Descending Into Darkness (Moonlight Academy Book 2)

“He’s after something. He must have been watching us as we were leaving earlier on,” Judas agreed, scratching his jaw.

I wondered why Claude wanted to follow us. He was part of the faculty team and was obviously a busy vampire, so this was very suspicious. Maybe he had orders to follow us.

Luckily no one said anything about Lachlan’s comment or maybe they just wanted to leave us be for now.

I’d brought my weapons with me – I was looking forward to kicking some serious butt during that trip. Being in the academy was seriously underwhelming lately.

Obviously, we were still investigating these two murders, but I was bored.

“Holland must have sent him. The Elite needs to know our every move,” Karina muttered.

“He’s pissing me off. I’m going to stop somewhere and we will see if he will do the same,” Lachlan said, looking at the side mirror.

“Don’t play his game bro. That vampire is harmless for now. He’s just doing what he has been ordered to do. Besides, we can do what we want outside Elite. No one is policing us here,” Marco snarled, winking at me, but Lachlan only shook his head.

I didn’t think he agreed. For him, Claude was a direct threat. The tension rose. We all knew that we still had to follow Moonlight rules, but it was our investigation.

Sometime later, we finally stopped for petrol in a deserted village. I was expecting Claude to pull over, but his black Mercedes was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he’d taken the hint, but I doubted that he wouldn’t get involved at some point.

“We are heading to an area filled with many, many ancients. Transylvania is the place of their origin. We all need to be extremely vigilant here. The magic is very potent and it can be lethal. We must stay together if we can,” Lachlan was saying when he had paid for the gas.

“Oh come on, don’t be a party pooper bro. I’ve already made arrangements with some ladies,” Marco said and Karina burst out laughing.

“This is serious Marco. We haven’t got time for distractions. We are here to solve this damn case. This whole area is filled with many vamps and your magic can complicate things for us,” the Scot said, he wasn’t looking at Marco when he was saying that, but at me.

After we restarted our journey, it took us another an hour and a half to reach our destination. I’d never imagined that I would be visiting Romania. This region was scattered with old medieval towns, mountainous borders, and castles. I was surprised to see so many tourists on the road, especially during this time of the year.

Marco announced that he had managed to book a small Air B&B like cottage for all of us in the forest near the biggest town of this region. According to the map, Nolan’s family lived near the famous Dracula’s castle from Bram Stoker’s book. Lachlan was right, the place was filled with vampires. We saw them everywhere we looked.

We arrived at our B&B soon enough. Our host was a supernatural too. She was a stocky Romanian shifter with wild red hair and a rather masculine jaw, but seemed pleasant enough. Her aura indicated that we had nothing to worry about. The cottage was very old and filled with vintage furniture, but it had been decorated in the highest standard. I loved this place; with the huge fireplace in the living room and very low ceilings.

Lachlan and Marco were the only ones that could drive though, and we were a fair distance away from the town centre.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“What’s the plan then? Are we staying in tonight or going straight to speak to Nolan’s family?” Marco asked, scrolling through his phone as we all settled into the rooms. I was a little surprised that he had any reception around here.

“It’s still pretty early, so we could head to nearest town, see if any of us can find anything useful,” Lachlan suggested. He seemed more tense than normal or maybe I was reading him too much.

“Good call, I’m starving and I saw a decent looking tavern in town,” Karina said. My stomach was growling a little too. The whole place was very well equipped with plenty of maps and leaflets about town.

“The castle looks impressive, especially at sundown. Do you really think Dracula existed?” I asked pretty boy as we were heading to the tavern.

Maybe it was silly question, but I had to know. I could never find any real books about him in the supernatural section and I was bored of human stories. They were never believable.

According to the map on my phone Margret (our suspect’s mother) lived several miles away from our cottage. Christopher Nolan most likely wasn’t there. It was where he was from and where his parents lived, but I suspected that he may have already been warned that someone was after him.

We parked in town and walked straight to the old pub-like tavern, filled with tourists and locals alike. It was just after five pm. Judas headed straight to the bar and returned with some drinks and a food menu. Karina started looking around, complaining that she was starving. We all sensed the group of shifters that were sitting a few tables ahead. Their auras changed as we’d arrived, they were growing wary of us. As usual, the locals were staring, but I was expecting this was because we had full a blooded fae amongst us.

“Where are all the vampires?” I asked, thinking about Moonlight. It had been over two weeks since we left Kiev and I was starting to miss studying. I wasn’t sure that I could ever live in Romania.

“Trust me, you will see them soon. It’s too early for anyone to be out yet, well apart from shifters,” Judas told me.

“All right, that makes sense. Anyway, I’m ready to order. What do you guys want?” I asked them, thinking about the Hungarian stew and drifting off to thoughts of Melody. I didn’t know why, but all of a sudden I felt so nostalgic.

I just couldn’t believe that so much time had passed since Oldman approached me in Ukraine. The boys declined meals and asked for beer instead.

I strolled all the way to the bar, aware that pretty much everyone was staring at me. The tourists and locals.

“Can I get three pints of your finest and two portions of your best stew please,” I ordered it in English, not knowing even one word in Romanian. Luckily for me the barman understood and went off to make our drinks.

“What brings you here love?” someone asked, standing a few metres away from me.

It was a woman in her late forties and she looked like a typical shifter. She had long dark curly hair and kind eyes. I glanced back at the group. Judas was talking to Lachlan and Marco was trying to get the attention of a pretty warlock that sat opposite us. It was a mixed bag in the tavern, but surely humans must have been aware of the energy of this place. Surely the council was much more active in this area.

“Business, I’m looking for someone,” I answered her, wondering how she knew that I wasn’t from around here. She strolled towards me while the barman placed the pints in front of me.

“You have very interesting energy, what are you? A half breed?” she asked, giving me an intense look. She could read me, but no one ever knew what I was.

“Something like that,” I replied, hoping that she wouldn’t press. “We are here because we are searching for a shifter boy. His name is Christopher Nolan. Do you know him?”

As soon as I said his name, she paled. Her energy shifted too, growing wary. Obviously she must have heard of him and I thought I’d struck gold.

She looked around and then leaned closer, so no one could hear us. I didn’t think that was possible as the pub was heaving with supernaturals.

“Everyone around here knows him love, but last I heard that he was in Bucharest in that fancy academy,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “Your scent is odd. Watch yourself love. Locals consume fae, but you don’t look like one.”

She wasn’t going to scare me. I knew how to take care of myself. The barman had placed the rest of the drinks on the bar and I handed him the cash.

“He left Bucharest and we have to find him. Can you tell me where we could locate the members of his pack?”

“You better stay away from them love or you may lose that pretty face. Samuel-the shifter is in charge of this town and even vamps keep away from his territory. No one around here crosses him,” she explained, sounding fearful, still not giving me the answer.

“Well, I need to talk to him and I don’t care how dangerous he can be. Where can I find him?” I pressed. I didn’t think Judas knew what he was talking about. I didn’t sense any vampires, and this shifter sounded very serious. I had no idea who this Samuel guy was.

I wondered if Claude had really followed us all the way here. A cold shiver crawled over my spine when I thought about him.

She was hesitant and looked scared, still glancing around and rubbing her hands.

“Not sure. I don’t want any trouble love. Your aura just made me curious,” she muttered when another shifter, a male, approached her from behind, staring at me. He was older too, he had long silver hair and a beard.

“Dundee valley, that’s just opposite of the mountains, head far north” he said, squeezing Dina’s arms like he was trying to get her away from me. She shot him an angry glare, muttered something in Romanian and they both marched off.

That whole thing was very bizarre.

“What took you so long hen?” Lachlan’s voice startled me all of a sudden.

I was just about to answer when another shifter approached me.

“Get lost vamp, I was just about to buy a drink for this lovely hybrid over here, so mind your own business,” he snapped, giving Lachlan an annoyed glare.

Right, this was getting interesting and we didn’t need any trouble right now. I looked at Lachlan, trying to tell him that I was fine when more shifters walked in.

I didn’t like their auras.

The Scot narrowed his eyes at the stranger and took a step forward.

Judas was watching us from our table. Split seconds later he got up. Damn it, why couldn’t Lachlan just leave me alone.

“That hybrid, half vampire is with me you moron. Walk away before I lose my shit. We don’t want any trouble,” Lachlan said, moving his arm around my waist. Damn it, why did he have to act like a caveman? I had this under control, and right now I wanted to stab him directly in the gut.

The strangers’ eyes changed colour and his energy was rising. I had a feeling that this guy was going to either shift or attack Lachlan, both options were bad.

“Go Lachlan, I can handle this, please,” I snapped, but pretty boy was very stubborn and then he showed his fangs. They both must have forgotten that we were still in a place filled with humans. And now the barman was watching us too.

“Is there a problem here?”

This time I was certain that I was having hallucinations, because suddenly Claude appeared out of nowhere. His energy filled the space. I knew he was now trying to use compulsion to make that shifter to back away from us. Lachlan opened his mouth, his anger was potent, so I moved closer to him.

The strange shifter looked a little confused at first, he glanced at me and then at Claude.

“Good day to you all,” the shifter mumbled, then walked away. My heart beat sped up. Claude smiled at me and I grabbed Lachlan’s hand.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just rip you to pieces right here?” Lachlan snarled, still not retracting his fangs. Claude smiled, and I felt butterflies inside my stomach. I shouldn’t have reacted like that, especially when an angry and very possessive Scot stood next to me.

“Because that shifter has just given Jaymin the location of your potential suspect, so put away your fangs Lachlan. People are staring,” Claude said, very calmly. He was right, humans and other supernaturals all went quiet.

I glanced at Karina. She was giving me a look, asking what the hell was going on. At least she was smart enough not to approach me now.

I fucking hated men. I had this all under control, but these idiots had to interfere. Now both of them were in a staring contest.

“Come on Lachlan. We need to leave now,” I snarled, literally forcing Lachlan towards the exit. Luckily Karina and the rest of the group followed. I knew she wasn’t going to be happy. We still hadn’t eaten.

Unfortunately, Claude didn’t get the hint and he followed us out too. The temperature had dropped significantly, so it was freezing cold now.

“What’s going on here?” Karina asked.

“That clown showed up that’s what’s going on,” Lachlan replied, dragging his hand through his hair.

He really didn’t like Claude.

“I have been given an order and I have to see it through. Trust me, this is the last place that I want to be right now,’ Claude said, looking around. “Jaymin got the location of your suspect. We should all leave before the vampires show up. We aren’t particularly welcome here.”

“He’s right, I don’t like the vibes here,” Judas said, and his eyes shimmered with bright yellow light. I looked around, but then Lachlan grabbed my hand and started dragging me away. He was pissed and I had no idea what was going on.

It was clear that we weren’t going back to the bar but heading towards the forest.

“What’s going on? Am I missing something?” I asked pretty boy. Marco was complaining that he didn’t get the number from the female warlock that had been sat opposite our table, because we all left so quickly. On top of that, I was hungry and that wasn’t a great combination.

I didn’t understand why they were all so afraid of all of a sudden.

“The ancient vampires must have sensed us as we crossed into the territory. As much as I hated to admit it, that clown showed up at the right moment,” Lachlan said.

Karina whistled then and we all turned.

“I sense shifters just over a hundred yards from here. And they are not a friendly bunch,” she whispered, sounding scared. That worried me, because Karina was never scared.

“Then, let’s split up,” Marco suggested creating a fire ball of magic. His expression was tense too.

“No, we are not splitting up. That’s what they want, we are staying together,” Judas insisted.