Of Blackened Blood by Isla Davon

Here is a summary with spoilers for Of Blackened Blood by Isla Davon

Gadriel is out training with his sister, but she says he is distracted, and he knows he is. His mind keeps wandering to Micai; he shouldn’t have these feelings for her, but he does. He is excited to get back to the academy to get back to training with her.

Micai wakes up after the attack on Christmas, and her realization that Ezra is her mate, and the man who got her through prison in her past life. Micai keeps that information to herself, but the two realize they are indeed mates. All of the boys are excited that she is awake, but Creed wants them all downstairs to go through the attack now that she is awake. While going through that night, Micai realizes she has to share some things with the boys. She tells them about the bracelet her crazy half sister Seria gave her, and that they know something is wrong with it. She tells them about the marks that have been appearing on her skin. She also mentions a prison, one that they don’t believe is real but just a myth. But she is adamant that they look into it. They do try to push her on why she knows so much about it, but she doesn’t spill any secrets.

It’s soon New Year’s Eve, and they are excited to spend it together, especially Annex, Ezra, and Mallyn, because they were not able to spoil her on Christmas. Though Creed is there for it all as well, the boys say he is the glue to their family, though they know he has some making up to do.

As the winter break comes to an end, Micai starts packing up her bags. Annex comes in to distract her with that choice, but ultimately the boys decide she needs to be on campus and act like nothing is different for when her sister comes back to campus. Ezra also comes in with some concerning news about Micai’s bracelet. It turns out it was made of the same material as an old general who also had a bracelet over 200 years ago. Not only did it suck the energy out of him, but it also drained his life force, and it ended up killing him. The boys are glad that Micai took it off, but now they really want revenge, and have plans on finding Seria.

All the students are starting to come back in, so Micai starts moving into Ezra’s dorm, where she runs into Gavriel, but at the same time runs into other teachers who want to question her about where she was on Christmas Eve and the attack that happened in the woods. On the first day of school, Micai is happy to go in with her boys, especially when they take her away from her sister Seria. During her class with Gadriel, Knox, one of her old friends and one of Seria’s boys, comes to her. He knows something is off with Seria and wants to talk to Micai about it.

While at their home, someone breaks in and they are attacked. For the first time, Creed sees Micai as an asset to their team, and he also finds out that she protected his sister. He realizes he has been terrible to Micai and might need to start apologizing, but also likes that he can tease Micai a bit as well.

During their first week back, Seria arrives along with her boys, and she invites Micai to her party. Micai’s boys don’t want her to go, but they decide to go with her. During the party, Seria insists that Micai take a necklace. She takes it, but when they get back to the dorms, the boys take it from her because they think Seria did something to it. Though Ezra can’t detect anything, he still wants it checked. Micai hopes it’s clear because it is her mother’s necklace, and it’s the last thing she has of her mother.

The boys find a place for Micai and Knox to have a conversation that is safe for both of them. Knox says he has been getting headaches, feels confused, and just overall no longer feels safe around Seria. He’s not sure what she is doing to him, but he knows she is doing something. He also mentions that he saw Seria speak into the necklace she gave Micai, so hopefully she hasn’t worn it.

The next day, Micai and Mallyn go investigating in the woods where her last attack was, but they get distracted when he says that they are fated mates. She realizes she has two of them, and it makes her so happy. The two spend the whole night getting intimate with each other, until Creed calls and interrupts because he has some news to share. When they get to the house, Isaiah is there. He is the blacksmith in town that the boys use for their weapons, and he also happens to have been an old friend of Micai’s mom. The boys gave Isaiah Micai’s necklace to look at, and he found out that it is hexed with dark magic, and that if she put it on, or if her blood was mixed with it, she would be poisoned, turned into a mindless puppet, and eventually be killed. Isaiah offers his skills with weapons to help train all of them.

They all continue to train their skills, with Micai really honing in on her new powers. Each night, one of the boys goes to watch Seria to make sure her moves are always being watched. One particular night it is Ezra’s turn, and he overhears a group of professors talking badly about Micai. Before he goes to intervene, the weapons professor Gadriel attacks them all and stands up for her. Ezra makes the decision to ask him for help, because Micai needs a better teacher than any of them. The next day, Ezra goes to ask Gadriel without asking any of his brothers, but knows that Micai will say yes because she trusts him. Gadriel agrees, even though he doesn’t know why Micai needs the training.

Weeks go by with training and school. The boys are hesitant of Gadriel at first, but when they see how much Micai is learning from him and how much she trusts him, they slowly start to as well. At school, Micai is by herself in a rare moment, and she hears her name and a cry for help. It is Knox. She runs to him and he passes out. She gets him to a nurse, but later finds out that he is in a coma. That night, school officials come for both her and Gadriel and accuse her of attacking him, as well as other students. Micai has to put her own story out there and reveals that it was not the case, and Gadriel, even though he is on thin ice, stands up for her as well, and she is let loose.

Wanting a moment to herself after all of that, she goes back to the dorms for a shower. She hears a knock and answers, and is met with Xander, who starts beating the crap out of her and knocks her out. She is dragged away but wakes up when Xander and two other boys are there, also wanting to take turns hurting her. They believe she is the reason Knox is in a coma. Micai finally gets the upper hand, especially when Creed comes in and pins down the two boys, leaving Micai to beat Xander up. She leaves them the message that she never touched Knox, and that they should leave her alone, or next time she won’t be as kind. Creed then takes her back to their home.

The next few days, the rumors are that Micai cursed both her sister Seria and Knox, but Micai just ignores it and spends time with her boys. This includes one evening where the three of them, Annex, Mallyn, and Ezra, are all finally together with her, and all three confirm they are mates with her. She spends a night with all three of them, and then the next morning tries to tease Creed about it.

Training continues with Gadriel, and they all start to treat him more kindly, especially when Gadriel finds out who they are all fighting and protecting Micai from, the lost clan of Domynions. Gadriel tells them everything he knows about them.

The school then hosts the Omerta challenge, which leads Micai, Creed, and Ezra into the forest. They are doing well after their first day, but then the school barrier comes down and all sorts of beasts start to come in and attack. Micai starts to fight and gets injured. Mrs. Fleur, her music teacher, comes to the rescue and helps defeat the beasts. She explains everything that happened and tries to get Micai out of the forest, but Micai refuses to go without Creed and Ezra. Mrs. Fleur then hits Micai on the side of the head and knocks her out. When she wakes, Mrs. Fleur is going to put her in a cell and start torturing her, but Gadriel comes in and fighting breaks out. Micai is able to wield one of Gadriel’s swords, which shocks him, as it was a family heirloom sword and only one of his kind is able to do so. While he is trying to tell her this, Micai feels a stab in her back. Gadriel grabs her and she slowly passes out.

Micai wakes up in a room she doesn’t know, panicked. Isaiah is the one who comes to find her. He wants to know what happened, and Micai tells him that Mrs. Fleur stabbed her and is working with the Domynions. Isaiah tells her that Mrs. Fleur got away, and Gadriel was badly injured and taken to his elven clan to be healed. The dean also decided that school is currently not safe for students and canceled it, but a council was brought in to investigate. They decided that it was Creed, Mallyn, Ezra, and Annex who have been causing all of the problems, so they were detained. Micai wants to go get them, but Isaiah tells her they need to make a plan. They need to go back to Bane Manor, her father’s house. They need to ask for her father’s help, even though he wants nothing to do with Micai. Isaiah promises to go with her, though, and help her through it all.

Meanwhile, the boys are waiting in their cell, worried about Micai, as the last time they saw her she was in pain and dying. They are thinking of ways to get out when the door opens and Thadeus, their old father and tormentor, comes in and says they have been released into his custody, and it’s time for them to come home.