Page 18 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Lily

“Go answer the door,” Master Cedric demanded. “I need to take this call. If you value your life, you’ll remain silent.”

Some irrational part of me wanted to scream just to scream. He’d told me to speak freely, then responded to my questions with half-answers.

“Why am I here?”

“Because I want you here.”

What the Goddess did that even mean?!

Then he’d said this wasn’t a game when clearly?—

“Prince Silvano,” he greeted, cutting off my thoughts with a shot of ice down my spine. A screen appeared in front of him to reveal a male with long white hair, dark eyes, and a perfectly square jaw.

“Cedric. I told you to call me.” The slight accent curling around his tone made me shiver. As did the recognition working its way through my mind.

Royal vampire.

A royal vampire who just called Master Cedric.

Master Cedric, who I just yelled at .

Me. I yelled. No, I did more than that. I screamed at him.

Oh, Goddess, I’m ? —

“Yes, my apologies, My Prince. I saw your message as I was enjoying my breakfast and became distracted,” Master Cedric replied, disappearing from the bedroom through a set of sliding doors that led to the balcony outside. He closed the glass slats behind him, cutting me off from the conversation.

A conversation with a royal vampire.

Because Master Cedric is important.

High-ranking.

And I just ? —

Another knock sounded, the rapping noise reminding me of a drum counting down the seconds to my inevitable death.

“Go answer the door,” Master Cedric had demanded.

I stole a sharp breath, trying to calm my beating heart. But I’d just done the unthinkable. I’d verbally sparred with a superior, and a high-ranking one at that. A future sovereign.

Prince Silvano’s progeny.

That practically made Master Cedric royalty himself, or very well near it. Which explained his stay here at?—

Another knock interrupted my thoughts, making me scurry off the bed. I needed to obey Master Cedric, to prove I could… I could… Oh, I don’t even know anymore .

This game between us had rules I didn’t understand.

He was unlike any of my prior Masters, his behavior something I’d always feared from his kind, as I’d seen what happened to humans who caught the eye of superior beings.

Except he’d been mostly kind.

Feeding me. Healing me. Giving me water.

But what is waiting for me behind this door? I wondered as I approached it. I still had my towel wrapped around me, which was better than nothing. For some reason I felt the need to wear the fabric as armor, which was ridiculous, considering how often I was forced to walk around without clothes.

Regardless, I held the knot at my chest as I used my opposite hand to open the door.

A petite human female stood outside holding a tray, her gaze averted. “I’m sorry for knocking more than once, Sire. Mistress Adrienne t-told me to kn-knock again,” she stammered, her skin a sheet of white against her darker features.

“Master Cedric is in the other room,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice as low as possible. He’d told me not to speak. But maybe he’d just meant as he answered the phone. Or maybe he’d meant now.

I didn’t know.

I didn’t really know anything at all.

The human didn’t acknowledge me, her gaze still on the ground. “Master Cedric asked for me to deliver this.”

I assumed this was the tray in her hands. “Oh.” I stepped backward into the room to search for an appropriate place to set it down, but the female moved in after me and went straight toward the bedroom. “He just took a call out on the balcony,” I warned her. “With Prince Silvano.”

She froze, then turned abruptly. Her hands were shaking as she set the tray down on a table near the corner of the room. It seemed like an odd choice, given the larger table near the two couches in the center.

I nearly asked, but she fell to her knees onto the marble floor beside the table, taking a submissive pose without a word. Then she unbuttoned the top of her shirt to make her neck more accessible .

And bent her head next before going perfectly still.

Did Master Cedric intend to feed from her after already biting me today? Would he give her blood afterward?

Was this another lesson of some kind?

He’d told me to answer the door and not speak.

Okay, so what now? Did I bow like her? Kneel and await my fate?

A fate that couldn’t be good, considering I’d just screamed at him.

What was I thinking? How could I be so free with my emotions?

Maybe it was his blood. It left me feeling alive. Invincible. Strong . And I hated how grateful that made me, how indebted to him I felt for giving me such an amazing sensation.

Oh, and the pleasure. Dear Goddess, he’d awakened a warmth in me that I wanted to experience again and again. Which terrified me, given that it was him evoking those feelings.

As though I needed another reason to be drawn to him.

He was handsome. Powerful. Intimidating. Strong. And now I had to add giving to the list. Considerate . A man possessing a rapturous touch.

I nearly groaned, my thighs tingling with awareness all over again.

I wanted him.

Yet I disliked him.

Well, no. I feared him. Except I also didn’t.

And I’d screamed at him. Yeah, back to that transgression again.

I’d been so focused on fighting him, on looking for a way to play this game, that I’d grown frustrated by his responses .

What’s he going to do to me now?

Maybe I should kneel with the other girl. At least that would give me a somewhat contrite appearance.

Swallowing, I decided to do just that.

I dropped the towel and went to the floor near the table. Master Cedric had wanted me naked and kneeling during our first private lesson. Maybe if I did this now, he’d indulge me in a punishment rather than kill me outright.

Although, I wasn’t sure the former would be much better.

Goddess, I’m a mess . I’d lost my head completely, forgotten all my training, and verbally assaulted a superior. Surely that hadn’t been his desire when he’d told me to speak freely.

My knees protested a bit against the marble floor. Kneeling on the plush carpet of the bedroom or even the rug in the decorative seating area would have been preferable. But I assumed this other human knew Master Cedric’s preferences.

I kept my head down and started counting.

When I reached a thousand, I started over.

Once I hit the number again, I went back to one.

It kept me calm and helped me control my breathing.

I was on my seventh round of the nine hundreds when Master Cedric finally returned. His steps were silent, but I felt his presence like a whip against my senses.

Anger.

Irritation.

Hunger.

I experienced each emotion as though they were my own. But they weren’t mine. They were his . Was he projecting? Had imbibing his blood done something to connect us? Was I picking up on his emotions because of my enhanced state of being?

“Leave us,” he said, his voice deep and commanding. “ Now. ”

Who is he talking ? —

The other female hopped up to her feet and scurried from the room, leaving me behind on my knees before I could finish processing my thought.

Am I supposed to follow? Was it a test to see who ran first? What does he want me to do? Is this ?—

“Stand up, Lily.” His voice maintained that lethal edge to it, his fury prickling my neck and showering goose bumps down my arms.

My throat constricted, making it difficult to swallow or breathe.

Stand up , I coached myself. Stand up right now .

A jolt spasmed along my thighs as I forced myself to move, my knees aching from the sudden blood flow through my limbs. But the sting abated almost instantly.

I didn’t meet Master Cedric’s stare. Instead, I kept my head bowed and waited for further instruction.

He snorted, the sound harsh and abrupt and underscored with irritation. “Weren’t you just accusing me of fucking with you?”

I winced. Not only had I screamed at him, but I’d cursed, too. Humans weren’t supposed to use that kind of language around their superiors. It was classified as insulting behavior. “I’m sorry, Master Cedric. I forgot my place. I’ll accept whatever punishment you wish to deliver.”

“I don’t have time to punish you, let alone correct you,” he retorted. “That tray is full of food for you. Eat it. I need to make a few more calls.”

He didn’t wait for a response or my agreement, his presence leaving mine in a wave of irritation as he returned to the balcony.

I nibbled my bottom lip. The tray is for me?

Master Cedric had said something about food earlier, but he’d returned with water and I’d forgotten all about my stomach. I also wasn’t nearly as hungry as I usually would be at this time of the night. Because of his supernatural blood or my raging nerves, I wasn’t sure.

However, I crept toward the tray anyway to investigate the contents.

A cup of rice. Grilled meat. Green vegetables. And a strange red fruit.

Strawberries , I thought, recalling a visual of this berry from long ago. I’d never actually had one before.

I picked up that item first and took a bite. Sweetness touched my tongue, making me groan at the delectable flavor.

It was almost too much, the sugar going straight to my head. But I devoured it anyway and enjoyed a second one before switching to the vegetables.

The servings reminded me of the bag Master Cedric had given me the other night. I usually received a quarter of this amount of food, but the more I ate, the hungrier I became.

I was picking up my final strawberry—something I’d saved for last on the tray—when Master Cedric returned. He paused on the threshold of the room, watching as I brought the fruit to my mouth.

Part of me wondered if I should stop.

The other part of me couldn’t because I really wanted that piece of fruit.

He said nothing as I bit into it and swallowed, his dark eyes going to my throat before trailing a hot path down my still-naked form .

I’d eaten while standing beside the tray, as I hadn’t known where to sit.

I also hadn’t really considered sitting down.

The meat and vegetables had already been cut into bite-size pieces, making it easy to spear them with the fork.

I’d been too consumed with the strawberries to focus on much else.

They were my reward for finishing the other items on the tray.

Master Cedric started toward me as I popped the rest of the strawberry into my mouth, his palm wrapping around my throat as I started chewing.

“You’re supposed to remove the stem part,” he said, his thumb massaging the side of my throat. “It’s not bad for you, but it can alter the flavor.”

As the taste hadn’t bothered me with the others, I swallowed.

His gaze narrowed, then he released me and turned toward his bedroom once more. “Follow me. You need clothes.”

Irritation and hunger continued to roll off of him, the emotions an intoxicating cloud that swirled around me as I trailed behind him.

He pressed a button on the wall. “I need clothes for a human. She’s five-foot-four and petite.”

“Of course, Sire,” a male voice responded. “Would you like them in your quarters?”

“Yes. And I don’t need blood, so don’t come in here and kneel. I’ve already been fed.”

“Of course, Sire,” the voice repeated. “Anything else?”

“Shoes for the human, too.” He glanced at my feet and accurately guessed my size. “Nothing else.”

The male reiterated the same phrase, then the room fell silent.

Master Cedric faced me, his expression giving nothing away. “You’ll tell no one about your experiences here. You’ll forget the name I provided for you. And if anyone asks about your miraculous recovery, you’ll tell them your injuries weren’t severe or that you faked them. Understood?”

My throat felt tight again, my mouth dry, which made my voice a bit raspy as I replied, “Yes, Master Cedric.”

“Good. Answer the door when they knock. Get dressed. I’ll return you to the university in an hour.” With that, he left again for the balcony. The sliding glass doors seemed to slam behind him with a finality that said whatever this had been was done.

We were done.

And I was left gaping after him, never having understood the game at all.

He hadn’t even given me a chance to properly play.

Which is what I wanted, right?

But if that was the case, why did I feel so cold and empty?

I shivered, suddenly feeling more naked than seconds ago.

I slid into the bed, wrapping myself in the sheets and wishing I could turn back time to when I’d woken up with his body pressed against mine.

I’d been warm.

Alive.

Exhilarated.

Now I just felt dead inside. Alone .

He’d taken away my name. My new identity. My forbidden sense of hope.

“You’ll forget the name I provided for you.”

Lily .

I hadn’t truly realized what that had meant to me until he’d taken it away and reduced me to nothing but a number again .

Prospect Four Hundred and Seven.

Master Cedric had given me a dose of something I didn’t quite understand, then reversed it in the next breath. It left me wondering what else he could have shown me.

It made me want to fix this.

To fight for my new name.

Because I didn’t want to be Prospect Four Hundred and Seven.

I wanted to be Lily.

His Lily.

The realization struck me deep in the chest, squeezing my heart and stealing the air from my lungs.

So how do I fix this?