Page 19 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Lily

Master Cedric didn’t return until I was dressed and ready to go. He glanced over my white dress, stockings, and flat shoes. The curl of his lip didn’t seem to be a favorable reaction, not with the way he grunted afterward.

But he didn’t comment.

All he did was nod his head in a follow me gesture before leading me through the immaculate palace. I was momentarily awestruck by the opulence around me. It reminded me of his quarters, only the glittering gems shifted colors along the white-and-cream textured walls.

He took me through a courtyard with a fountain surrounded by palm trees. My fingers itched with the desire to touch one of the spiny leaves, but he was moving too fast for me to pause.

This place was nothing like the university grounds.

Spindles of gold were etched into the arches of the various entryways outside, with glimmers of it glinting off the moonlight on the tops of the cone-shaped towers in the corners of the compound. So much grandeur and beauty.

This is his life .

The life of a high-ranking vampire.

An old vampire.

One with ties to royal blood.

I swallowed, my gaze sliding to the back of his head. He moved with the grace of a predator, silent and sleek and lethal. But there was an edge to his steps that hadn’t been there before. His spine was rigid, his hands loose at his sides. Almost as though he were ready to engage in battle.

My heart skipped a beat as I wondered if I was the intended target.

But he merely led me into another section of the palace, down a large grand hall that stretched three stories high, and out the massive front doors.

A car sat idling at the bottom of the stone steps with a human standing beside it, head bowed.

Master Cedric took something from the male’s hands. “You’re dismissed.”

The human didn’t reply, instead choosing to walk steadily away from the parked car. But he didn’t head up the main stairs. He started off down a sidewalk that seemed to lead to another building.

“In,” Master Cedric demanded, returning my attention to where he stood with the car door open.

I slid into the bucket seat without a word, doing my best to obey his every command. His mood suggested that doing otherwise would end badly.

He leaned in over me, dragging a buckle across my lap and clicking it into place.

The door slammed in the next second, his body moving too fast for me to comprehend.

And he was in the seat beside me a blink later.

My heart hammered against my ribs, his vampiric speed leaving me winded as though I’d been the one who’d moved that quickly.

He started the car in the next instant, his foot hitting the pedal and shooting us forward.

I swallowed my scream, my training kicking in and forcing me to take hold of my emotions. But I couldn’t stop my thundering pulse or my harsh intake of breath.

“Relax,” Master Cedric muttered. “I’m not going to hurt you, Prospect.”

Prospect. Not Lily .

“But if you breathe a word of anything we’ve shared to anyone else, you will die.” His tone resembled a blade, sharp and lethal and intimidating. “Keep our secrets safe and you’ll prolong your survival.”

I’d already agreed to do so, but I whispered, “Yes, Master Cedric,” again just to make sure he knew I’d heard both of his warnings.

He said nothing else as he navigated the pitch-black roads, the moon and his car’s headlights the only illumination around us.

Until we reached the Blood University gates.

Then light flooded the surrounding walls, making it almost resemble daylight.

A pair of Vigils gave Master Cedric access without comment, allowing him to drive inside and park. I vaguely remembered him phasing us here after class. Was that just last night? It felt like at least a week ago.

He was out of the car almost as fast as he’d entered it, reaching my side and pulling open the door before I could even start to process the time change.

His fingertips brushed my hip as he found the buckle, then he reared back as though I’d burned him.

I really messed this up , I thought, swallowing as I moved to exit the car. I should have tried to talk to him on the way back, but I hadn’t been able to think much beyond controlling my reactions to him. And he was radiating so much furious energy that I felt choked by his presence.

I half expected him to slam the door, get back in the car, and leave me standing here. But he instead went to the trunk and retrieved a familiar bag—the one I used for my books and supplies.

He pulled it over his shoulder rather than handing it to me, shut the trunk, and started walking with another one of those nods.

I almost had to run to keep up with him as he stomped across the bare courtyard outside—the sand was much less beautiful than the palm trees and fountains we’d walked through not even thirty minutes ago—toward the residential area of campus.

I kept my head down in the way I’d been taught, following him without question.

No one was outside, suggesting we’d returned during one of the free-day studying hours. We usually had a mandated exercise activity upon waking, then breakfast, then study hours, until eventually being allowed sixty minutes to wander the grounds before dinner.

I recently started using that free hour to practice my fighting routines outside where I had more room to move.

Almost everyone kept to themselves, as frequent fraternization wasn’t recommended. There were some students who studied together, but most preferred to work on projects alone. At the end of it all, we were competing for the same positions. It didn’t benefit us individually to help others.

Although, I sometimes sat with Six and assisted him with certain topics. His doing well in a course tended to suit both of us since we were often partnered.

The silence inside the residential hall confirmed that we’d returned during a study period. All the doors were closed, including that of the resident lycan who supervised this wing.

“Just returning a prospect,” Master Cedric said suddenly.

My brow furrowed. What?

“No. I have it handled,” he added as the resident lycan’s door opened.

Master Telisca appeared in a pair of jeans and a tank top, her expression curious as she looked us over.

“Interesting choice,” she mused, making me realize that Master Cedric had been talking to her through the door.

His enhanced senses must have allowed him to hear her, just as her lycan ears would have alerted her to our presence. She had probably been able to smell us, too.

“You say that as though your opinion matters to me,” Master Cedric replied, walking right by the tall, redheaded lycan and heading in the direction of my room. “As I said, I have this handled.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she huffed, her hazel eyes flickering with her wolf before she stepped back into her room.

I skipped forward to catch up to Master Cedric, my heart in my throat. I didn’t want to risk Master Telisca reappearing and grabbing me, something I’d seen her do before.

Those humans always disappeared. For good.

And new ones appeared to replace them.

I’d never understood how any of that worked, whether they came from somewhere within the university or outside of it.

Many of us were shifted around often between the various residences.

However, I’d been in this one for the last four or five years. Maybe even six. I’d lost count .

Master Cedric didn’t ask me for a room number or what floor I lived on. He ascended two sets of stairs without a word and led me straight to my single bedroom.

He tried the handle.

“Study hours,” I whispered. “The doors?—”

He flipped open a keypad beside my door, silencing me as he entered a code too fast for me to see. A hissing sound followed, then the lock on my door unlatched, allowing him to push through the threshold.

Because of course he knew about the auto-lock process.

He was a Master at the university.

Why did that suddenly feel like a revelation or a remembrance? How had I so easily forgotten what this vampire represented?

He set my bag on the room’s lone chair, right in front of my desk. I followed him inside and took in my small bed, single dresser, and the porthole window allowing some moonlight into my room.

It all seemed so dull in comparison to his lavish quarters.

He’d changed out of his pajamas before we’d left, which only seemed to make him stand out more now as he stood in the center of my room in his all-black suit. He clashed considerably with the white stone floor and the cream-colored walls.

His dark eyes found mine, sending a chill down my spine. I immediately lowered my gaze. But he stepped forward and caught my chin, forcing me to meet his stare.

His irises resembled a storm, the obsidian rings vibrating with thunderous emotion. An apology sat heavily on my tongue. As did a plea for forgiveness.

Words whispered through my mind as well. Forbidden ones that begged him to take me back to his palace. Just one more night. Let me escape this existence for a little bit longer. Please.

But my voice failed me.

I couldn’t speak.

His touch shifted to my cheek, his gaze falling to my mouth as though he was waiting for whatever I might say.

Nothing came. No air. No appropriate words. No cohesive sentence. No confession or apology or whatever he needed to hear. I just stood before him like a worthless pet, utterly lost to my emotions and the confusion of the last twenty-four hours.

“Already wilting,” he murmured, his thumb tracing the hollow beneath my eye. “It’s a cruel world, little flower. I wish you were born in a different time.”

He pressed his lips to mine before I could even fathom a reply. It wasn’t like the other kisses we’d shared. This one seemed final somehow, almost cold.

At least until his tongue slid into my mouth.

His palm moved to the back of my neck, his grip harsh as he commanded me with his touch. I melted into him, lost to the sensation of his presence.

He was so strong, so domineering, it was impossible to think of anything else while he held me in his arms.