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

  Blood Haven Academy Year Three

  Nicole Zoltack

  Copyright 2020 by Nicole Zoltack

  Cover Artist: Milktee Studios

  ISBN: 9798687666039

  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

  A new day is dawning, but honestly, I don’t feel that happy at all. Mercy Lance remains hovering between life and death, and there is nothing I can do to help her. The magical panacea I sought is a fable, a myth, a lie, just another instrument demons use to abuse and control others, another tool for their manipulative ways.

  That I’m a living vampire with a vampire mother and a demon father only means I’ve experienced that abuse and manipulation more than others.

  But now that poison is spreading to others. I might not even be immune to it myself. My cousin and one of my dearest friends, Tyra Bloodsworth, is a living vampire too. As of late, her demon side has been coming out more and more.

  To protect me from myself, Tyra sought out Julian Moonblaze. She didn't realize Julian and I secretly wed, and when she discovered this, she challenged him to a fight to the death.

  You see, Julian is a werewolf, and yes, vampires and werewolves are meant to hate each other, but Julian and I found only love and acceptance in each other’s arms.

  Tyra couldn't accept that. When Julian refused to fight her because they're now related through marriage, his friend Mercy stepped up. Julian tried to stop their fighting, to talk Tyra out of it, and Tyra might've, who knows, but Mercy took that moment to strike.

  Tyra struck back.

  Julian, in his rage and grief, attacked Tyra, but she ran away and healed.

  Mercy isn’t so lucky. She may die.

  I watch the sunrise, the changing color of the sky, the clouds rolling in. Weather. Storms. My class. I should be at Blood Haven Academy right now so that I can learn how to conjure a storm when one isn’t there. It’s serious magic, much more advanced than what is typically taught, but the professor and I made a deal. Although I’m supposed to be repeating the course because I failed it, I proved myself a master. I guided a streak of lightning to strike a quarter, which is no small feat.

  Yes, I failed the course on purpose so that I would have an excuse not to return to my parents' house during the eight-week break between my second and final year at Blood Haven. It's the easiest way for Julian and me to spend time together.

  Instead, because of the challenge, Julian is expelled, and we spent the night at Blackhope Manor, the location where we wed.

  Arms snake around me, and I lean back to rest against my werewolf husband.

  “I hoped things would look better in the morning,” he murmurs before kissing the side of my neck.

  I hug his arms and then shift so I can wrap an arm around his waist, standing beside him rather than in front of him.

  “Do they?” I murmur.

  “You tell me.” He appraises me with his light green eyes, so unlike my sharp red ones.

  “No, not yet. No news from Bermon.”

  Julian wordlessly shakes his head.

  For a long moment, we stare out the window, but I can’t appreciate the beauty and majesty of the new day. We should be excited to have a place of our own, even if we don’t own the abandoned manor. We’re a young couple desperately in love, but the world itself seems to be conspiring against us.

  “Are you hungry?” I finally ask.

  “Not really.”

  A muscle in his jaw tics, and I reach up to cup his face.

  His scowl melts away, and he gives me a small smile. “We can’t just mope. Let’s go out to eat.”

  “Julian, my parents disowned me. I don’t have any money.”

  “I have some,” he says.

  “We should save it.”

  He opens his mouth, maybe to argue, but then he shrugs. “I don’t think there’s any food here, so we can hunt our breakfast. You’ve hunted animal before?”

  “With a gun? No.”

  "So, you haven't."

  “I didn’t say that. I’ve hunted squirrels and deer and other animals.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes. I don’t eat them, and I don’t hunt them to kill them. Just capture and release.”

  He lets out a soft chuckle. It’s so unlike the deep, full-bodied laugh I’m used to hearing. “Why am I not surprised that you capture and release?”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t judge a girl by what she is.”

  “Only by who she is and what she holds in her heart.” He gently places his hand over my heart and kisses me.

  I want to give into to, to relax, to allow our love to sweep me away to a place where I can be happy, where we can be free from all the stress of the outside world, but I can’t. I’m too upset by the fighting that has reached our doorstep.

  For months now, the vampires and werewolves at Blood Haven and Moonstone Academies have been at each other’s throats. There’s been violence and battles, bloodshed, vandalism… It’s so very cutthroat, and I did my best to avoid it. When that failed, I tried to stop the fighting. Julian did the same. He even wants to become a healer. He’s so very noble, too good for this world.

  And maybe, like all good things, the world will reject him, crush him, and either twist and subvert him or kill him.

  “What will you actually eat?” Julian asks. “Will you eat a squirrel?”

  “Only if you cook it.” I shudder.

  “I can do that.”

  “You must have hunted thousands of times,” I say as I follow him through the manor to the front door.

  “Yes. Never alone, though.”

  “You aren’t alone now,” I protest, squeezing his hand.

  “I meant never without my family.”

  He’s speaking without thinking, but that doesn’t take the sting away. I am his family now, but unlike my terrible parents, his are good and kind. He adores his parents and siblings. I’m an only child, so I’m a bit envious of his large family. He has three sets of twins! Each one a b
oy and a girl. I haven’t met them yet, nor his parents. As much as I want to, the world is just too dark right now. Tyra and Mercy have already fought. They know our secret, and if word spreads that a vampire and a werewolf wed… If my parents learn…

  My father keeps insisting that I marry a particular vampire, a Constantine Crowe. I can't stand him, and it's not merely because my parents want me to be with him. Constantine believes I am his already, treats me like a possession. I would be hard-pressed to say who I despise more—Constantine or my father.

  My father. He disowned me, so I am no longer a Covenshade, which is fine by me, but I don't know if that makes me a Moonblaze or if Julian and I will pick a new surname. Julian did once imply that maybe I would take the name of his pack, whereas I prefer the idea of having a new name. We are a new pack, after all, aren't we? But I haven't broached the idea to him just yet. Is now the time? No, perhaps it would be better to wait.

  Julian squeezes my hand. "I lost you there for a moment," he says, but even he sounds far away, like his thoughts are elsewhere, and they probably are, back to his family or maybe the way our plans have been so epically ruined.

  We’re young and in love, and the future is so wide open. Except, it’s not. That’s not the case for us at all.

  “I’m a bit depressed,” I murmur, regretting the words as soon as they come out of my mouth.

  "I am too," he admits, turning to me as we stand in the doorway. He tucks some of my wavy brown hair behind my ear. "We should be here for our honeymoon, getting away from the rest of the world, or in some far-off land on vacation. We should be talking about the house we want, if we do want to live here permanently. You need to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life, and I need to find someone willing to teach me how to be a healer. Maybe… Maybe we should just live among the humans. I can go to their medical school, and who knows? Maybe I'll be able to use my nose to sniff out infections."

  “Dr. Sniffer?” I tease.

  “I prefer Mr. Hero, thank you very much.” But he’s not smiling.

  “You’ll always be my hero,” I murmur, cupping his face.

  “We can’t even have a honeymoon,” he grumbles. “After we hunt and eat breakfast, we’re going to go out.”

  “And do what?”

  “A date. Something fun. Something to get our minds off everything.”

  “Okay.”

  We go out and hunt, and honestly, I’m not that enthused. When I would hunt, I had been much younger, and I loved the idea of petting birds and feeling the soft fur of the deer. Now, knowing we’re doing to eat the animal… It’s different when hunting for a purpose versus playing a game.

  I need to grow up. I’m married now, a wife. Life isn’t all fun and games, and it’s more than just life and death. If we don’t experience life, we might as well be zombies.

  The meat is a bit tough, through no fault of Julian’s, and I don’t eat much. He offers me his wrist, and for once, I don’t relish the idea of drinking his blood. It feels wrong, which shouldn’t be the case at all. He’s my husband, and he’s offering, and I can stop myself from taking too much. I think it’s merely the fact that I have to drink blood at all that’s bothering.

  Because last night, I somehow dreamed about the challenge. I hadn’t been there, but I dreamed about details Julian hadn’t shared. Maybe it’s because of our blood exchange, or maybe it’s a bond that all vampires form with their spouses through the drinking and sharing of their blood, but I’m certain that I saw what actually happened.

  The ground had been drenched with blood, the grass so very slick. Something about seeing the sight disgusted me. It shouldn't. I don't think of blood as repulsive, but in the dream, I did.

  No. In the dream, I felt Julian’s repulsion. The disgust I felt was his.

  Does that mean I disgust him? That a part of me disgusts him? I don't think so, and I won't give in to fear. My husband accepts me for who I am. Honestly, he accepts my being a vampire more than I do.

  For the date, we wander around a random human city, going into and out of stores, unable to purchase anything with our limited funds. Yes, again, I’m a vampire, so I could compel the storeowners to give us anything we need. Clothes for one. I’ll need new clothes. I can’t wear this forever. I fell asleep in my uniform for Blood Haven Academy. Oh, I do have the clothes from last year still in my room, so it’s not as if I only have the clothes on my back.

  But that’s if my father doesn’t disenroll me. He and my mother never cared for my desire to attend there in the first place. I bet it’s because they wanted to keep me under their control, under their thumb.

  Once we make our way back to the manor, there’s no denying it. For once, a date has only been just okay. Normally, I feel so energized and unbelievably happy after time spent with Julian, but we’re both too worried about everything. Our attempt to keep ourselves distracted failed.

  “We should maybe talk about what happens next,” Julian says once we enter the manor.

  I go to shut the door behind us, but Julian clasps my hands.

  “Romelia, I think you should return to Blood Haven Academy. You should finish your last year. You should go back for your summer course.”

  “Julian, no. Don’t push me away. You need me.”

  “I don’t just need you today. I need you always, and for that, we need a future. You need to master your powers, as many of them as you can. We don’t know if… There might be more battles, fights that we have no choice but to face.”

  “And we can fight those battles together,” I argue. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “It’s not that I want you gone. Don’t think that for one second, but, Romelia, if your father comes…”

  I release his hand and feel for the talisman underneath the collar of my shirt. It’s meant to protect me from the likes of my father, but will that protection be enough? My father is a very old, very powerful demon.

  “Can we fight your father and survive if it comes down to that?” Julian asks softly.

  I hang my head, and my stomach twists into terrible knots. The thought of fighting my father is utterly terrifying.

  “Even if I study and master my powers,” I murmur, “I don't think I can defeat him, so what's the point?"

  “The point is that we might have to fight werewolves. Vampires. Witches maybe. Grim reapers.” His voice is grim. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, and I need—”

  “What about what I need?” I blurt out. Tears form in my eyes, and I blink them away.

  “We can talk about this later,” Julian says.

  "What? When I'm calmer?" I ask bitterly.

  “When we’re both ourselves,” he murmurs.

  A tear slips down my cheek. “This isn’t how things were supposed to be.”

  “No, they aren’t,” he agrees, “but even if we aren’t together, we aren’t ever truly apart.”

  He wipes my tear away and kisses me, but all I can think about is how we’ve only been married for a few days, and we’ve already had our first fight. What will the future have in store for us?

  Chapter 2

  Julian

  I wipe away Romelia’s bloody tear, and I kiss her tenderly. She cups my face, giving me most of her, but she’s holding back some. My strong vampire, my fighter, is scared, and I don’t blame her. The future is such a blank canvas, but it feels like our paintbrushes have blood for paint with no other options.

  My phone rings, breaking the silence.

  Romelia pulls away, and I already miss holding her. “You should see who it is.”

  I grit my teeth, wanting her to smile, to look at me, but she won’t meet my gaze. All she does is squeeze my hand, turn away, and leave me in the foyer of the manor.

  My heart aches. Even though I want to follow after her, I do take out my phone and see it’s Bermon calling.

  Bermon Von Hagen. He, Mercy, and I are as close as can be. Bermon and I are cousins, and Mercy is practically a siste
r to us. As cousins, Bermon and I are in the same pack, even if he doesn’t share my last name. Mercy Lance belongs to another pack altogether, but that doesn’t mean much to me. I’m loyal to her, and she’s loyal enough to me that she might die for it, a fact that relentlessly unnerves me. It’s tearing me apart.

  My finger shakes as I answer the call.

  “Bermon.”

  Just one word, his name, but he knows what I don’t say.

  “Julian.”

  His tone suggests a lot.

  “Has she…” I can’t get any other words out. Fear has my tongue numb, but my feelings are all over the place.

  “No, not yet at least, but she’s… she’s taken a turn for the worst. Honestly… I hate to say it, but she probably won’t last much longer. She woke up and opened her eyes a bit. They tried to get her to eat, and she started to vomit blood. They can’t get her to stop.”

  “Stop what?”

  “Convulsing.”

  I wipe a hand down my face. “When did that start?”

  “After the vomiting. She’s unconscious, but her face is all twisted up like she’s in pain. It’s not a peaceful coma, if it even is a coma. They have utterly no idea what’s going on, and… It’s not looking good.”

  I start to pace. My mind is churning.

  “What about vampire blood?” I ask, but even I know that won’t work. Romelia will lend it, so acquiring some isn’t an issue, but I’ve already given Mercy three vials to drink. That bit of blood might be the only reason why she’s alive, why she hasn’t succumbed to her wounds already.