Page 8 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 3
Grayson laughed. “I’m just curious about your views and to hear your facts.”
He wanted to see if there was anyone or anything that struck her. Maybe she’d sense something off about a Vampire or a student, like with Lawson, and she’d pass that on.
“We are to leave our past lives behind us, Mairead,” Amara warned. “Playing reporter again would seem against the spirit of that rule as much as anything.”
“But you’re not going to, are you, Amara?” Mairead looked like a cat that had got the canary.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Amara looked both affronted and a little uneasy.
“Well, your past life was about finding cures for various genetic diseases. Being a Vampire would give you a whole lot more time at the top of your game to study, but also Vampire blood might be the source of those cures, couldn’t it?” Mairead asked, her voice sounding innocent.
Amara stood very still, practically quivering. “Vampire blood is not to be used in experiments. That’s part of the Blood Pact.”
“But it’s happening! It’s so happening no matter what anyone says. On both sides. Vampire and human.” Mairead shook her head. “You had this idea to form a startup with your partner Sandeep Purdesh, but then you got the acceptance letter to the school. But he’s still going through with setting up the startup, despite not having his star researcher at his side.”
“One wonders if the Vampires would wish us to abandon our strengths when we join them,” Eiji said quietly and pursed his lips. “It would seem a shame if we are but blank slates to be written upon.”
“So you think that we were brought here for what we bring to the table? Not just our personalities and our potential, but our pasts as well?” Grayson asked, making sure to use the word “we” even though he really wasn’t exactly a part of this.
Eiji gave a small smile. “In my modest observation, it appears that becoming a Vampire does not change the core of a person. They are just more of what they’ve always been. Mairead has a nose for news, as they say. Dr. Biswas is a talented and driven scientist. These things will not change when the two of them become Vampires. And those traits would be useful in certain minds, I’m sure.”
“And how about you, Eiji-sama? I know you’ve had an interesting life though you don’t talk about it much,” Mairead said. There was affection there, but also a touch of frustration that she couldn’t get a read on the older man. “What do you bring to the table?”
Eiji just smiled. “I was a businessman.”
“That’s like saying water is wet, Eiji,” Mairead muttered.
“Let that satisfy your thirst for now, Mairead.” Eiji patted her shoulder.
“Hmmmm.” Mairead slumped down onto a chair.
There was a knock on the door. Dani’s head shot towards it, but Ryder merely called out, “Come in, Demos, Siban.”
The two Weryn Vampires came in with Demos striding and Siban appearing to glide. It seemed to Grayson that both were more excited than usual, though they were hiding it. They had gone to greet new Weryn Vampires, who were coming since Weryn had returned. It was like a bell had sounded and every Weryn had heard it. Today was also the day that Ryder was going to open the Weryn Palace. So the excitement was more than justified.
“We have been requested to tell Mairead, Eiji and Amara that Christian is downstairs, ready to take them to class,” Siban said in their neutral register.
“I notice that Grayson’s name is not in that list,” Mairead groused.
“One would expect that knowing Vampires as well as Grayson does, he would not require these introductory courses,” Eiji said graciously.
Mairead hopped off of her seat. “I suppose. I guess we’ll have to wait for another time to be graced with your presence.”
Grayson inclined his head to them. After the three students had left and Demos shut the door, everyone looked at Grayson with different expressions. Ryder, of course, looked at him with love and tenderness, but also he knew that Grayson had a lot of things to say to the others. Dani was moving one foot restlessly as she opened and closed her lips, unsure how to begin the conversation that she thought they ought to be asking. Demos’ eyes were narrowed and lips were pursed as he stared at Grayson as if he saw something different in him. Siban’s cool gaze was speculative. Grayson let out a laugh. He found himself laughing so hard that he couldn’t breathe. The other people in the room stared at him with lifting eyebrows and blinking eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” Grayson bit down on the chuckles that kept escaping him. “It’s not funny. It’s just they all think I’m a student, and I know that--other than Ryder--you all think I don’t know I’m Ashyr.”
“You know?!”
“When did he figure it out?!”
“Who told him? Or did he just figure it out?”
“With the Ashyr Vampires surrounding the dorm like a siege, how could he not know?” Demos asked.
“Dani, we need that to stop,” Grayson said to his fledgling.
Dani had gotten off the couch arm and took a few steps towards him. “Ah, yes, I told them, but they need you… Ashyr…”
