Page 50 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

As he stared at the furs, his mind offered him the image of Grayson lying there, nude and asleep, head turned to the side so that he was snuggled into the soft blankets. The firelight would flow over his long, lean form. Ryder could imagine running one hand down his naked flank and watching as Grayson stirred from his touch. Those soft, wounded eyes would open, dark lashes fluttering, as Grayson focused upon him. A slow smile would lift the edges of that plush mouth. Ryder could almost taste their kiss.

“We should get ready for the parade,” Demos said, draining his glass. “The show must go on.”

Ryder nodded, still staring at the blankets that held no warm, pliant body.

Seeing where he was looking, a smile alighted on Demos’ lips, but it was a little sad too as he said, “You know, I thought you wouldn’t want Grayson to be Ashyr reborn because… well, because he couldn’t be yours.”

Ryder’s head snapped towards him. His heart was in his throat. He wanted to protest this. He wanted to yell that this couldn’t be true. Even as he knew that Grayson was out of the running to be his fledgling for so many other reasons, even if he had wanted Grayson to be his Childe. Yet he didn’t want Demos to add yet another one.

“The Ashyr Bloodline would never let their Immortal be turned by another Bloodline,” Demos said and with a narrow-eyed gaze, “especially if that other Vampire weren’t an Immortal themselves.”

BELONGING

“How about you tell me your name first, before I tell you my story,” Grayson said dryly as he moved over to the kitchen island and took a seat there.

He wanted to buy time. He should have a simple explanation for himself. One that wasn’t too far from the truth, but avoided the things he had to hide. But he wasn’t quite sure what that story was. He normally had one prepared in advance and took the time to practice it. Make it short, sweet, forgettable. Even people as inquisitive as the redhead normally could be discouraged from asking for more, but the whole plan here was to get to know his fellow students to figure out which one was involved with the Sect.

“Fair enough.” She put her hands together in front of her. They were surprisingly delicate and graceful in their movements like a musician’s or a pool player’s, he supposed. “Mairead Byrne, at your service.” Her first name sounded like Mi-rade. “And yours is Grayson Duke.”

“You seem to know a lot about Grayson already.” Amara crossed her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow at Mairead.

“I like to know things.” Mairead looked completely unrepentant and snapped her gum. “You have to know your competition. Besides, downstairs is a buzz about it!”

Grayson hid his grimace. He had known that people were watching him, especially when Christian and Julian escorted him upstairs. But he hadn’t realized that Weryn’s decision to stay out of the choosing of fledglings was common knowledge. At least not among the students, but clearly he was wrong or Mairead had niggled it out of someone. She did like to know things.

I bet she wants to be an Eyros.

“We’re not in competition.” Amara shook her head.

“You can’t be so naive! We have to be.” Mairead laughed.

“Do we?” Eiji murmured.

“Ach, you were very clever during your interview not to answer them when they asked what Bloodline you want to be, Goda-sama.” She wagged a playful finger at him. “But you wanted to maximize your chance of any Bloodline choosing you. Makes sense since you’re so old.”

“Can you be any more rude?” Amara snapped.

The naive comment hadn’t gone over well and the “old” comment really hadn’t, though she had used the honorific for Eiji that showed she placed him at a social position higher than herself.

“She is honest,” Eiji said with a dry chuckle. “You are right, child, that I am looking to maximize my chances by not offending any of the Bloodlines. I am curious though why you think we are in competition with one another. The Vampires have been clear that there is a place for every one of us. They did not accept too many.”

Mairead cocked her head to the side, a smile curling her lips. “I think you believe we’re in competition too. There are 100 students. There are 10 Bloodlines, well, nine, since Weryn is out for now, anyways.” She gave Grayson a sidelong look. “No Bloodline will accept getting less fledglings than another. And there will be favorites among the Bloodlines and the students. So not everyone will be offered the one they want. While the students may be flexible like Goda-sama here, will the Bloodlines? They already resent this process.”

Amara shook her head and let out a soft laugh. “You are assuming much in those statements. If what you say is true then I am certain that they chose the proper amount of fledglings for each Bloodline.”

Grayson was sure she was right. Balthazar would literally know who would fit best, but also, what person a Bloodline would want. Balthazar would even make sure there were equal amounts of fledglings for each Bloodline.

“But for some of them it won’t be about who is best for their Bloodline,” Mairead laughed. “They’ll just want to win.”

Grayson thought that Mairead was also right. There was bound to be a lot more politics in turning someone now. When it had just been the individual Vampires on their own, no one was watching to see how they did, who they seduced, and whether they won. Now, everyone would be watching and everyone would know. Maybe Ryder was right that this wasn’t the best way to choose fledglings when something other than who was the best fit was playing a role.

Amara made a disbelieving sound though and she checked a thin gold watch around her right wrist. She got down from her chair and grabbed a long dark orange scarf that she wrapped around her neck.

“Are you going to the parade?” Grayson asked. He hadn’t thought it was for some time yet.

She smiled at him but shook her head. “No, I already have a meeting set up with one of the Bloodlines.”

“A meeting?” Mairead’s eyebrows lifted and she looked amused. “It’s not like this is a business transaction to become a fledgling.”

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