Hungry Earth (Elemental Book 2) Read online

  “I’m not sure I should be a part of this,” Erik said.

  “You can have my spot in the pack,” Henry told the vampire.

  The woman laughed. “I’m Amelia Bell.”

  “Are you Scottish?” Darwin asked. “I’ve been to Scotland. It’s beautiful.”

  “My father is from Belfast and my mother was from Glasgow, so I’m Irish and Scottish.”

  “What kind of fae are you?”

  “Vouxeng. I can affect the moods of people around me. I can take their energy, too, if I have to defend myself.”

  “We’re supposed to be telling each other about ourselves, so you start,” Darwin told her.

  “Well, my mother is human, my father is fae. We’re a rare type of fae, because our power is psychic-based instead of elemental-based.”

  “What is the difference between fae and fairy?” Erik asked.

  “Fairies are a specific type of fae,” Darwin answered. “They are the most powerful because they can do anything than a wizard can do without trying…” He trailed off and both he and Henry looked at me expectantly.

  “Don’t do that,” I said. “I’m just getting used to being a wizard. Please continue, Amelia.”

  “Well, our tribe is strictly forbidden from dealing with humans, so when they found out my father had a child with a human, they exiled him and killed my mother. My father was able to save me in time and we moved to the United States to be safe from their law. Your turn, Devon.”

  “I grew up thinking I was human and that my best friend ate my parents. Your turn, Erik.”

  Erik and Amelia both gaped at me.

  I sighed. “Okay. My best friend was a vampire who tore the man I thought was my father into pieces and nearly killed my mother. I came here and found out that my real father was a member of the wizard council, and that he was killing people and blaming the vampires.”

  “You’re John Cross’s son?” Erik asked.

  “Unfortunately. Now it’s your turn.”

  He shrugged. “I lived a perfectly normal human life until about ten years ago. I was twenty-two. Actually, it was my birthday. My fiancé and I were heading home from my sister’s party when we were attacked by a vampire. Cindy was killed and I was left for dead. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what I was. I had a hard time thinking straight, though.”

  “Did you kill people?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. It was very much like an endless nightmare; I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I kept trying to retain my human thoughts, and that only ever made it worse. It was a year later that I realized vampires were sentient beings with completely different thought processes. Learning not to trespass into other vampires’ territories was one of the first lessons I learned. Eventually, I was recruited into a coven, but they were more like a clan of rogues, so I broke away from them and found Stephen’s coven. Now, Henry, you look familiar. What’s your story?”

  My roommate shrugged. “I’m a jaguar shifter. I grew up with my parents and nobody tried to kill me or them.” He left out the part about being invisible when he shifted.

  “Don’t most cat shifters kick their kids out at a certain age?”

  “I work for my parents, so that would be counterproductive.”

  “What do you do?”

  “This and that.”

  “Come on, Henry. Spill! We’re not going to judge you!” Darwin promised.

  “I think we should move on to you,” I told him. At the time when I practiced my power on Darwin, I had gotten an impression of Henry’s mind. I knew he was forced to do something he didn’t want to.

  Darwin took the hint. “Oh, I’m boring. My dad is a wolf shifter and my mother is a forest spirit, which is a very boring type of fae. Basically, she can grow plants and camouflage things. My parents moved us all over the world for my dad’s research.”

  “Research in what?”

  “Mostly environmental stuff. Since marrying my dad, my mother studied science and became a paleontologist. My dad was a marine biologist, but now he does whatever. Oh, and I can’t be touched because it hurts and I see your death.”

  “Okay, students. Everyone except for Michaels, Mason, and Sanders can leave,” Kale said.

  “What did you two do?” Henry asked.

  “We didn’t do shit,” Darwin said, annoyed. “We witnessed Jackson trying his usual crap and Kale is just a simpering wanker.”

  Kale stepped up to our table. “Move along, the rest of you,” he barked.

  As Amelia and Erik stood up and left, Henry leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “I’ll stay.” He glared at Kale.

  Kale glared back. “I don’t have a problem giving you detention, Mr. Lycosa.” Henry said nothing back, so he returned to the front of the room. “For your detention, you will clean the vampires’ chambers and take them their meal.”

  “What’s to stop them from biting us?” Darwin asked.

  “Don’t anger them. Now get to it.”

  We got up and left the classroom. Jackson closed the door behind him and headed down the hallway.

  “You’re going the wrong way, stupid!” Darwin informed him.

  “Fuck detention. If you want to listen to that jackass, that’s your business.”

  Darwin looked at me. “Should we tell Kale?”

  “Do you really want to work alongside Jackson?” Henry asked. I agreed with the jaguar. “You can go back to the room, Devon. We know you hate vampires.”

  “I already checked; I can afford to flunk Kale’s classes.”

  “Yeah, well, I can’t,” Darwin said, pouting. “I’m going to fail my Manipulation of Elementals class on account of having no damn fae magic.”

  “Alright. Let’s get this over with. Just don’t get any blood on you.”

  We found our way to the lower levels of the castle easily and stopped at the door. “What if that thing is still in there?” Darwin asked, referring to the creature that had chased us out of the lower level when we last visited the morgue.

  Of course, we never saw it again, so I assumed it was gone. “Well, then I’m sure it is enjoying the vampire buffet.”

  I felt her presence right before the door opened to Clara, who grinned darkly. She wore an emerald-green, satin and lace corset with a short black, pleated skirt. “Three new recruits?” she asked.

  “I think my jaguar would object to that,” Henry said.

  “We’re the room and maid service,” Darwin added. “Got a French maid uniform?”

  Clara smirked. “Yes.” She turned and went downstairs.

  We followed. The tunnels underground were lit with torches every ten feet that went out after we passed them. “Kale gave us detention and said we need to clean this place and feed the velociraptors— I mean vampires.”

  “How are you supposed to clean? What, are you going to sweep the dirt? We could use some help with the blood preparations.”

  “Great,” I said. She led us down several tunnels until we reached the infirmary, where Dr. Martin was pouring blood from a jug into small, clear plastic cups. Astrid had told me that vampires could drink blood from a bag, but I couldn’t imagine they liked it very much. “Is that one cup enough for a vampire?”

  “This is partially synthetic,” Dr. Martin said. “It is much more potent than normal blood, but also soporific. This amount alone would make them nauseous at even the thought of drinking more blood. If a vampire drank more than this, it would act as a tranquilizer. We’re trying to set it up so that the vampires get their blood at sunset, but we’re not very organized yet.”

  Clara took another jug and helped him fill up the cups. When they were done, there were forty cups. Clara took one and drank it down with a grimace.

  “Does it taste bad?”

  “It has to be kept cold, so it’s sticky and flavorless. The texture is weird, too. It’s like… grainy.”

  “I can fix that,” Dr. Martin said.

  He picked up a notebook and three white plastic trays fr
om his bench and handed the notebook to her. Henry, Darwin, and I took the trays and divided up the blood cups on them. We followed Clara out and went to the nearest door, which she knocked on. A moment later, a young woman answered.

  “Good evening, Alice. Here is your drink.”

  The woman frowned. “Are we really going to have to live on this for sixteen weeks?” she asked, taking one of the cups.

  Clara checked the woman’s name off her list. “I’m afraid so.”

  This was repeated several times before we got to a door where no one answered. “What happens if they miss their feeding?” Henry asked.

  “Then they have to go to Dr. Martin directly.”

  “And what happens if you catch them sucking on someone’s neck?”

  “They are arrested immediately and investigated. If their victim did not consent, fully and with complete awareness, the vampire is punished according to the rules of their coven. Everyone here is a member of my father’s coven, since the council only made a treaty with us. Vampires in my coven are allowed to coerce humans, but anything that is considered abuse or endangerment is met with strict discipline from my father. Our vampires are also not allowed to take a drop of blood from any paranormal without full consent of the paranormal.”

  “What if the vampire thralls a wizard into consenting?”

  “We have ways of detecting that. Punishment for breaking either law is usually the removal of the vampire’s fangs.”

  We covered ten more rooms before we came to another where no one answered the door. Instead of moving on, Clara sniffed at the door. Obviously not happy with what she smelled, she grabbed the handle and turned it. I didn’t hear a lock break. Inside, I saw nothing unusual; it was a basic room about eight-by-ten with a twin bed, a desk, two chairs, and a dresser.

  So the vampires don’t have roommates.

  A man was lying on top of his covers in the bed I knew something was wrong when he didn’t immediately wake. As if she wasn’t already certain of the situation from the doorway, Clara went to him and checked his pulse. “He’s dead,” she confirmed.

  “He’s a vampire; he can’t be dead,” I said.

  “Go get Hunt.”

  “What is going on here?” Kale asked, suddenly behind us. “A vampire has been killed?” He looked slightly sick to his stomach. “Stephen will not be happy about this.”

  “My father won’t jump to conclusions,” Clara said. “Get Hunt and Dr. Martin.”

  “I’ll get the doctor,” Henry said and left.

  “Until we find the murderer, this school is on lockdown. All students are to be confined to their rooms. Sanders and Mason, that means you two as well.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Darwin and I both ignored him. “Is there any blood or a wound?” I asked Clara. I would have examined the vampire myself, but Darwin and I were blocking Kale and I got the feeling it was a bad idea to let the council member enter the room. Darwin must have picked up on it, because he didn’t move either.

  My roommate shook his head. “I’m not as good as a shifter with my nose, but I smell nothing odd at all.”

  I moved aside as Henry returned with Dr. Martin. Clara backed up to give Dr. Martin some space. He shined a small flashlight in the vampire’s eyes. “Everyone out,” he said.

  We went out into the hall and closed the door. The silence was awkward as Kale glanced between the three of us, his eyes narrow with suspicion. I was fairly certain that he was hoping one of us was the murderer. About ten minutes later, the door opened.

  “Who killed him?” Kale asked immediately.

  “That is difficult to say, for there was no cause of death.”

  “He’s still alive?”

  “No, he is definitely dead. There just wasn’t any cause. He simply stopped being alive.” We turned as Hunt arrived with Flagstone in his shifted form. The wolf shoved his way into the room, sniffed the body, and looked at Hunt.

  “There was a witness,” Hunt said.

  I glanced at Darwin and he nodded before taking off down the hall. If anyone was talking about it, he would find them.

  “Kale, we are going to take care this,” Hunt said. “You can get back to your work and we will let you know as soon as we have any new information. Trust me; Rosin can track anyone.” The wolf in question sat in front of the body and nodded.

  Kale glared. “You better have information for me soon, Logan.” He left.

  Hunt turned back to Flagstone. “Now, what do you mean there is no scent?” The wolf sniffed the body again for a moment and then backed away. “Devon, someone saw what happened. I need you to find out who it was.”

  “We’re already on it.”

  “Good.”

  “What was his name?”

  Hunt looked at the body, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed. “His name was Cooper. I know you still think vampires are all killers, Devon, but even you must see this as a tragedy.”

  I did. Even knowing what he was, I couldn’t imagine the guy ruthlessly killing someone. He was probably seventeen, thin, with dark brown hair and laugh lines. He looked no different than any human teenager. Then again, I couldn’t write him off as innocent just because of his age. Astrid killed at least three people before she was thirteen. “How many people has he killed?”

  “He never killed anyone. I was there when Cooper’s brother brought him to Stephen. Cooper had cancer and was not going to live for another month. Stephen changed him and taught him to get blood without hurting people. Finish passing out the blood and do not let anyone suspect anything.”

  We did as he asked. Clara was very natural and even offered a few smiles, but when the doors were closed, I could sense her stress. It took nearly an hour to go to every room. When we were done, Henry and I returned to our room to wait for Darwin.

  I opened the door to find Ghost sitting on my desk with Vincent’s book beside him. “I’m sure you already know what happened,” I said. The cat nodded. “Do you know who witnessed the vampire’s death?” Ghost shook his head and hissed at the door.

  Henry sighed. “We are not going to bed tonight, are we?” He opened the door to find Addison standing there. She was already an attractive woman, so I figured the blue tank-top with black boxers that she wore was an attempt to seduce Henry.

  “Didn’t you graduate?” I asked.

  “This is my fourth semester. The wizard council wants to see you.”

  “Well, I’ll see Kale on Wednesday in class.”

  She sighed. “I’m just the messenger. Please don’t make my job harder.”

  I nodded. “Alright. But you don’t get to ask me about Henry,” I said.

  Addie had managed to monopolize Henry’s attention during the full moon for all four months of our first semester, so it seemed to me that he really liked her. However, she couldn’t accept that he was only interested for the three days of the moon. I had asked Darwin in private and he said he never heard of that kind of lunar effect. Then again, Henry wasn’t a regular jaguar shifter.

  When Henry started to follow me towards the door, I stopped. “You should probably wait here. Kale already doesn’t like me because of John Cross. It would be nice if one of us graduates this semester.”

  Ten minutes later, Addison and I were standing in front of Mrs. Ashcraft’s old office. Addie knocked on the door and we heard someone tell us to come in. I went inside and closed the door behind me, leaving Addie outside.

  Kale sat in the seat on my side of the desk while another man sat on the chair behind the desk. The stranger was heavier set with thinning, medium brown hair, dull blue eyes, and a bushy mustache. He wore a light tan business suit. Unlike his daughter’s trusting eyes, his were calculating.

  “Mr. Sanders, thank you for joining us. I am Grayson Adams.” He stood and reached out, so I approached the desk calmly and shook his hand. “First of all, I would like you to know that the wizard council will not hold you accountable for your father’s actions.”

  “That’
s a relief. So, which one of you sent Hunt to kill me when I was a child?” He sat back down and gestured to the chair beside Kale. I remained standing.

  “That was an unfortunate misunderstanding,” he said warmly. “You see, we were always suspicious of John Cross, so when we discovered that he had an extremely powerful child who was being raised by humans, we knew we had to put our secrecy first.”

  “Let me guess; John’s mind control prevented you from voting him out?”

  “It was a little more complicated than that. Once a wizard is in the inner circle of the wizard council, they can only be removed by death.”

  “Why did you call me in here?”

  “As you know, we have recently signed a treaty with the vampires. Therefore, the murder that took place tonight is concerning. We want the murderer caught. To catch them, we need to find and question the witness that Logan believes was there. I know of your reputation and want to hire you to find the witness.”

  “Hunt has already asked me to find the witness.”

  “Yes, but you have no intention of telling the wizard council. I want to hire you, at twice your normal rate, to tell us who the witness is. You can still tell Hunt who it is, but don’t tell him that you told us.”

  “And what happens if I refuse?”

  His eyes narrowed in a scowl. “Then you will be detained until we can get the information ourselves. We would also lock up your roommates.”

  “You don’t get told no very often, do you?”

  “No, we don’t.”

  “Twice my normal fees. I’ll do it, but none of you are allowed to follow or confront me or my roommates. If the other students think I’m working for you or that you are looking over my shoulders, they’ll clamp up.” I didn’t feel the need to mention that my classmates already thought I was working for the council to help the vampires.

  I knew I was going to regret this.

  Chapter 3

  When I got back to my room, Henry was asleep and Darwin was studying at his desk. “Did you find anything?” I whispered.

  He shook his head. “Not yet. Nobody knows about the death except for those of us who saw the body and the witness. I figure that it will slip out of someone within a few hours and when it does, I’ll find out who knows something they aren’t supposed to.”