Page 6 of Ever Dark Academy: Volume 6

The “little” show probably had more viewers than even her primetime slot did. Christian and Julian were still recording it. They were following both their sets of parents’ determinations about whether to be turned or not as well as interesting Vampire lore and creatures.

“I am interested in your story, Grayson. I’d at least like for you to get the chance to tell it to an audience broader than a local television station,” Melinda said, which was a dig at Rachel’s job.

Grayson just regarded her steadily back. “What exactly would you want to talk to me about?”

“Must we play such games, Grayson? I may call you Grayson, can’t I? My name is Melinda. Melinda Carter,” she said smoothly. “Maybe you’ve seen my show?”

“I think you like games,” he replied dryly, ignoring the rest of what she said.

She gave him a rather wicked smile. She was beautiful. And he imagined that some people might find her almost sharp coquettishness interesting. And if this had been about something else than the people in front of him, he might have enjoyed it too. Sparring with someone so odious and getting one up on them was a pleasure. Balthazar likely loved running her through her paces and then yanking whatever prize she wanted right out of her grasping hands.

“I do, but I’m not playing them here. And I don’t think your life is a game,” she said, the smile leaving her face and soberness replacing it. “Every student who has been chosen to come to the academy is under intense scrutiny. Your name was not on the original list. So when you turned up so unexpectedly… Well, we are all interested. And there was quite a bit to be interested in.”

The camera’s lights were blinding as it was leveled at him. Grayson squinted and grimaced. The light was suddenly not in his face anymore. The cameraman cried, “Hey! Let go of the camera, buddy! Oh… it’s you.” Grayson blinked a moment before he could see who was causing that dread and obeisance to creep into the cameraman’s voice.

“Have you not gotten enough footage this evening, Ms. Carter?” Caemorn’s voice was silky and cold.

Melinda’s smile was back, but a little forced. “That was a spectacular display you put on, Lord Losus. I’m sure it will have people talking. Probably have the religious people’s heads exploding. That last bit was rather like the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Fantastic, really.”

Caemorn regarded her unblinkingly. He said nothing. Melinda swallowed though she kept that smile plastered on. Rachel came up the other side, looking like a rabid terrier who wanted to take a bite out of Melinda’s backside. That almost had Grayson laughing with affection.

“Look, Lord Losus, Grayson and I were just speaking. If he didn’t want to be interviewed, the matter would have stopped right there. But I just wanted him to know that the opportunity is there to tell his story. Get his version of what happened the night his stepfather died out,” Melinda said, her smile becoming more rigid the longer Caemorn stared at her, but said nothing. Realizing that she was beaten, she gritted out, “But you’re quite right that we have plenty of footage.” Melinda gestured for the cameraman to follow after her. She did toss over her shoulder, “Grayson, it really is important that we get your side of the story out there. Because it will be written with or without you.”

She walked right through his stepfather who was grinning slightly. While she didn’t see him, she shivered and drew her jacket tighter around her lithe form. The interaction had not gone unnoticed by the other reporters. But upon seeing Caemorn by their group, the other reporters literally retreated the other way off of the platform. Considering the show he’d put on and his good looks, Grayson was surprised in some way that they weren’t dying to talk to him. But maybe that was the problem. They feared they would die if they talked to him. Grayson waited a beat until Melinda and her cameraman were well out of earshot.

“Thanks.” Grayson stuck his hands into his front pockets. “To all of you. I appreciate the save.”

“She’s such a Class-A bitch,” Rachel snarled under her breath.

“She is effective at her job even if that makes her unpleasant in many other ways,” Caemorn said quietly.

“She is a hack!” Rachel shook her head. “She dumbs down everything to a soundbite. Maybe that’s okay for some things, but not for…” Rachel stopped as she looked at Grayson and an almost guilty look crossed her face. She likely felt she should have done something about his stepfather’s abuse. But no one could have done anything. “There’s a lot of nuance to things. Why things happen. People do things when they’re up against the wall. Even if Melinda understands it, she won’t report the whole of it.”

She knows I killed him. She just doesn’t know how. But she fears that it’ll get out and I’ll be prosecuted for it, Grayson realized.

But since he was an Immortal, there could be no prosecution. The Blood Pact made such an act unthinkable. Though the humans didn’t know who he was. Yet.

“I, personally, don’t want her to report any of it,” Grayson admitted and scrubbed the back of his neck.

His father looked at him with concern, seeing the droop of his shoulders, and the dark circles under his eyes. He wished he could hear the man’s voice. But he wasn’t a Speaker to the Dead or a Kaly.

“I know, but…” Rachel worried her lower lip. “She wasn’t lying when she said that people are writing stories about you, Grayson.”

Grayson lifted his head. They had no internet in the Ever Dark so he couldn’t keep up with the news. The school was kept relatively cloistered from that sort of thing. The students were not even allowed to speak to family or friends when they entered. The reporters were the only ones who knew what was going on outside. And, of course, the Vampires, too.

Catching his eye, Caemorn said, “Balthazar will take care of this. There is no need to worry.”

“I’m not worried. It’s just a distraction,” Grayson said.

He caught sight of his father out of the corner of his eye. The man was looking at him almost beseechingly. What did he want from Grayson? To cry about what had happened? He’d done plenty of that! So many worse things–more traumatic things–had happened to him as Ashyr that Grayson’s woes were not even a drop in the bucket!

But it matters to him, because I’m his son. I have to assure him that I can handle things from here and he can go, Grayson thought. I can do that for him at least. I owe him that.

“What are you going to do to take care of it?” Rachel asked, almost innocently, but with a touch of concern.

Caemorn just proceeded to stare at her unblinkingly. Grayson gave a soft laugh and touched Caemorn’s arm.

“She’s an old friend and neighbor,” he explained, though he was certain Caemorn knew this. “She is still friends with my… my mom. She just worries about me and all of it.”