The Rock's of Beauty by Meghan Escott (books for new readers TXT) 📕

kissed him once more then got out of bed and got dressed. When I had finished getting dressed, there was a knock on my door and Eric came in to see me and Sam holding hands.
“Awe, you two made it up then?” he said sarcastically. Sam was starting to fume beside me so I dug my nails into his palm and made sure he couldn’t go anywhere. “Still getting jealous I see Sam. Come on Lucy, you’ve got nine girls to turn this morning and more of my blood to drink.” He said to me. Sam made a face at me, begging me not to go with Eric. I shrugged and let go of Sam’s hand. I saw blood drip on the floor from where I had dug my nails into him. He quickly fisted his hand and looked at me apologetically.
I shrugged again and followed Eric out of my room. He showed me into each room and introduced me to each of the girls that I would have to turn that day. There was Aaliyah, Brylee, Condoleezza, Pixie, Fae, Peatol, Kyi, Ala and Iahtah. They were all strange and I did double takes on most of them and asked them to repeat their names.
After three of them I was staggering and Eric had to support me out of the room. Sam was in the hallway, sat next to my door like he had been since I had begun turning people that morning. He started to stand up but Eric glared him down just like he had done the previous day. Sam sat back down again and Eric put his wrist to my mouth. I looked at Sam apologetically and then bit into Eric’s wrist until I was steady again.
This happened until all nine of them were done and my vision had gone blurry again. This time I saw Sam come and take me from Eric before I passed out.
I woke up and Sam was glaring at Eric and the silver bracelet he held in his gloved fingers. I sat up and pulled my hair into a pony tail and whipped my eyes. Sam held my hand and Eric stopped fiddling with my bracelet. He threw it towards me and I caught it and put it on my bed quickly before the silver could burn me too badly. Sam picked it up and put it on his wrist with his and the stroked my thumb with his.
“What do you want Eric?” Sam asked him irritably.
“The Head wants to see her about their classes and her classes. He also wants to talk to both of you about the marriage fandango. And about Kahn and what’s happening to him.” Eric said staring into my eyes making me look away.
“Okay and he wants to see us now?” Sam asked.
“Yes, right now.” Eric said and then walked out. I got up and out of bed and got dressed with Sam picking up Kahn, being shocked when the silver didn’t burn him. He shook his head and then took my hand and took me down to The Heads office. He called for us to enter and he smiled at all of us before telling us to be seated.
“Hello again Lucy, Sam. I need to speak you two together in a minute but I need just Lucy first so, Eric, could you escort Sam out. Thank you.” The Head said. Eric stood up and led Sam out of the room. The Head then stood up and came around his desk and towards me. A chair appeared out of nowhere and he sat on it in front of me.
“The nineteen people you turned yesterday need to be put in classes in first year. They also need to be told about the dance that is happening at the end of the week resembling the start of new life. I suggest you pair Ashton with Aaliyah, Lie with Brylee and so on. That way they will feel like they know someone other than their Turner and their mentor. You are both Lucy and that is a huge responsibility for you to uphold especially with the situation you will be in with the wedding and the new pregnancy. Will you be able to cope with the consequences’ of your job or would you like someone else to up hold your duties?”
“I’ll be fine. And my pregnancy isn’t going to make a difference yet because I get married before I get pregnant so I’ll deal with that bridge when we get to it.”
“You are very determined to succeed and prosper. Classes. I suggest that each of them go into the basic classes; Combat, Performing Arts or Academic Arts, Spells and Witchcraft and Survival. I would also suggest that you check in on their classes regularly to check if they are beginning to major or not.”
“Ashton definitely needs Blood lust Control. He nearly bit my wrist off yesterday when I turned him.”
“We’ll see. If he gets any worse, come and see me about it, same with the others. As for your classes. I’ve been looking in on you in your classes and you are excelling in most of your classes. Therefore, I am dropping most of them. You’ll drop all of the basic classes and only do the extra classes you were given excluding Thought Control and Mental Activity. When your basic lessons would have been, you will go to your people’s classes to check on them and during your breaks you will go to the basic lesson teachers and receive the work you did that lesson. How does that sound?”
“Complicated but I’m guessing I don’t have a choice in the matter?”
“No.”
“Right then. I’ll have to get used to it. What’s going to happen to Kahn?”
“Are you going to raise him so he can become a Vampire Prince like his father?”
“No, we are going to raise him so he doesn’t become like me and Sam are.”
“Interesting choice. When both you and Sam are unavailable, either Eric or I will be looking after him. We will teach him how to control his magic as soon as he can talk and we will teach him to be a turner. I am a turner so that won’t be a problem. You and Sam are obliged to feed him but I wouldn’t recommend you feed him because of all your daily blood loss: feeding twenty six people everyday more than once will give you a lot of side effects and one more feed isn’t going to help. You and Sam can discuss this later.”
“Okay. What about the wedding? Eric said you wanted to talk about the marriage.”
“No, I just wanted to talk to you about your people. You’ll have to take all of them to lessons and explain about lessons and about the dance at the end of the week. You’ll have to explain everything to them. They’ll be completely reliant on you. Good luck.”
He stood up and the chair disappeared. Eric came in with Sam and Kahn and they came straight over to me and Sam gave me Kahn. I took him and rocked him in my arms and kissed his forehead. Eric came over to me and gestured towards Kahn.
“May I?” he asked.
“You’re going to have to, aren’t you?” I said back and gave Kahn to him. He rocked Kahn in his arms while Sam stared from me to Eric.
“What’s going on?” he asked me.
“Let them explain. I’ve got lots of explaining to do today. See you later baby. Thank you Sir.” I said to Sam then The Head and left the office.
Chapter Seven

When I got up to my room, I knew what I would do. I sat in the middle of my block corridor and cut an M into my palm with my nail. I squeezed my hand into a fist while all the doors opened in the hall apart from mine and people came out of each room and came towards me.
“Dude, you got to stop that. It isn’t a nice feeling you get when your Turner does that.” Nick said to me supporting Jane with his hands around her waist. I healed my palm and everyone sighed as the feeling went away.
“What did you want us all for then?” Iahtah asked me.
“I’ve got some explaining to do for all of you and I didn’t want to repeat myself. There is a dance at the end of next week. Each of you will have to find partners and for this one, The Head has paired you up and you will go in those pairs or you’ll have me then Eric then The Head to deal with and you don’t want that. I will be feeding all of you – yes, all of you – my blood two or three times a day and there will be no exceptions apart from me being ill, pregnant or dead.”
“Don’t say that Lucy. Yes, you’ve had lots of NDE’s but you’re not going to die tomorrow. What’s brought all this on?” Aaliyah said, surprising everyone with her soft and sweet voice. It sounded like a lullaby and calmed me down immensely.
“I don’t know how you know about my past and it doesn’t matter how you know but I don’t want to think of the past. I want to think about mine and my kids and you’re futures. Back on subject. Blood – three times a day, every day. You come to me with your problems and your issues, even if they are about me or Sam or Kahn, and I will do my best to sort them out.
You will attend the basic classes and I will escort you newbies to them and I am to attend your classes as well to make sure you are not majoring. If you do, you will be put into according classes.”
They all gaped at me and shook their heads slightly. I shrugged my shoulders at them then got up and went to my room. I slid down the wall and silently cried on the floor.
A knock on my door broke me out of my misery. I got up, wiped my eyes and opened the door to find Tristan standing there.
“Tristan, what are you doing here? I thought you went to the Turner Academy?” I asked him remembering when he gave me blood when my aunt nearly killed me.
“I did and now I’m back and I’m staying to help Sam and Brian with the Turning.”
“Hey, I’m a Turner as well. Hence I have thirty odd doors on my block.”
“Yes, I noticed that. Twenty six people I counted. How are you finding that then?”
“Tough, I’ve just come back from The Head and from him telling me what to do with them and about the opening dance next week.”
“Ouch, how are you? I heard about the school collapsing and what happened to you. How are you’re injuries?”
“Oh, there fine. I had a bit of a mental breakdown after it but I’m fine now, a bit jumpy but fine.”