Grimalkin Academy

Chapter 1

Chapter One

I wring my hands nervously, waiting for the woman who changed my life to appear in my room and do it all over again. She's been trying to get me to rejoin some society or other for months, but I keep refusing. I'm not sure of my place anymore, and I don't want to make the wrong decision.

The door creaks open a moment later, as if summoned by my thoughts. I can get used to that happening.

Ashryn steps inside, her vampire senses giving her an elegant approach I can't help but envy, even if it puts me on edge. I've trained my entire life to hunt and kill vampires, the irony of now living in their den doesn't escape me.

"I've decided what I want," I announce, my voice shaking with nerves as the red-haired former hunter stares at me.

"And?" She raises an eyebrow, clearly not expecting me to say anything she can give.

I don't even know why she's still trying with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that she is, just like I'm grateful she saved me from the guild when it was about to explode, but I know I wouldn't have the patience.

"I want to go to university," I blurt out.

She shakes her head in surprise. "University?" she echoes.

"Yes. I never got to go, because..."

"I know why you never got to go," she snaps. Guilt wells up in me. She might have been the one that brought down the vampire hunters guild, but she also had her childhood taken by them, just like me.

"I'd like to go now."

She sighs. "I can ask, but I can't promise anything. I doubt Dimitri will let you go to a human university."

My heart pounds in my chest. I know what that means. What I've been asking for since I got here could be within my reach.

"Does that mean you'll turn me into a vampire?" I ask despite myself. Every other time I've voiced the question I've ended up shot down, but it's at least worth an attempt. If not, I'll never know.

Ashryn laughs. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"They turned you into a vampire."

"Because I was technically dead," she points out. "Trust me, you don't want to be a vampire."

"You don't know that..."

"I do. The blood's fine. But you know what isn't? Never seeing the sun again. It burns like hell." She shudders at what is clearly a memory of being burned.

I gulp loudly. "But if you can't send me to a human university, you'll have to send me to Grimalkin," I point out. That's the academy closest to the den, and one that admits both witches and vampires. But not normally humans.

"Yes. We will," she acknowledges. "But you'll be sent with a guard."

"You're giving me a bodyguard?"

"I don't know for sure. This is only what I'm guessing will happen." She shrugs.

"Right." I don't know how I feel about that. I know I want out of this room, but the vampires haven't let me since we got back from the guild. Which could be my own fault. Probably because I refuse to live somewhere they can keep an eye on me. Or perhaps because despite only being twenty-one, I've killed a lot of them over the years. Ashryn has been visiting me for weeks trying to get me to tell them what I want to do next so they can let me out. Apparently, it's what they've been doing with all the hunters. Some have gone back to human lives, though I have no idea how they can after what we've seen. Others have started living with the vampires and even taking vampire lovers.

"Anything else?" she asks.

"Turn me into a vampire?" I say sweetly.

She shakes her head. "Not on my watch."

"Please? It's the least you can do for me..."

She chuckles dryly, but I'm not fooled. I can see the darkness that flashes through her eyes. "Your boyfriend tried to t*****e me to death and told me he was going to do unspeakable things to my body afterwards. And that you used to watch him do it to people..."

A shiver rushes through me at the memories. Not of what Ravi did to her, I wasn't there for that. But of the other things he made me watch. "I told you..."

"You have foresight, yes. And that he'd have done much worse to you if you'd said no. But that doesn't mean you get to tell me what I should be doing for you. If anything you owe me your life. Don't forget that, Lily." She stands up and makes her way to the door. "Don't worry, I'll still ask Dimitri about university," she assures me.

"Thanks." I smile weakly, wishing I hadn't pissed her off. She's surprisingly laid back for someone who died, but that didn't mean I could just go around insulting her.

The door clicks shut behind her and the turn of a key is all I need to know I'm locked away again.

I sigh and sit back down on the bed, leaning my back against the wall and thinking things through. Can I really do it? Go to an academy full of vampires while I'm human? Having been around more of them here, I know they're not likely to start munching on my neck without a good reason, but it seems to be tempting fate a little.

I need to stop overthinking things. Ashryn knows what she's doing. Despite being one of the best vampire hunters at the guild, with a kill count as high as anyone's, she still managed to convince one of the most powerful vampires in the country that she was on his side. There are things I can learn from her.