Rogue Academy: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Academy Romance (Rogue Vampire Academy Book 1) Page 2

  I decide not to answer him – not because I don’t have anything to say, but because the familiar tone in his voice is a little more comforting than I care to admit. Before following him through the door, I stop at the dresser, just to make sure I look fine, that my hair isn’t more ruffled out of place than it usually is and my makeup still at least moderately in place.

  I run my fingers through my long, black hair before pulling it back up into a ponytail. Surprisingly enough, my mascara is in place and I don’t have lipstick smeared from my upper lip to the tip of my nose. My eyes, however, blaze a raging golden, the consequence of my romp in the sheets with Reece.

  “It’s going to stay like this for a while,” I mutter, drawing closer to the mirror to see just how bad it is. On a casual day, my eyes dull to a mere coppery brown, but when I’m angered or aroused, they blaze like no other.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have suggested we come in here, then.” Reece waits by the door, ever the patient one.

  “Maybe you should have told me to shove it if you remembered this was going to happen.”

  “It’s not my body,” he says with a casual shrug.

  I ignore it, mostly because he’s right. It’s my body. A body I’ve had for over twenty years. And it’s not as though this is the first time Reece has caused the fire in me to burn and blaze as bright as the sun.

  I suck in a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. “Guess there’s no chance of me killing anyone tonight. I’ll have to stay hidden.”

  Reece scoffs, but says nothing. I look over at him, crooking a single brow. “What?”

  “If you say you will, then I believe you,” he says, in a tone that clearly connotes that he doesn’t. For a moment, I consider debating that with him, but I decide it isn’t worth the effort. We’ve already wasted enough time as it is.

  Without a word, I head to the door. Reece waits for me to step through before he follows suit. As soon as we are out, where eyes are free to see us, we fall into our roles. My back is always straight, my eyes always direct, intent on whatever is before me.

  The formation of the Rogue Academy wasn’t welcomed with a smoothly paved road. I’ve had to fight to get to where we are. Some don’t agree that I’m fighting the good fight. Some think the students here are only here because they’re keen on learning how to spill more blood. They’re not wrong. But they’re also not right. I’ve built this Academy from the ground up and if blood is spilled, it’s because it deserves to be spilled.

  The hallway we step into is empty – thank goodness. As quietly as I can, I push the door closed behind me and step onto the dark blue carpet lining the hallways. With the hallway being as empty as it is, I’m happy that we’d chosen carpeting. It’s a lot easier to sneak around when the clanking of my boots don’t roar through the silence. I almost get comfortable, almost reach for Reece’s hand, but as soon as we turn to the exit, a group of vampires round the corner. They don’t notice us until we’re almost upon them.

  “M-Mariella!” The queen bee of the group, the one I recognize as Sarah, straightens at the sight of me. She’s wearing her school colors – deep blue and an even more astonishing yellow. The dress she wears under her blazer leaves little for the imagination, yet, despite how rowdy she is, all the vamps in this school would have to rely on their imaginations when it comes to fucking her. Proof that you can’t judge a book by its cover. She might look the part, but she doesn’t play it.

  Sarah’s blood red eyes dart from me to her shoes, to the walls around her. The four girls who follow in her wake mimic her down to the shake of their hands, though I doubt they’re conscious of it. “I didn’t see you there.”

  “You weren’t supposed to.” I say the words just to scare the fledglings and it does. If I recall correctly, Sarah has been alive for nineteen years, but has only been a vampire for six months. She, and the girls she’s somehow managed to rope into being a part of her posse are still fledglings. I look down at the watch. “You wouldn’t be skipping class again, would you? Because we’ve had this discussion before, Sarah, training is not optional.”

  “We were just on our way there,” Sarah manages to push out. If she were alive, I’d probably be able to hear the rapid beating of her heart. Her reaction isn’t one I’m unfamiliar with. Most of the Vampires here look at me with equal parts of respect, fear and admiration. The Rogue Academy is well on its way to rivaling some of the most established groups in our world. They know that it’s not by a shake of luck that I’ve gotten this far. And they also know, it’s only luck that will stop me into putting this Academy front and center on the map.

  “Well?” I say after a while, regarding Sarah and her friends again.

  They all jump at the same time. “R-right!” Sarah blurts out, then fixes a shaky smile on her lips.

  Her gaze shifts and for a split second, her eyes dart to Reece, who’s standing slightly behind me. Sarah and her friends can’t help the way their eyes darken at the sight of him. A mixture of envy and hunger, I’m sure. Perhaps more hunger than envy. Fledglings aren’t as capable of quelling their urges as born vampires are.

  Without turning, I know exactly the expression he’s wearing. But Reece knows his way around both newbies and vamps who’ve been vamps all their lives. No matter how much they itch to sink their teeth in him, they know better than to chance it. The look in their eyes lasts for only a moment longer before they’re scurrying off. I listen to their footsteps, pleased by the fact that they at least have the common sense not to say anything until they are well out of earshot.

  “Can you believe the Academy has actual clicks,” I say, smiling. Even after this long, it’s hard to believe that we’ve morphed into something that looks so…normal.

  “Something’s up with those four,” he says.

  “Something’s always up with them,” I answer.

  Reece doesn’t respond to that. Instead, his eyes track them until they’ve turned the corner and are no longer within our line of sight.

  “Don’t tell me Sarah gives you the chills,” I tease.

  Reece lets out a small chuckle. As Head Defender, there isn’t much he fears when it comes to vampires. So much so, that I wasn’t being ‘nice’ when I offered him the position. He managed to snatch the spot from under the noses of those who are sure they’re smarter and wiser and a hundred percent fitter for the job. Those vampires, ancient as some of them may be, are wrong. The power Reece yields from his position, is power he deserves. What those who doubt him don’t know, is that this Academy wouldn’t be standing if it weren’t for this man.

  Another thought hits me, wiping away the remnants of my smile. Trips down memory lane aren’t something I allow myself very often. But as we step deeper into the halls, passing one framed picture after the other, it’s not pride that I feel, which is odd. Our past students, the ones whose faces earn a spot above the wallpaper, they’re proof that graduating from Rogue Academy can be life changing. Once the bottom feeders of society, our graduates now hold positions in some of the most established companies worldwide, brushing shoulders with humans without the need to tear into them.

  I suck in a deep breath as one thought after another pummels through my mind.

  Reece doesn’t say anything to me as we journey back to the other end of the building even though I’m sure he hasn’t missed the change in my demeanor. Out here, in these halls, where all the world can see us, we’re nothing more than our positions. Emotional support isn’t something I get to ask for from Reece. It’s also something I’ve always denied needing. More often than not, I trick him into believing that I’m actually okay; that without him, I’d be okay.

  As he charges forward, I watch him through the corner of my eye and I wonder, deep and hard, just how much all this pretending is worth.

  “Buck up, Mariella. We have a meeting to attend.” He throws the words over his shoulder, every single trace of the man who teased and pleased and worshipped my body only moments ago erased.

&nb
sp; Chapter Two

  The meeting is being held at night, under the pretense that they’re being accommodating to vampires who have been turned. Those of us who were born monsters, don’t have to worry about the sun, but turned vampires will turn to literal ashes. Of course, none of that is a problem for this meeting because turned vampires aren’t invited. But then again, who am I to complain? It’s not like I was invited.

  If I were alone, I would have made it to the meeting location in no time. With Reece being human, we’re burdened by his limitations. He doesn’t say a word to me the whole way there. We take a taxi in silence, climb the rafters of the building the meeting is being kept in in silence.

  It doesn’t bother me. I’ve known Reece since I was seventeen and ever since then, he’s been a lone wolf. A single solider willing to fight the war on his own. He never asks me for help, or advice. And I know that by the end of the night, when we’re alone, he’s going to be back to his usual self.

  Reece takes in the height of the building and nods his head. Despite the fact that it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to climb, he manages on his own. Expected, since he is the one who taught me the proper way to climb in the first place. As we run like thieves along the roof, I notice that he isn’t even winded.

  “I think it’s right here.” I come to a stop, to listen properly. Sure enough, I can hear the unmistakable voice of Benjamin Wribe – the Grand Master.

  Reece pauses along with me, eyes pointed towards the sky in thought. “Yes, I think this is where they should be.”

  “Consulting that map in your brain again?”

  “It comes in handy sometimes, yes.” The tone is slightly jovial. “You remember the stuff?”

  My head shoots up. “Fuck!”

  “Don’t worry,” he says instantly, almost as though he’d already prepared for my forgetfulness. “I have everything. Why’d you think I grabbed this on the way out?” He pulls his backpack in front of him. I hadn’t even stopped to think about it. I had been too excited to drop in on this meeting we weren’t invited to for a good old-fashioned eavesdropping session. Whatever plans they had to take down the Rogue Academy were plans I was going to make sure I was one step ahead of. And there’s nothing like hearing the truth from the horse’s mouth.

  One by one, Reece pulls out the items we’ll need. There are more for him than they are for me since I have my heightened stealth on my side, but he does attach a line to lower me down on. As per custom, these tri-monthly meetings are on the highest floor of whatever building they decide to have it in. Each meeting is different and each meeting, Reece is right ahead of them, basically predicting where they are going to have it before they’ve decided on a location. He’s yet to be wrong.

  As I lower myself down gently, Reece to the left of me, the window begins to come into view. Bit by bit, the room filters into view, showing me the leaders of every vampire group in the city. Benjamin Wribes, a born vampire who is nearing his first millennia, stands at the podium of the room, trying to get everyone’s attention. The Mid-Grand Council members stand at either side of him, waiting for him to give the go ahead and settle them down. So, it seems like we’re just in time.

  No one bothers to look in the corner of the room, by the window where a few human-sized potted plants stand, courtesy of Reece only days before. Over the chatter and excitement at seeing their fellow leaders, no notices the small sounds we make as we slip inside.

  “Quite a setup you have here,” I murmur, taking in Reece’s work. As usual, he’s thorough and likes to think ahead. When he came in a few days prior to place the plants in position, he left a few bags of blood and a cushion.

  “The cushion’s for me,” he whispers, grabbing it and tucking it behind his back.

  “Real gentlemanly, Reece.” I roll my eyes good-naturedly, grabbing one of the bags of blood. I settle into the corner. I have no need to see what’s going on, since my ears can pick up every bit of conversation going on in the room – and can easily identify which of the old farts are speaking – but Reece positions himself where he can see as well as hear.

  “Alright, settle down.” Finally. I sip slowly, taking care not to make a sound. All of the people in the room have hundreds of years on me, which means they can hear a pin drop a mile away. But with heightened senses like that, they’re also used to tuning certain things out. Now, everyone focuses their attention on the leader who just spoke, Hector Vanheim.

  Only a mere eight hundred years old, Hector is runner up for Grand Master and everyone knows he’s secretly waiting for the old man to kick the good ol’ retirement bucket. Fortunately for him, Benjamin is dangerously close.

  The noise dims to mere shuffling as everyone decides that the meeting should finally start. They all take their seats, then there’s silence. For a split second, I fear that they might hear Reece’s heartbeat in the quiet, seeing as he’s the only one with one that moves, but the fear subsides nearly instantly when the Grand Master clears his throat.

  “Good, good,” comes Benjamin’s voice. “Thank you, Hector. Thank you all for coming tonight.”

  The Grand Master launches into a series of boring topics about the city-state that I don’t care to hear. He goes on and on about the city’s affairs, about the daylight issues that are being taken care of by the President and his team – the only humans privy to the existence of vampires – and other mundane things that very nearly lull me to sleep.

  “Wake me when it’s over,” I murmur. Reece, unsurprisingly, is listening to every word the ancient vampire says, adding it to his personal library he calls a brain. He nods absentmindedly, not surprised by my lack of interest in this stuff.

  But the next thing Benjamin says has me perking up a bit. Gang wars. He clears his throat before he continues, “As of the past four years, we’ve been seeing a decline in gang wars. This has been the case ever since the Rogue Academy came on the scene. They’ve managed to take out or subdue every gang throughout the city, converting the members who were open enough to put their skills into training. Some of you believe that despite calling themselves an Academy, they’re nothing but a bunch of Rogues. I cannot say you’re wrong, but it is very difficult to allude that you are correct. They have all the workings of a school. Teachers, classrooms, dormitories. As surprising as it is, there’s structure and it’s this structure that’s helping them to rise to the very top of the chain.”

  If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was praising us. But there isn’t a single way that can be possible. For longer than I can remember, they’ve been trying to devise a plan to take us down. Of course, they can’t go for straight up murder, because it’ll look bad – an entire Academy wiped out by the Council doesn’t ring the good kind of bells.

  “Sounds like you’re proud of them, Benjy,” says one of the leaders I recognize as Heather, the only female leader that kicks it easily with the men, simply because she’s every bit of one save for her genitalia.

  Laughter follows her words, but is cut short when Benjamin says, “I am.” This, of course, takes me by alarm. Of course, it doesn’t mean that I’ll throw down my armor and turn my back. Benjamin’s thoughts, his views of us, they might have changed. But it doesn’t mean that everyone in this room feels the same way. And it sure as shit doesn’t mean that I’ll forget they gave a damn about us when we were nobodies.

  I hear Heather’s intake of breath. “Why? Those bastards only wreak havoc on our city. They terrorize the citizens day and night.” It’s not the truth, of course. Our academy is bound by a strict set of rules. Rules that govern the students and rules that govern the teachers. Whatever they did when they were on the streets, fending for themselves, with a future as bright as the inside of a deep barrel, all those things were forgiven once they walked into Rogue Academy.

  “Not the Rogue Academy,” Benjamin says strongly, despite his cracking voice. “They target the gangs. If there’s blood spilled, it’s blood that couldn’t needed to be spilled. The Acade
my, pluck out the gang members who are worth saving and convert them into better versions of themselves. Something like rehabilitation for troubled vampires. I’ll be the first to admit…I’ve been wrong about them. Wrong about the way we’ve been looking at the world; the way we’ve been treating our own people.”

  “Bullshit,” someone else grunts. I don’t recognize the voice, so I assume it’s one of the new leaders. “They’re only growing bigger and bigger and if we allow that to continue, who the hell knows what they’ll do. Hell, before you know it, they’ll be weaving their way into our positions.”

  “So, let them,” Benjamin says. His voice is firmer now, not a single crack in his tone.

  Silence falls over the lot of them. I swear, even Reece’s heartbeat stands still.

  “What?” This is Hector. In the back of my mind, I wonder why the other Mid-Grand leaders haven’t said anything. “Are you senile?”

  “Perhaps,” Benjamin jokes, chuckling. “But their Academy is growing to such a level, they may very well become a part of us. Some of their students are beating out students from the academies we have under our wings. Securing positions we would have sworn were reserved for us.” I smile at that, booming with the kind of pride that makes my chest feel close to bursting.

  “There’s protocol to letting them in,” Jane says, her voice filled with all the spiciness one would expect from a woman as spitfire as she is. “There’s registration and vetting and –”

  “I know the process, Jane,” Benjamin tells her, cutting into her without any of the harshness. “We’ll let them decide if they want to go through all that. It’s better to have them join our side than to keep them as our enemies, don’t you think?”

  Every single person in the room disagrees, which I expect. At the end of the day, when they look at us, all they see is a group of rowdy vampires; a group of vampires who have anger in their veins and fire in their eyes. No matter what I do, we’ll always be viewed as lesser than. Not in the same league as these ‘perfect’ vampires. Not in the same league as these leaders who receive invitations wrapped in gold for their important meetings, fancy balls and fucked up affairs.