Blood Haven: Year Two: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Read online

  Blood Haven Academy Year Two

  Nicole Zoltack

  Copyright 2020 by Nicole Zoltack

  Cover Artist: Milktee Studios

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  To all star-crossed lovers

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Other Books By Nicole Zoltack

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

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  Chapter 1

  Romelia

  The moonlight bathes the windowsill with silver light, and I stare up at her face. People everywhere refer to the moon as a she, and maybe that’s because of the legend of the first vampire, Ambrogio, and his true love, Selene. Perhaps she became a vampire, or maybe she became the moon.

  Most would think that vampires and a woman turning into the moon are nothing more than legends and myths, but that's not the case at all. Vampires are real, even if humans are ignorant about us.

  Werewolves are real, and so is the hatred the two kinds of paranormal creatures feel for each other.

  But not all vampires and werewolves hate each other. Not all of either race is evil.

  No, there’s one werewolf who has captured my mind and heart completely.

  Julian. Julian Moonblaze.

  I close my eyes, and I can picture him perfectly in my mind. His shaggy brown hair falling in his light green eyes, his muscular build, and strong arms that love to hold me… His eyes are actually amber when he's in his wolf form, and he's a large wolf, an impressive one but so gentle around me.

  Handsome to be sure, but he's also witty, charming, kind, doting… From the start, I shared more with him than I even did my best friend. He has a theory that we share a soul, and that's why we instantly connected. Maybe that's the case, maybe not, but the connection burns strong, hotter than ever, a living thing in and of itself.

  It’s a dangerous game we’re playing, very dangerous. My parents are not ones you defy, and I’ve done that a lot recently. My love for Julian meant I was distracted all year long at Blood Haven Academy, a school for vampires. Our biggest rival is Moonstone Academy, where Julian and werewolves attend. The two academies had their share of turf war battles throughout the year, and whenever we could, Julian and I slipped away to be with each other.

  My grades suffered as a result, much to my parents’ frustration. They didn’t even want me to attend in the first place, but I refused to be cowed, and I will not stop coming here despite the danger.

  They long for me to be with another, some vampire I don’t even know named Constantine Crowe, a vampire I’ve managed to not speak to hardly at all despite my mother hiring him to be a tutor for me. Although they want me to date and maybe even marry this vampire, most likely for his money, I won’t. I refuse, just like I refused to come home during the eight-week break between our first and second years.

  Clouds slowly move to cover the moon, and I cross over to my bed and retrieve the diary from the nightstand beside my bed. It’s not smart for me to write down my thoughts each night, but I am one of the few students on campus for summer school. Once the school year starts and the other students return, then I’ll burn this.

  For now, though, I grab a pen and start to write.

  Dear Diary,

  I never knew my life could be so very much like a hot air balloon in a raging tempest, struggling to fly higher, above the storm, where there is peace.

  Right now, though, there is peace, but how much longer will that last?

  I don’t know, but these past seven and a half weeks have been wonderful, the most amazing summer I’ve ever had. Who knew that our sneaking away and spending hours texting would actually help us to be together even more? Julian’s stuck in summer school too, and just the freedom we share… We’re able to concentrate and get our work done while also being able to have so many hours together.

  But what will the future hold for us? I’ve been able to see Julian every single day these weeks. Once our second years start, that won’t be the case anymore. We’ll be forced apart again, having to sneak away if that’s even possible. For a good part of the school year last year, Blood Haven had been under lockdown. Sometimes, I could break through the guarded perimeter, and sometimes, I couldn’t.

  No matter the research I did, all of the vampires I tried to talk to, I can't tell who orchestrated the attack on Julian. They left him for dead, might have even killed him, but I gave him a vial of my blood, and he managed to drink enough to survive. He lives and breathes because my blood entered his system.

  We’ve shared blood, Julian and I. He remains the only one that I have drunk blood from directly. I normally drink only from glasses… or the goblets the academy provides as if we’re all high brow. It’s a bit ridiculous.

  But because we've shared blood, Julian and I are connected. I can sense his emotions now, and I wonder if that connection will grow if we continue to drink each other's blood. What if one day we could read each other's minds?

  He hasn’t had more of my blood since the attack, but he does have three vials of my blood he’s to keep on him at all times. He had been targeted. Other werewolves had been around when he had been attacked, but the vampires came for him. We’re worried this means that others know about us.

  Our friends know, and even they have trouble understanding the depth of our love. They think we’re crazy, that we’re too different, that it’s a phase…

  They think wrong.

  How can something so pure, something that feels so right be wrong? It’s not as if a vampire must be with a vampire. After all, I’m one of the living vampires because my mother gave birth to me. I wasn’t bitten and turned. My vampire mother became pregnant because she had been with an incubus. Yes, my father is a demon.

  They love each other as much as they can. My mother is a rather demonic vampire, and my father certainly lives up to the reputation his kind has.

  And I know that some consider vampires to be demons, but if they can be together and have found love, why can’t the same hold true for Julian and me? We aren’t hurting anyone with our love.

  But others have been hurt, whether because of us or just because of the innate hatred between vampires and werewolves. Even during this break, there’s been more violence. Blood
baths on either side. Although the blood baths have not meant spilled vampire and werewolf blood. For now, the two sides are attacking others, attacking and even killing innocents.

  I'm ashamed to admit that vampires have been attacking humans. So far, the vampires haven't been reckless and careless enough to put every vampire at risk. Humans don't know about our existence, and that cannot change under any circumstances. We can compel humans, twist their memories, and make them forget about the attack, but that doesn't make it right. Worse, some of the humans have died.

  As for the werewolves, they have been taking out their frustrations on livestock. That's not much better. Both sides need to find a way to live together, so that we can survive without more bloodshed, without any more blood baths, but we've run out of time. Our second year will start in a matter of days, and I'm terrified about what the future will hold.

  Julian… he’s afraid too, but both of us don’t talk about that. We don’t want to live in fear, so we pretend that our days of happiness will repeat on and on, but in a few days, everything will change. The guards will return. The vampires will be ready to sink their fangs into anyone who smells like a werewolf.

  I'm being as careful as I can, to shower and wash my clothes. I have bouquets of flowers in my room that should help to overpower and overwhelm any who sniff around here. If someone catches the scent of a werewolf on me… if they track that scent back to Julian… This time, they will ensure that he is dead for good.

  And I might not be spared either. The vampires might kill me too for fraternizing with the enemy.

  But we don't have to hate each other. Yes, the first werewolf killed the first vampire, but that does not mean that we have to continually always be at odds. Both vampires and werewolves adore the moon. Why can't we live under her silver light in peace? Is that too much to ask.

  I shut my diary and hold it tight to my chest as a sigh slips through my lips. If last year is any indication, then yes, that is too much to ask. The professors, the headmaster here, both headmasters actually, neither of them have control over the students. They act as if they are victims of their emotions, as if they cannot be held accountable for their actions.

  It’s pathetic, honestly.

  My phone rings, and I grab it from my nightstand. My smile falls as I realize it’s Mother and not Julian.

  I debate not answering. After all, I can easily feign being asleep as my excuse for not, but then again, most of the classes over the summer are at night. During the school year, there are day classes as well as night ones, considering not all vampires can walk about during the sun-kissed hours.

  With a sigh, I answer, even adapting a smile I don’t feel. “Mother, hello. How are you?”

  “Romelia, are you going to have better grades this year?”

  “Yes.”

  “You had better. I just got off the phone with your professors.”

  “You called them? Why?”

  “To see how you are doing, of course, and you are about to receive the highest marks you can receive. You do understand how this shifts the expectations your father and I have for you going forward.”

  “I only had two courses I had to retake,” I say.

  “Two courses or five, that makes no difference. If your grades are not satisfactory for your second year, you will not attend a third.”

  “And what would you have me do for the rest of my long life, Mother?” I ask. “You outlived how many husbands? Killed how many werewolves and other beings over the centuries?”

  "And just what precisely do you intend to do after you attend the academy anyhow, hmm? You are going to stop ignoring your mother and father and do as we say."

  “Or else what, Mother? What are you threatening me with?”

  “You do realize that if your father and I wanted, we could have another child,” she says in that polished, high-brow tone of hers.

  I smile even though she can’t see me. “You will kill me, is that what you’re saying? Replace me with a more obedient child? That’s a bit narcissistic, don’t you think? A bit delusional too. If being here has taught me anything, Mother, it’s that vampires do as they wish, not as they’re told.”

  “Is that so? Hmm. Don’t think it’s escaped my notice that every time I ask you about your future, you change the subject. Think on it, Romelia. The sands of time stop for no one, and even vampires can be killed.”

  She hangs up, which is just as well because I toss the phone from me onto the floor. I want to fling it, but that would break it, and I’ll need my phone to connect with Julian once the new school year starts.

  This is actually not the first time my parents have made veiled threats to me. Normally, it’s my father issuing them, but as cold and unfeeling as they are, I’m not. I’m not like them, and I won’t ever be like them. Maybe they hate me for it, but I don’t have room in my heart for hate.

  Just as I don’t have room for love in my heart for them either.

  As for the future… I can’t dare think about that. Julian and I live together in the present, and we can’t make plans that are set in stone in case the unthinkable happens.

  If my parents ever find out that I’m refusing their suitor for a werewolf, nothing and no one will be able to spare Julian and myself from our deaths. We will both be killed.

  Maybe the only way the two of us can be together forever is if we are dead.

  Chapter 2

  Julian

  The night before our second year is to start, and I wait impatiently for my last class to end. It’s ridiculous that the classes go right up until the last day, but then, the professor looks up. Before he can finish saying, “Class dis—” I’m already up and out the door.

  Earlier in the day, I set most everything up, but I need to finalize everything before I can invite Romelia over.

  My wolf races through the woods, bounding across the land and then jumping on stones. The waterfall douses me with water, and I don’t have to convince my wolf to shake to free himself of the droplets. Quickly, I take back over as my human self. Luckily, the hundreds of candles aren’t wet, and I go around and light each one before I send the text.

  Come to our spot.

  I close my eyes, and I feel a rush of the wind generated from her swiftness. My eyes open, and a vision of loveliness stands before me.

  Romelia Covenshade has my heart entirely. Her wavy brown locks tumble down her shoulders, and her eyes seem to be on fire, as red as ever. A gown I’ve never seen her wear before hugs her body, and she steals my breath away as she spins around.

  “I wanted to wear something special since it’s our last night,” she murmurs, her gaze falling to the ground.

  I take her hand and spin her around. The blood-red crushed velvet gown reaches all the way now to cover her ankles. The neckline is covered with black lace, no straps. The sleeves are a bit puffy, not over the shoulder but just below, but then there's black ribbon tied tight. The rest of the sleeve is also tight down to her wrist, but the ribbon allows black lace to trail behind her arms, almost like wings. Over the skirt is more black lace, running down either hip, the black satin bodice tight with a gothic design. The bodice goes up either side to wrap around her neck, giving her a black collar behind her head. She giggles as she lifts her hair and somehow ties it up so that the collar is highlighted as is the choker around her neck. The choker is a steel cross with a garnet in the center, the band black, of course, velvet.

  “Do you like it?” she murmurs.

  “You can wear anything you like, and you’ll always look perfect to me.”

  Her cheeks color slightly, and I love that she can blush. Her skin, like most vampires, is porcelain, but she can blush because of her demonic father.

  Still holding my hand, she steps forward and glances around. “Julian,” she breathes as she takes in the candles and rose petals I spread across the floor.

  I take both of Romelia’s hands and guide her to a spot in the center, where candles form a circle around us. Their fl
ames cast more light than shadows, and I smile at her. My heart is pounding so very loudly as I slowly sink down onto one knee.

  "Romelia, I've loved you for many months now, and I know we're young. We're only seventeen, and we have our whole lives ahead of us. I want to live each of those months and years—the moon willing many, many years—together. I want you to be by my side always. Romelia, please, will you marry me?"

  She covers her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking, and I stand, drawing her close, afraid that she’s going to decline my proposal, that she’ll let worry cloud her judgment because I know that in her heart, she wants to say yes.

  "Julian," Romelia says softly as she finally lowers her hands. She shakes her head, and that's when I realize she's trying to suppress a giggle instead of tears. "You didn't have to do all of this. You could have proposed to me over the phone, in a text. It wouldn't have mattered. Don't get me wrong. I love the romantic gesture, but I don't need all of this." She sweeps out her arms to encompass the candles, the rose petals. "All I need is you by my side for the rest of my life."

  “Is that a yes?” I ask, unable to even pretend to be cross at her reaction. “Because that sounds like a yes, but I don’t want to assume because when you assume—”