changed, Karina wanted to follow me out, but I told her I really


    needed to clear my head. Roxanna was outside, sweeping the front porch when I walked past. Dust


    was spreading everywhere.


    “Here, go to the store and buy me some garlic,” she said, handing me some Russian notes. I stared at


    the money in confusion, thinking she must be joking. That whole thing about garlic was a myth.


    “But I—”


    “Just go, fresh air will do you some good, and, sometimes it solves all your problems,” she muttered,


    waving at me to leave already. Whatever, I didn’t care at that point. I was so done with everything,


    wondering why Dimitry had a bug up his arse, and why he refused to believe a word I’d said.


    It was humid and the road outside was busy. I wanted to ask Marco for a cigarette, thinking maybe it


    would calm me down a little, but then in the distance, I saw a familiar face.


    My heart made a giant flip inside my chest, and I told myself it was impossible. Was it really the mage


    who’d attacked me in the basement?


    Damn it! There couldn’t be anything wrong with my eyesight—no, of course not. I would never forget


    that face. He still lived in my nightmares.


    The dude’s energy seemed explosive—exactly as I remembered. I wondered why the hell he was even


    in this area. The bastard knew L, so I found it hard to believe he was only here by chance.


    Maybe he’d been watching us the entire time.


    I quickly crossed the road, thinking about Oldman. Supposedly, she was on her way here, and I had a


    few hours, tops, to figure out my next move, and to figure out how not to get expelled.


    Ten minutester, the mage and the vampire strolled into the small supermarket around the corner.


    They seemed immersed in conversation, and I wanted to know what they were talking about. A few


    Russiandies were chatting away. It wasn’t busy, but obviously the mage had no reason to go inside. I


    followed them, pretending to look for garlic on the other side of the aisle. Now, I was grateful for


    Roxanna.


    “How long before they realise he’s missing?” the mage asked.


    “Not long, a few days perhaps,” the vampire answered. “The girl’s ying them well. The council is


    going to crack soon—we have time.”


    I was holding my breath, wondering what the hell they were talking about, or more importantly, who?


    “He’s not cooperating, apparently he has no influence over his father. L can only go so long


    without blood.” The mageughed, and I nearly knocked a can off the shelf. What the actual fuck?


    They had L, and no one knew.


    It was Ramona—she must have been pretending to be in love with him the entire time. Crap, this


    wasn’t good. L had gone along with her, so no one would suspect anything.


    “We need to change the process; the board has been abiding by the same rules for the past century.”


    The vampire was saying. “The Elite Academy needs dark energy—dark magic could evolve the school.


    Sharper minds could change the way the council operates. We wouldn’t have to live in the shadows


    any longer.”


    I should have known that the mage wouldn’t just give up on this absurd dream. St. Kilda Elite Academy


    was an old institution with far too many secrets. I needed to find out who this mage was, and why he


    needed to have so much power, but I could only do one thing at a time. Momentster, they must have


    been interrupted by someone inside the supermarket, because the mage rushed the vampire out the


    door.


    I waited a few minutes and then left the shop, too. They must have split up, because I couldn’t see the


    direction in which they’d taken off, so it was just another screw up on my part. I quickly ran back to the


    house just as a ck limousine parked outside.


    My stomach contracted with unease. I had to inform them that the n had managed to capture


    L. His time was quickly running out, and we needed to act soon if we wanted to save him.


    I felt like I’d slowly been putting my life together, and now everything was falling apart. Momentster, I


    realised it was Oldman who’d arrived. She must have caught an early ne from Kiev, because she


    was sitting with Dimitry as I walked into the living room.


    “Hello, Jaymin,” she said, her tone a bit cold. “I see you haven’t been following orders. The academy


    was counting on you. I thought I exined the rules to you in great detail, that we had an


    understanding?”


    “I know how this looks, but you two need to listen to me very carefully. I only went inside that building


    because Ramona and L approached the subject—my subject, d. I followed them all the way


    to the ce where Dorothy was being held, but as soon as we arrived, I only saw Ramona vanish


    inside. She hasn’t been entirely honest with you. L’s missing, he’s been caught by the n, and


    you wouldn’t know any of this if it wasn’t for me,” I said, telling her all that in one quick breath.


    They were staring at me in silence, their energy was growing. Something was wrong. I knew it, and


    they should have, too.


    “See, I told you she enjoys fantasising. L’s tracking Dorothy as we speak. He got a hold of


    extremely sensitive information, so he’s pursuing the lead.” A familiar voice spoke, sending a shiver


    crawling down my spine. Secondster, Ramona sauntered inside the room, giving me her usual death


    re. My jaw dropped. Why the hell did shee back here, especially after what happened the night


    before?


    “You’re a traitor. You’re working against the academy. L’s missing, I just overheard two


    supernaturals talking about it outside. The n has him, and if you don’t do anything, then he’s going to


    be dead by tomorrow,” I said, knowing well enough I was losing ground. I had no proof; it was my word


    against hers.


    “Jaymin, Ramona and L have been with me for a while, and I trust them,” Oldman said. “Why


    would she try to ruin the rescue mission? It doesn’t make sense. The bottom line is, you shouldn’t have


    gone inside that building. You dismissed Dimitry’s orders.” She was still going on about those stupid


    orders.


    They wouldn’t even listen to what I was saying to them. L was fucking missing! I nced at the


    bitch as she wore a triumphant smirk on her face that said I was screwed. She’d won.