Half Blood Rising

Chapter 10

Ripley’s magic was affecting me, and in a way, it was similar to how the werewolf’s energy had slipped

under my skin that first night when I’d taken his life. It was dark, twisted, and somehow, positive, too,

but it triggered my anxiety. I tried to keep my breathing calm and even, taking a few deep breaths at a

time.

He took a few steps away from the dog, ordering Mally to stay, and then he started speaking words in

an old Fae language. I flipped the page, staring at the formula that was translated into English.

Everyone around seemed completely absorbed in what was going on. My hands started tingling, the

energy rippling through me as I stared at the dog. For some reason, I didn’t want to witness this, I didn’t

want to see him hurt. The dog was pure and innocent. It didn’t deserve to be a test subject. That word

was stuck inside my head from my memory.

A light smoke began wisping from Ripley’s hands. A few shimmers spread throughout the class. Then

the dog started howling, arching his back. The animal was in pain, and my stomach twisted with

unease. I was lucky enough that I didn’t remember what had happened to me during my transformation

into a half-vampire.

I’d killed ruthless human murderers, supernaturals who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. I’d never

shown mercy, but I couldn’t watch this. Moments later, something started happening to me. My chest

cracked open and nausea rolled through my stomach. The dog yelped, twisting his body in a strange

angle and shaking all over. It was almost like Ripley was trying to kill him.

I covered my face with my palms, trying to breathe and blocking out all the voices around me. I

suspected that the other students wanted him to end this quickly. The temperature in my body was

dropping. I was shivering with cold, trying to remember the healing spell I’d read once in one of the

charm books. It was as if I wasn’t myself. I was aware, yet my mind was in havoc. I had no idea what

was going on.

“Save him, save him and make the darkness go away,” I repeated in Latin inside my head, seeing the

words on the page. The nausea was finally easing up and the dog seemed calmer, too.

Ripley must have stopped what he was doing. The silence in the classroom was immediate. I finally

lifted my eyes towards Ripley, realising that he was staring back at me with an expression of outrage

and something else, admiration perhaps? I couldn’t tell. His face was red, and his eyes were nearly

popping out of his head. My symptoms were slowly fading away, and the dog was wagging his tale.

“Class dismissed,” Ripley roared, and I nearly jumped out of my chair as so many other students

startled.

Karina nudged me; she didn’t look too good herself, her face had paled. “Look, that girl’s throwing up in

the corner.” Her voice was uneven and shaky as she spoke.

She was right; one of the students was helping the other girl, but Ripley seemed oblivious to it. We

were all adults, but this was intense, even for me.

I spotted Lachlan; he was helping Ramona out of her seat. Everyone must have been affected by

Ripley’s magic. I looked at Mally, who was lying by the steps and staring at the professor.

“This was odd. What do we have next?” I asked Karina, feeling more and more like myself again. I just

wanted to get out of this class.

“Miss Donovan, I need a word.” Ripley’s voice echoed throughout the classroom. Karina rose a brow in

question, then mouthed something that looked like “see you later.” My fangs extended, and I covered

my mouth with my hand. This wasn’t something that happened to me often. The dog stood, walked up

to me, and then started sniffing my hand.

“How can I help you, professor?” I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed that he’d stopped me from

leaving.

“You interfered during the lesson. Your defensive charm, it affected my experiment,” he snapped at me,

coming so close that I could see my reflection in his cobalt eyes. His fae energy swirled around me.

I shook my head in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, professor. This was my first

charms lesson.”

“The Chimera charm is extremely complex. Each time, I perfect it. Everything was going smoothly until

your magic severed the link between me and the dog. What are you, Miss Donovan?”

Why the hell did everyone keep asking me the same question? Only Oldman, Lachlan, and Marco

knew I couldn’t remember anything from my past, but I was fed up. I didn’t want to keep repeating my

story to everyone at the academy.

“I haven’t done anything, professor. I can fight and slaughter bad guys, but charms aren’t my strong

suit, so I have no idea what you’re insinuating,” I told him, searching for my knife, but I must have

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His eyes narrowed further, and the silence became uncomfortable, tension rose between us. Ripley

was not happy, his anger channelled through me, but I didn’t care.

Fae magic was strong and unpredictable. Their mind games were dangerous enough to cause harm.

Once, a female convict had almost made me jump off a bridge. Her magic had affected me so much,

she’d broken my wards, and gotten inside my head.

“You interfered with my magic, and that isn’t something any other first-year student can do,” he said

quietly. I felt his energy once again, trying to break through, get inside my head. I felt the same dull pain

inside my chest again. Then it was gone quickly, and I took a slow, deep breath. “If I catch you causing

problems during one of my lessons again, the consequences will be severe.”

I wanted to come back with some sort of snarky remark, but then thought better of it. Ripley could

easily say something to Oldman, and I was trying hard to comply by the rules. I bit my tongue and left

the class. My knees were weak.

Once outside, I took several long breaths, telling myself I had nothing to worry about.

“What the hell was that about? What did he want from you?” Karina’s curious voice startled me, and

when she touched me, I saw a flashback from a few months ago—when I killed a were. He had just

been released from prison, and he’d raped the human woman who tried to help him. As I’d been

draining him, his memories showed me that this wasn’t the only thing he “specialised” in. He also liked

killing stray dogs and cats, especially the ones that weren’t expecting it. I quickly shook that horrific

image out of my head.

“He told me to keep my nose out of his business,” I said, looking around. “Apparently, I interfered with

his charm.” Our group was standing by the pillar, and they appeared to be discussing something. Judas

was talking to Marco. Lachlan and Ramona were there, too.

Karina made a strange sound, then bit her bottom lip. “What? No one can stop a charm like that.” She

scoffed. “Besides, he must have messed something up, because the dog resisted it for as long as he

could. Apparently, when this charm is performed on a person, he or she can be damaged permanently.

“Oh, hey, Ramona,” Karina said, and my stomach made another flip when I saw the Ukrainian

supermodel approach us. I wasn’t in the best of moods. And she always had a negative aura around

her.

“What did Ripley want from you, Donovan?” Lachlan’s girlfriend asked, staring at me with a mixture of

anger and superiority. Pretty Boy was listening—well, everyone was staring at us. He was pretending to

read a book, but I knew he could hear us. Maybe he was too afraid to come anywhere near me after

our little incident during training.

We hadn’t exchanged a word since I’d drunk his blood.

“Like it’s any of your business,” I answered, wondering what he saw in her, apart from her looks. Surely,

she was a nasty piece of work.

“I have been in this academy much longer than you,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Ripley’s

had other students under his watchful eye before. He likes young and inexperienced girls. He plays

with them, but I never thought he would want to touch such an unworthy half-breed like you. Our group

doesn’t need any screw-ups right now.”

It was amusing that she was insinuating something so absurd. Karina inhaled sharply, and I touched

her arm. Maybe she was jealous, but either way, it didn’t faze me in any way. Did she really think I

would fool around with the professor? If so, then she just proved to me that she was a complete idiot.

“Take a chill pill, Ramona; otherwise I’ll wipe that stupid smile off your face,” I snarled, taking a step

closer. “I don’t owe you an explanation.” Now I was the one losing my shit, when Karina suddenly

stepped between us.

“Ladies, I think you should cool down a bit.”

“You’re a pathetic rogue and you cannot be trusted,” she continued, looking behind Karina. “I’ve seen

many like you coming and going, and Moonlight isn’t the place for you. Leave before you ruin this for

everyone else.”

It was a real shame I didn’t have my knife on me. This bitch didn’t even know me, and she was already

trying to kick me out. Who did she think she was?

“I’m not planning on going anywhere, and you’d best shut your mouth before I do it for you,” I said,

trying to push Karina out of the way.

That was it—I was so done pretending I’d never killed anyone.

“Ladies, ladies, let’s be civilised for a moment. If Jaymin wants to bang the professor, that’s her

business,” someone else said, approaching. It was Marco and he looked amused, while I was raging

deep inside. His eyes were gleaming, and he was probably using his energy to calm us down.

“Hey, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a threat to anyone here. I’ve been given an opportunity and I’m

taking it,” I said, breathing through my nose. She’d touched a nerve, trying to discredit me in front of the

others—that was not cool.

“You don’t have a clue about your own past, so that’s an understatement,” Lachlan finally said. My jaw

dropped; it was obvious he wasn’t taking my side. I was going to kill that bitch if she ruined this for me.

At that point, I stopped caring about the consequences. “Anyway, Oldman is calling all of us to her

office. We should go. She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Ramona gave me an untrustworthy glance, tossed her blond hair behind her, and grabbed the Scot’s

hand. Anger pushed down the nausea in my stomach. Marco gave me a smile. He didn’t need to

interfere; I could deal with Ramona myself.

“Come on, Precious,” he said, “time to go,”

Judas didn’t seem to care, he strolled after the others. Sooner rather than later, others would start

doubting me. I hated being excluded. No one knew exactly what had happened to me, but that didn’t

mean I was a threat.

“Let’s go, girl,” Karina finally said, grabbing my elbow.

What happened in class still bothered me. I didn’t want Ripley to hurt Mally, but I didn’t use magic. I

didn’t even know how to practise magic, not the sort he’d accused me of. I was only a half-breed, for

fuck’s sake. What the hell? In the past, I’d fought and killed creatures who’d deserved to be eliminated.

That’s all.

Ten minutes later, we all gathered outside Oldman’s office. It was still early, but our next class didn’t

start for another twenty minutes. Ramona was giving me her usual death stare, while I tried to brush it

off. After the incident in the training room, I didn’t want to be anywhere near Lachlan, but I realised that,

maybe, it wasn’t the best idea. Marco and Judas were probably still trying to figure out if they could

trust me. I had to remember that we were placed together for a reason. Ramona wanted to exclude me.

Maybe she felt threatened by the fact I had more experience than her. Either way, her plan wasn’t

going to work.

I was part of their team.

“Come in, all of you,” Oldman said, opening the door all of a sudden. We squeezed inside the same

conference room where she’d introduced us to one another on the first day. I sat down next to Karina,

wondering what this meeting was all about. “I didn’t expect to call you here so soon, especially when

the academy was supposed to give you some time to settle into a new routine. However, the High

Council needs us.

“What’s happened?” Lachlan asked, sounding concerned.

“The daughter of one of the High Council members has been kidnapped. One of my other groups is

currently away, and this matter has become top priority,” Oldman explained. “Lachlan and Ramona are

much more experienced in these kinds of missions, so they know what to expect, but the rest of you

don’t. This sort of job only comes up several times a year, and, beforehand most students have plenty

of time to prepare. However, time is something we do not have. I believe I matched each of you well

with your skills and strengths. You have all faced difficult and life-threatening situations, so this

shouldn’t be much different. These sorts of missions will better prepare you for the Elite trials.”

Karina looked thrilled, so did the rest of the group. I didn’t pay any attention to Ramona, wondering if I

could keep my temper at bay during the mission. I was excited about this opportunity.

“So, if the High Council wants us to get her back quietly, then there must be more to the story,” Lachlan

said, scratching his jaw.

“She has been targeted before, but the academy’s intelligence believes that one of her guards must

have been bribed. You will be leaving for Moscow in three days, so make sure you’re mentally

prepared for it.”