Page 12 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

“What number is that now?” Demos asked, his handsome ebony face splitting into a grin. “Eleven--”

“Twelve,” Ryder corrected. “Twelve different forms I can take on.”

“You had me add that bear last week. Did you know then that it was your next form?” Demos chuckled as he tilted his head towards the two sleeves of tattoos that covered Ryder’s massive, muscled arms that Demos had inked with skill and enthusiasm.

“I could sense it,” Ryder admitted. “And then… it was there.”

The tattoos were all done in shades of black. There was the face of a wolf on his right, outer forearm with a hissing cat on the inside. An eagle graced the back of his elbow rising up towards his shoulder where a raven perched. A stag raced towards his throat while a lion’s head waited for it on the other shoulder. A panther curled around the lion on his skin in a way it likely would not have in life. A snake wrapped around his left bicep while a gazelle appeared to run from it. An exotic bird swooped past the gazelle as it was tracked by a sly fox on his left forearm. The bear was proudly displayed on his right bicep.

“You’re out of room on your arms for any more!” Demos chuckled again, but goodnaturedly with a shake of his head. “We’re going to have to start on your back or maybe your legs?” Demos stroked his chin. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something fantastics,” Ryder grinned.

Natasha gestured for him and Demos to approach. Two of the younger Vampires brought them wine and blood as Ryder and Demos lowered themselves gracefully onto the cool grass. While it was always night in the Ever Dark, Ryder noted that dew always appeared about this time. The grass was slightly damp between his bare toes.

“A bear?” Lawson grunted and took a large swallow of wine. “There are no bears in House Legion.”

“Yes, it was a surprise,” Ryder tried to sound easy about it. His heart quickened as he remembered when the form had called to him. He eagerly recounted it to his Master, “But I could just feel it under my skin and–”

“You could not be satisfied with being a lion?” Lawson interrupted him. “Or a wolf? Or a raven? Or an eagle? No, you also had to be a bear.”

Though Vampires could not get drunk on normal wine, Lawson’s voice sounded thick and almost slurred. It was the sound of drunken belligerence. Ryder knew it well from his biological father’s voice though he hadn’t heard that in centuries. Lawson had never spoken to him in this way. Well, not often.

“I love my lion form. All my forms. You know that,” Ryder said quietly.

The lion form had been his first form. Lawson had been so proud that Ryder, too, had been a lion. When Lawson had turned Demos a century later, he had seemed just as proud when Demos had shifted into a black panther and then--to everyone’s shock--Ryder had done the same. Two forms. Both big cats. It had been a coup for Lawson to have a fledgling with two animal forms.

Not anymore, Ryder thought as he drank his wine. It was rich and the blood was heavily spiced, but he barely enjoyed it.

Natasha, who had been watching Lawson with slightly pursed lips, said, “It is a wonder that you can shift into so many different animals, Ryder. It is a great thing. I am quite jealous though I love being a lioness.”

Lawson grunted and finished his wine before thrusting out his glass for more. Ryder felt a dull dread in his stomach. His Master had gone to see King Daemon before coming here. Had something untoward happened that had put him in such a terrible mood? What could the Vampire King have said to have turned his Master’s usual love against him?”

Demos’ eyes narrowed, but then he said lightly, “I personally like your little kitty cat form, Ryder. The one that is small enough to ride on my shoulder or the palm of my hand.”

Ryder snorted. “The Rusty Spotted-Cat is one of the mightest hunters--”

“House cat,” Demos teased.

“No! It is a wild cat--”

“You like to be petted behind the ears when you are in that form!” Demos rocked back and forth in amusement.

Ryder playfully elbowed his Blood Brother. “Just wait until I sneak into your room and bite your toes off. You will fear my kitty cat form then.”

“Promises! Promises!” Demos laughed.

“You should not show off any more of the forms you can shift into. That is for new fledglings,” Lawson abruptly stated. “People will say that you are unsettled in your skin and will wonder about you.”

Silence fell among the group. It was such a shocking thing for Lawson to say. Ryder swallowed.

“They do not wonder that, Master,” Demos said, his voice dropping slightly.

Though Lawson had turned them both and they owed him their Second Lives, Demos had never felt the urge to please Lawson as many fledglings do their Masters. It wasn’t that their relationship was rocky, but Ryder and Demos had developed a much stronger bond than Demos and Lawson ever had. Whenever Lawson and Ryder fought--rarely, but it did happen--Demos always took Ryder’s side, even if Ryder was in the wrong. Ryder reached out and touched his Blood Brother’s leg. He didn’t want a fight over this. He wasn’t even sure what this was.

“What do they wonder, Demos?” Lawson asked as he swallowed half a cup of wine. Some of it trickled down his chin and he wiped it away with a heavy hand.

“Let’s have some more wine. There is a long night ahead of us,” Natasha suggested even though almost everyone’s cup was full and Lawson clearly did not need anymore.

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