Stakes Are Raised: Grimalkin Vampires, #2

By Laura Greenwood

A former vampire hunter learns what it's like to live on the fanged side.

Having finally got what she's been asking for since leaving the vampire hunting guild, Lily is faced with the realities of vampire life. 

Between her classes, her bodyguard-turned-more, and the threat against the den that gave her a second chance, she has her hands full. 
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Stakes Are Raised is book two of Grimalkin Vampires, an urban fantasy paranormal academy series with an enemies-to-lovers-lite romantic subplot.

If you enjoy strong heroines trying to make amends, vampires, university-age academy settings, and an opposites attract romantic subplot, you should try the Grimalkin Vampires series, starting with No Stakes Allowed.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drowlgon Press
• Release date: Aug 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393072027

Laura Greenwood

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance. When she's not writing, she drinks a lot of tea, tries to resist French macarons, and works towards a diploma in Egyptology. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set. Laura specialises in quick reads, with healthy relationships and consent positive moments regardless of if she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-heavy urban fantasy, or anything in between. You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in The Paranormal Council Facebook Group. Happy Reading!

Book preview

Chapter One

I shut the door to our mini-apartment and sigh with relief. I let my bookbag slide the floor and make my way across the room to where Bryce is lounging on the small sofa.

You're not much of a bodyguard, are you? A smirk lifts the corner of my mouth.

He snorts and cracks open an eyelid. What's left to guard, you already died on me, he quips.

I think that makes you the worst one in history. I tap his legs to make him shuffle around so I can sit down.

Hey, I'm not the first bodyguard to let their charge die. At least I brought you back to life too.

Hmm. I suppose there is that. Perhaps I can forgive you, I tease as I drop down next to him.

He lifts an arm, and I shuffle closer, already excited at the thought of being near him. It's so much easier now he's stopped hating me. Though I'm not sure he ever really did. But he won't admit that, and I don't blame him. I don't think I would either.

I lean in and press a kiss against his cheek. He turns and captures my lips with his. My eyes flutter closed as I drink in everything that is Bryce. Something about being around him sets me more at ease than it should do. It certainly goes against everything I was ever taught as a vampire hunter.

Then again, I think making out with a vampire is high up on the list of what not to do if you're a vampire hunter. So is being a vampire. But both of those are my reality now.

And I don't want to change that.

I pull away, and settle back into his arms. Is there anything good on TV?

He chuckles. "Everything is good."

True. I tap my finger against my chin. Though I've heard others say that isn't the case.

Others haven't lived in a cult or a closed-off city. He shrugs.

It wasn't a cult, I mutter.

"Did you ever do anything other than kill vampires?"

I purse my lips. He has a point there. It didn't take me long to shake their doctrine...

Yes. Only fifteen years or so. It's a record. His eyes are alight with amusement, and I know he doesn't mean anything bad by any of it. He's simply enjoying having someone who knows his past, and has one just as complicated.

I have to admit, I like that too. It gives me a chance to really be me, without all the expectations people have. Now everyone knows I'm an ex-vampire hunter, they're treating me as if I'm about to stake them in the hallway of the academy, despite me now being one of them. Then again, I suppose I did kick Carlton's ass in front of several other students. That may also have something to do with it.

How are you holding up? he asks after a moment, turning all his attention to me.

Fine. Though I wish I didn't have to see Emma's smug face as often as I have to. She may be wearing handcuffs, but my nemesis and murderer is still hanging around the academy as if she didn't stick a knife in me. I've heard some of her friends whispering that she didn't do anything wrong because I'm still alive. But that doesn't stop me being mad that she tried to kill me. That's just as bad.

Especially when she made a hash of it. The irony is, I could do a great job returning the favour. Killing vampires has been part of my life since I was a child, I could do it in ways she hasn't even thought to protect herself from. But I don't. Because I'm better than that now.

Maybe.

If she looks at me the way she has been doing one more time, I may change my mind.

I didn't mean about Emma, Bryce says, bringing me away from my thoughts for a moment. I meant with being a vampire.

Why wouldn't I be okay with that?

He scrunches up his face as he looks at me, clearly not understanding something about my answer. I'm not sure what, though. I thought I was pretty clear.

Because you're now the thing you used to hate the most, he says eventually.

I shrug. But there's no changing that. My choice is to either accept it, or be super weird about it. And that feels like a real waste of energy.

He chuckles and pulls me even closer. You're not like anyone I've ever met.

Good. I wouldn't want to be. I close my eyes and sigh as I snuggle into him.

This is the kind of relationship I never thought myself as capable of having. Even after the vampire hunting guild fell, I didn't dare dream of something like this. Up until a few months ago, it didn't even seem likely that I'd get my freedom back. Though on a technicality, that hadn't happened properly until I'd become a vampire myself.

Do you need any blood? Or something for your gums, or...

Bryce, I say seriously.

His eyes meet mine.

Calm down. I'm okay, I promise. It's been a couple of weeks and nothing bad has happened yet, I remind him.

He sighs. I know. But I've never turned anyone before. And I haven't been through this myself...

I know. I place a hand on his chest and move it around in what I hope are reassuring circles. For all I know, this is actually the way to cure heartburn and not calm someone down. I'm not very well versed in vampire first aid. But I'll tell you if I need something. Or better yet, I'll go get it myself.

You don't have to do everything for yourself any more, he points out.

I shrug. You underestimate the appeal of being able to get up for food whenever I want, and not when someone else says I can.

As if it can hear me, my stomach starts to rumble.

Bryce starts to shift beside me, and I reach out a hand to stop him.

I'll do it.

But...

But nothing, I remind him sternly. It's my turn to cook, you did last night. I get to my feet and make my way over to the small kitchenette attached as part of our room. I doubt most of the dorms have anything like it, but I love the privacy it gives us. Plus, it means I don't have to go to the cafeteria and face all the students who hate me.

But you're the one who goes to lessons all day. Despite my attempts to keep him sat down and not doing anything, he gets up and starts clearing the table.

I roll my eyes, but go about putting together a simple pasta dish. It's all I can cook. Teaching us culinary arts wasn't high up the vampire hunting guild's list of priorities, and I've been focusing on other things since I got out of that hellhole. One day I'll take a course or something.

Maybe. Mostly I'll want to do it for Bryce. I don't want him to suffer through undercooked pasta in unseasoned tomato sauce for the rest of his life.

I hum as I work, enjoying the feeling of doing something so mundane. I like this part of my life and wish I'd found it sooner. At least I'm a vampire now and have countless years ahead of me to do more than this.

Chapter Two

A hush falls over the classroom as I walk in. As normal. I should be used to it by now, and yet I'm not.

I sigh as I make my way to one of the empty seats mid-way towards the back of the room. Not for the first time, I find myself wishing Bryce could still come to class with me. Things were much better when he watched my every move, even if he was doing it to stop me staking anyone.

As if Ashryn would even let me near a stake. Though I do have the knife Bryce gave me still. It just feels wrong to use it against people who are as untrained as the students here at Grimalkin. They think they