Page 42 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

Maybe he was a little offended.

But Christian’s silver-eyed gaze remained as neutral as ever as he gazed dispassionately at Ryder.

Ryder flushed slightly. “Yes, yes, I am certain he knows people very well.” He turned back to Grayson. “We shall meet up soon.”

Grayson bit back on the ridiculous urge to demand when, where, and how. He simply nodded. His throat felt thick. Ryder searched his expression for a moment, but then bowed and turned on his heel. The desire to call Ryder back was just as strong but he swallowed the words.

“He will be back,” Christian said.

“Why did you send him away?” Grayson demanded.

It hadn’t been what he had intended to say. But Christian was an Eyros Vampire, he read minds, so he knew how Grayson felt about Ryder being there.

“The Weryn are not in good standing,” Christian answered softly.

“I’m not here to become…” He bit off his words as he looked around at all the students and Vampires. He was supposed to keep that secret. Christian already knew that he wasn’t here to become a Vampire so it didn’t bear repeating. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“This isn’t about you. Not fully anyways,” Christian said with a sigh. “Because you weren’t the only one that wanted Ryder to stay. He wanted to stay.”

“And?” Grayson’s heart leaped even as he tried to stuff it down at the thought that Ryder had wanted to stay with him so much that it was a punishment to send him away.

“And he doesn’t get what he wants right now. He was already given a reward for his good actions by being allowed to walk you here,” Christian answered simply. “Now, he needs to go.”

Grayson wanted to ask why he had to be the one punished too for the Weryn’s bull-headedness about the school. But what was he to these people? No one. He had just bumbled into the whole thing. Charlie had just gotten in the way too. They were offering him someplace safe--relatively--to stay, feeding him and clothing him. He would take what they offered but he had to remember that he wasn’t one of their chosen ones. So he had to take care of himself and Charlie’s memory.

Yet Grayson did find himself saying, “He seems like a good guy. Someone who is loyal and has the group as a whole’s best interest at heart.”

“He thinks the whole is the Weryn Bloodline. But he’s wrong. It’s all of the Vampires. Every Bloodline,” Christian explained.

So Ryder really does need a win with the Sect. Weryn really are in the dog house.

“But come, Julian should be free in a moment.” Christian barely brushed his fingers over Grayson’s nearest elbow to lead him towards Julian who was surrounded by students all eager to get his attention. “Daemon already filled Julian in on things as well, so no need to be concerned there either.”

“Ah, so you were listening to my conversation with Balthazar and Julian just knows all about me from your king?”

Grayson’s eyebrows crept upwards as a tightness filled his chest. He liked to go unseen. Suddenly, he was known, and there was nothing secret. Forget the crowds, he was in the spotlight!

Christian flashed him a sympathetic smile, evidently reading his mind and knowing the cause of his discomfort. He was both annoyed and relieved that he didn’t have to explain himself or answer questions, but Christian could know things he didn’t wish him to.

“The Eyros gift doesn’t quite work that way,” Christian said, picking up again on what he was thinking. “Your surface thoughts are, of course, quite clear to me. Your emotions are strong enough that I know what they are. But imagine that your mind is the whole of the internet and I am a single user at a computer. While, objectively, I could access everything I ever wanted to know, it would take a great deal of effort.”

“So you can’t know everything I’m thinking or my past?” Grayson asked.

“Not without a lot of effort,” Christian answered. “I am a pretty new fledgling, but due to being a Childe of Eyros, I am very powerful. Yet still it would be difficult to know all you know even with your consent.”

The crowd was thinning around the Vampire Prince. In fact, Julian was dismissing them with a smile and a wave before making his way over to them. He smiled broadly at Grayson, but there was some sympathy in his eyes.

“You don’t like crowds either, huh?” Julian asked, his voice a pleasant tenor. “I’m Julian Harrow, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know. I think everybody knows.” Grayson dipped his head towards the eager line of students and Vampires who wished to talk to Julian.

Julian grimaced, which immediately had Grayson liking him a little. He wasn’t fond of the attention either. Despite being Youtube personalities, he didn’t get the sense from either of them that they craved attention in any way. The adventure had been what they loved. Sharing it with others was important but not the point.

“Let’s go up to your rooms,” Julian said and he gestured for Grayson to precede him and Christian up a set of sweeping stairs.

Grayson felt the curious and jealous gazes of many humans on his back. He wondered if it was wise for them to be singling him out like this. Besides his natural desire to keep a low profile, shouldn’t they want to treat him like any other student? Having the prince and his best friend personally take him to his room seemed like it was highlighting him. But perhaps that was the point. The more interest there was in him there was, the more likely the Sect would also show interest.

Am I being used as bait? Grayson wondered.

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