Page 23 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Master Khalid started toward the door in a casual saunter, acting as though he hadn’t just handed us all a death sentence in the span of seconds.

Six’s hand twitched against mine.

I nearly grabbed his palm in response .

But I was too frozen to move.

Run. Fight. Try not to die when caught .

Master Khalid’s instructions reverberated through my mind, the words making me cold inside.

But he didn’t give any of us time to fully process his command.

Because that wasn’t how vampires and lycans worked. They expected immediate obedience.

“Now, Prospects,” Master Khalid snapped, his tone lined with impatience.

Prospect One Hundred and Thirty-Nine flinched, then stepped forward as though his voice had yanked her into action. Master Khalid glanced at her, his turquoise eyes gleaming with hunger. It was how he usually looked at her. But he never acted on it.

However, something told me he might tonight.

And her brittle steps suggested she suspected that, too.

There wasn’t anything I could do to help her. Just like I couldn’t truly console Six, either.

We were all in this world on our own. Most of us wouldn’t survive for long.

And it seemed tonight’s exercise would be driving that home more than any other.

A solemn air swirled around us as we all followed Master Khalid down the hallway, out the door of our building, and along the wall outside.

It didn’t escape my notice that the majority of the bulky males from my fighting course sequence were missing. Most of the female prospects around me also rivaled my height and size.

And the males were all larger and similar in stature to Six.

He was over six feet tall and athletically lean, which probably made him fast on his feet. Perhaps that was what he’d focused on in his endurance courses.

Had I made a mistake by taking fighting sequences instead?

I could move quickly in most situations. But I wasn’t sure how long or how fast I could run.

“And try not to die when you’re caught,” Master Khalid had said.

Those words haunted my mind with each step. Who are we running from? What do they intend to do to us after they catch us?

Maybe this was an exercise for the Vigils, a way to keep them sharp and test our merits against them. That was what I’d been training for all these months.

However, that didn’t explain Six and the others joining us now.

Nor did it explain the weapons scattered all over the ground beside a pair of large wooden doors ahead of us. They weren’t the same ones I’d ventured through with Master Cedric all those months ago. They were pedestrian-sized instead and etched into the side of a nearby guard tower.

The Vigils on top all watched us with vacant looks, their body language exuding boredom more than anticipation.

So this isn’t for them, I translated, swallowing.

Of course, I’d already suspected that.

A Vigil exercise would have included more of the men from my previous courses.

This was something else.

Something bad.

Master Khalid stopped before reaching the mess of weapons, his gaze flicking over us as he turned and waited for everyone to catch up .

We’d formed a natural line along the concrete walkway that bordered the massive university walls.

A long, sandy courtyard decorated the other half of the path. The university buildings were beyond it, the structures all boxy and cream-colored, just like the wall surrounding the campus.

Six shivered beside me, his knuckles brushing mine in that need for comfort.

I returned the gesture.

But once this game started, we would be on our own. For better or for worse.

The crescent moon cast ominous shadows across Master Khalid’s chiseled features, accentuating the eerie promise hanging in the air.

This is going to hurt .

His expression gave nothing away. And neither did his voice as he said, “Pick a tool.”

A tool, not a weapon .

An interesting distinction, considering the items on the ground.

Prospect One Hundred and Thirty-Nine was the first to move. Her choice of a set of throwing stars didn’t surprise me. She often nailed her target with those during our weapons training course.

Others moved to make their own selections, followed by me and Six. It became more of an orderly ordeal since we’d all fallen automatically into this line.

Fortunately, Six and I were near the front.

He chose a hammer.

I picked up a pair of daggers.

The bow and quiver of arrows beside it would have been my first choice if it were daytime. But I wanted a close-range “tool” for this course assignment—something I could use to protect myself when “caught. ”

Master Khalid observed as the rest of the prospects filed through to claim their items.

I stood off to the side between my usual sparring partner and Six. Tension radiated off of them, blanketing me in a static energy that hummed through my very being.

I shivered, and it had nothing to do with the climate. I couldn’t even feel the air around me. Master Khalid claimed my focus, his pending command—whatever it would be—becoming my entire world.

The doors behind him opened to reveal the sandy plains beyond the walls.

Nothing for miles and miles.

Except for a royal palace, I reminded myself.

But we were facing a different part of the desert. I didn’t know which direction to run in to find Master Cedric’s home. I wasn’t even sure he’d be there.

Besides, what would I do? Casually knock on his door and ask for safety?

I nearly snorted at the concept.

He hadn’t shown an inkling of interest in me since his goodbye kiss.

He wasn’t even here tonight.

Yet my obsession with him nagged at my mind, making me consider the option of running to him.

How would he react? Would he leave me in the sand to die? That might be the goal of this game anyway. So perhaps I should try to find him.

Run and survive.

Fight when you’re caught .

The thoughts were my own voice but reminiscent of Master Khalid’s explanation for tonight’s class.

He clasped his hands now, his posture utterly relaxed. “You get a five-minute head start. Then the hunt begins.” He stepped aside, giving us free access to the doors. “ Run .”