No Stakes Allowed Read online

  No Stakes Allowed

  Laura Greenwood

  Contents

  No Stakes Allowed

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Also by Laura Greenwood

  Co-written Books

  About the Author

  No Stakes Allowed

  No Stakes Allowed

  Grimalkin Academy: Stakes #1

  Laura Greenwood

  © 2020 Laura Greenwood

  * * *

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; [email protected].

  Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:

  www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk

  Cover by Taurus Colosseum

  No Stakes Allowed is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Blurb

  When vampire hunter turned prisoner, Lily, is given the chance to leave the vampire den, she asks to attend Grimalkin Academy.

  * * *

  The only human among the vampires, she's thrown into a different world from the one she grew up in. With her old enemies all around her, she has to rely on the protection of her vampire bodyguard - a man who hates her. But even his presence can't keep her safe from all attempts at revenge.

  * * *

  Can she convince the vampire she's no longer a threat? Or is Lily too much of a hunter at heart?

  * * *

  ***

  * * *

  No Stakes Allowed is book one of the Grimalkin Academy: Stakes Trilogy. It includes an m/f (non-RH) non-bully academy romance set at Grimalkin Academy. It has a vampire/human romance.

  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 torture 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.

  Chapter Two

  I wring my hands together, trying not to let my nerves overtake me. Ashryn sent word ahead that she's coming, and I know it's about the academy.

  The lock clicks and the door swings open and Ashryn steps in with a tall, dark-haired vampire behind her. At least, I assume he's a vampire. Despite what the guild tried to tell us our entire lives, it isn't easy to tell vampires apart from humans, so long as they're not sucking blood or something like that.

  I stand against the back wall, not moving or saying anything. I'm not usually the tongue-tied type, but this is a special circumstance.

  "This mouse killed how many of our kind?" the male vampire sneers.

  I glare at him. "More than you can count," I respond smoothly.

  Ashryn smothers a smile. She may be a vampire now, but she started out as a hunter and I'm sure she hasn't forgotten that.

  He steps forward and studies me up and down. "You don't look like you could hurt a fly."

  I move without even thinking about it, spinning my leg around and kicking him back into the wall. I hold my forearm across his throat, pressing too hard for his comfort, I'm certain.

  "Don't underestimate me," I growl.

  "Lily, enough," Ashryn commands, though I can hear the amusement in her tone. She's not as annoyed at my actions as she should be. Perhaps she should examine why that is.

  I pull away from the unknown man and dust off my hands. "Just because I'm small and blonde, it doesn't mean I can be taken advantage of."

  "She's right, Bryce. Don't underestimate her."

  Ah, that must be his name. Perhaps a proper introduction may have been a better idea. I'm not sure why no one thought of that.

  "Your request has been granted," Ashryn says to me. "You can attend Grimalkin Academy."

  "I can?" I'm sure my eyes light up, but I don't care if the two of them find out how excited by this I am. I'm finally going to be able to get out of this room, and that's the main thing.

  "There are rules," she says, eyeing me carefully. "You won't be allowed to wander around the academy while vampires are asleep. They're enchanting a small flat for you. The door won't open during daylight hours, providing protection."

  "Protection for me, or from me?" I quip.

  Bryce snorts. At least he has a sense of humour. That's something.

  "Both," Ashryn replies flatly. "People there aren't going to like you."

  "I guessed as much. But that's the same as being in vampire society full stop for me anyway." I shrug, letting the implications of that roll off me. What do I care if people like me? I've got this far in life without that being the case. Unless I count Ravi, though like is the wrong word. He just chose to coerce me into doing his bidding. That's not exactly the best way to form a friendship.

  "Bryce will be accompanying you. He'll live in the same flat, go to your lessons..."

  "What?" I stare at her, my mouth hanging open.

  "It's for your own safety," Ashryn assures me.

  Bryce huffs. "I don't like it any more than you do."

  "Then why are you doing it?" I meet his eyes, challenging him to answer me. I'm not sure what it is about this man.

  "My reasons aren't important." He crosses his arms in a move I'm reasonably certain is meant to be confrontational.

  It fails. I've known far worse men than this one, and I've survived them. He isn't going to intimidate me that easily.

  "If we're going to spend all this time together, then it certainly is important." I echo his stance. Two can play at this game. Neither of us are going to win it, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun.

  "Your car leaves at dusk," Ashryn says. "I'll leave the two of you to get acquainted." She ducks out of the room. The key scrapes in the lock, trapping me inside with Bryce.

  He flashes a longing look at the door.

  "You're going to have to get used to being locked in if you're babysitting me," I point out.

  "I know."

  "If you don't like it, then why did you agree to do this?" I let my guard down for a moment, genuinely interested in hearing his answer. He clearly doesn't want to be here with me.

  Maybe he's done something wrong and this is his punishment. That's cruel and twisted enough to have been an idea straight out of the vampire hunting guild. If anyone's going to be hated more than me, it's him. The vampire protecting the vampire hunter.

  "I had no choice," he says.

  Definitely a punishment then. The question is, what for? He isn't going to tell me now, but I will get it out of him.

  "Are you looking forward to being at the academy?" I ask instead.

  He startles for a moment. Ah-ha, I got him. That's not the line of questioning he's expecting from me.

  "I've never been," he says gruffly.

  "Me neither." I put as many bubbles into my words as possible, faking a girlish excitement I don't really feel. That's going to annoy him even more, and right now, that should be my primary aim. Hopefully, if I get under his skin too much, he'll leave me alone once we're at the academy and I can do some exploring.

  "I know what you're doing," he warns me.

  "I doubt it," I mutter under my breath. I flop down on the bed, at a loss for what else to do. It's clear Bryce doesn't want to get to know me, and I'm not convinced I want to get to know him either. All in all, it's better if we ignore one another. But that doesn't leave me with a lot of entertainment.

  Bryce begins to pace around the room. I wish I had a magazine or something to flick through. At least at the academy I'll have coursework of varying kinds to keep me occupied while he broods.

  "Don't you have anything to pack?" he asks after a long silence.

  I shrug. "I doubt they allow stakes."

  I stifle a laugh at his shock. He's probably trying to decide whether or not I'm serious. As if I could have stakes here. I don't have any weapons. Not that I need them. I can take down a fully grown man without any. I've been training since I was seven years old, it's hard to undo that kind of learning.

  "What about clothes?" Ah, so he's decided I'm joking about weapons. Such a shame.

  "Does it look like I have mountains of them here?" I ask, shifting on the bed so I can wave around the room. "I'm given a set of clothes each time I shower." I hope Ashryn has thought of that and supplied me with a decent wardrobe for going to lessons. I'm done with leggings and baggy t-shirts.

  A knock sounds on the door. That's new. I wonder if it's because Bryce is in here with me? Maybe they think they'll catch us in a compromising position. I chuckle to myself. That isn't going to happen.

  It opens seconds later to reveal a scarred vampire I've only ever seen with Ashryn before. I don't think I've ever heard him speak.

  "It's time to go," he announces.

  I jump off the bed, eager for the new chapter of my life to begin. I hope it lives up to my imagination.

  Chapter Three

  I can't believe I'm here and standing in front of the building that's going to be my home for the next three years. It's kind of imposing, but that may not be the building, but the witches and vampires within it.

  It's impossible to forget how much vampires in general hate me. I've destroyed so many of their lives, and I'm not even twenty-two. I push the thought out of my mind and remember that I want to be here. This is what I asked for, I can't back out now, not without looking like a fool.

  "Come on," Bryce grunts, pressing into my shoulder and encouraging me to move forward.

  I shoot him an annoyed glance. Is this how our interactions are going to go? With how he's acting, I'd have thought I killed his mother or something.

  Oh eek. Perhaps I did. It's not like I checked the vampire family trees before I performed a hit. That would have made them too human. And my job too hard.

  I stop dwelling on the past and follow Bryce inside the building. I try to stay clos
e to him, not because I want to, but because there's no choice. No one seems to have thought about the fact I'm human, nor that it means I don't have the same senses as the vampires around me. Which means I'm stumbling around in the dark trying not to trip over.

  If my guild instructors could see me now, they'd roll over in their graves. Unless they're still alive, and then they'd probably not say anything at all in case it outed them as what they used to be.

  Once we're inside the building, it gets a little easier, though now there are students to contend with. I can feel their eyes on me, and even though I don't have anything as obvious as a wheelie suitcase, it's like they all know who I am.

  I swallow my nerves. I need to keep my wits about me, that's for sure.

  "Is that who I think it is?" one of the girl's sneers, though I'm not entirely sure which one of them it is.

  I ignore her and hold my head up high. There's no way I'm going to let some snooty little vampire get the better of me. I've seen far worse things than any of them can possibly imagine. Ravi wasn't a kind man, and what none of them seem to understand, is that they're not his only victims. He made me watch him torture vampires. And then he'd kill them. After that, I got to leave the room, but I know what he did to the bodies. I shudder just thinking about it. The only way I've been able to stay sane is to pretend it doesn't bother me. One day that'll change, but I need some more time.