Page 24 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Lily

A thunderous gunshot ripped through the air from above, the sound deafening.

And then everyone started running.

Feet pounding. Sand flying. The world whirling in a blur of motion that I couldn’t decipher.

Because I was among them, sprinting through the doors and out into unexplored lands.

I turned on instinct, my mind struggling to remember the direction of Master Cedric’s home.

It was an insane plan. A notion I should squash. But that one night with him had provided me with a dose of safety I now craved.

Another crack of thunder rattled the earth. Or maybe it was my violent tremble that made it feel as though the ground moved beneath my feet.

That doesn’t mean five minutes are up, right? I wondered. It felt as though only a few seconds had passed, a minute at most.

I didn’t debate it.

I just kept sprinting through the desert, the walls of the university staying within sight. The road , I thought breathlessly. If I can find the road, I can follow it.

The rest of that plan didn’t exist in my brain. Survival was my only goal.

I clutched the handles of my knives as I pushed myself harder, needing to find the road.

Pavement.

Leading into the darkness.

Illuminated only by the moon.

I recalled the details I could remember, but they were fuzzy at best.

Boom .

Was that the third one? Three minutes? Four minutes?

My heart was beating so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t even be sure I’d heard the appropriate amount of gunshots. Dizziness and exertion weighed me down, my body unprepared for this sprint into the darkness.

I should have paced myself.

My pulse raced, my lungs screaming for air.

I didn’t run often enough. I wasn’t going to make it.

What’s going to pursue me? What will happen when whatever it is catches me?

The loud clap of sound went off again, making me jump and nearly lose my footing. I couldn’t see anything aside from the wall and desert. No road. No end in sight.

I went the wrong way , I realized.

But there was no turning back now.

I had to push. To run. To find a place to hide and defend myself. But where? In a sand mound?

I nearly laughed. Yet I couldn’t push out enough oxygen for the sound to form.

Run. Run. Run.

I took off away from the wall, searching for anything that could provide me with shelter .

There were no other prospects nearby. At least none that I could hear or see.

Had any of them joined forces to fight together?

Which direction had Six gone in? What about my course partner?

Don’t think about them. Worry about finding a place to hide , I coached myself, my palms slickening with sweat.

I’d endured some intense exams before. But nothing compared to this. Not even Master Cedric’s sparring assignment with that prospect who had broken my arm.

A final bullet hit the air. Or I thought it might have been final. I’d lost count what felt like forever ago.

Funny how time seemed long now. Yet unfairly short, too.

A scream echoed through the night, making my blood run cold. It’s started.

A shriek followed.

Oh, Goddess…

I was running in the middle of nothing, searching for a place that didn’t exist!

A road that I would never find.

A palace that I’d reached by car , not by running.

This was a terrible plan.

I froze.

Then hunched down.

I needed a new objective. A new way to win this.

The knives felt slippery in my hands, but I clutched them as though they were my sole purpose in life.

Calm, I whispered to myself. Calm your breaths. Focus and listen .

More screams and shouts littered the night, their proximity unknown due to the open space. They sounded far away but likely weren’t .

I stole a deep breath, my palms tightening in expectation.

Survive when caught .

I could do that.

I would do that.

I just had to wait.

There was nowhere to run here. Nowhere to hide. I was destined to be captured, the land too flat and dark and vastly sparse to provide any semblance of escape.

Anyone trying to do otherwise would be disappointed.

I shouldn’t have wasted time searching for the road. I knew better. But my body had reacted as though Master Cedric had yanked me to him on a string.

My obsession with him was going to cost me my life.

I shifted into a fighting pose, preparing for the inevitable. Then I waited, my breathing slowing back to normal with each passing second.

This felt right.

I needed my strength and focus, not the adrenaline provoked by the run.

More shouts arose, one of them sounding suspiciously like Six.

But I didn’t react.

Instead, I continued to breathe. Waiting. Concentrating. Listening .

The desert was eerily silent, the wind nonexistent. The only disruptions were human cries.

I listened for footsteps and signs of movement.

Nothing.

My heart skipped a beat, my insides threatening to melt beneath the pressure of the moment.

However, I forced myself to inhale and exhale, using all my lessons to calm my body despite the burning desire to run and scream .

I could almost taste the agony of the others in the air, their whimpers echoing in the still night.

I’m next. They’ll be here soon. Just wait.

But the inevitable merely made it worse.

I started to count to distract my mind.

It didn’t work. I couldn’t stop picturing the violence occurring around me. Hearing it was almost worse than seeing it. And knowing I would be next…

I swallowed.

My eyes nearly closed. If I can’t see it happening, it won’t be real.

But it was very real.

As evidenced by the shadow strolling toward me.

A leisurely walk.

A canter that captivated my attention and had me tightening my grip on my blades.

It’s my turn .

I’d expected the being to charge at me. To attack. But it merely walked toward me with a lazy pace that drew out the moment.

“Are you going to stab me, little flower?”

The deep, accented voice chased away my instincts, causing me to nearly drop my knives.

Master Cedric.

Or was my mind playing tricks on me? Causing me to morph this dark game into one I might enjoy?

The shadow was nearly before me, the moon illuminating his back instead of his front.

Is it him? Is it really Master Cedric?

“Did you fail to understand tonight’s objective, sweetling?” He pitched his voice low, whisper-soft, the accent now disguised.

It’s not him.

I imagined it .

I need to ? —

He caught me by the throat. “ Survive ,” he told me, the anger in his voice forcing me into action.

This wasn’t Master Cedric. I’d dreamt up his voice and presence. Because I couldn’t let him go. The vampire haunted me, even during waking hours.

Fight , I coached myself, my hands flicking as I attempted to stab him. He rotated away from me, releasing my neck.

But he was too fast.

Too strong.

Too skilled .

His hand caught my wrist, twisting it and forcing me to release one blade. It was my weaker hand, so I didn’t bother trying to stop the movement.

Instead, I concentrated on my good hand and my aim, my arm lifting in an arc that would allow me to stab the assailant in the chest.

He dodged it, his feet taking him off to the side. Then he attempted to grab me again. But I ducked, my eyes having acclimated enough to the dark to perceive his shadow.

He chuckled, the sound a taunt. Because it sounded like Master Cedric. Except it wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him.

I jumped back as he attempted to grab me once more.

Then I made the only move I could by throwing my blade when he attempted to capture me a third time.

He blurred in response, his shadow phasing around to my back to catch me in a bruising grip.

The air whooshed from my lungs as his palm grasped my throat again, his opposite arm snaking around my waist to hold me against him.

“Ah, my sweet Lily flower,” he breathed against my ear, the familiar name making me gasp. “What have you done?”

My back hit the sand in the next instant as Master Cedric took me to the ground in a swift, harsh movement.

He caught my wrists in one hand and tugged my arms over my head to pin them. Then his opposite hand went to my cheek, his touch surprisingly gentle.

The moon cast his face in ominous shadows, but this close, there was no mistaking his identity.

Master Cedric is here.

On top of me.

Pinning me against the ground.

And he looks furious.

The anger resembled black flames in his dark irises, causing me to shiver beneath him.

Or maybe it was just feeling him against my skin that elicited the tremble.

I went from fighting for my survival to being a willing captive in mere seconds.

A stupid reaction.

Yet I couldn’t fight him. I was too elated to see him again after all this time. My Master Cedric .

“Tell me, darling, do you understand the purpose of this course?” His low, silky tones spread goose bumps down my arms.

“Training,” I whispered. But I didn’t know what we were training for. Because this had nothing to do with becoming a Vigil.

He hummed, the sound telling me I hadn’t answered correctly.

“Training for what, though, is the question.” His nose skimmed my cheekbone.

“This is an arena where the prospects run and the Masters chase. It’s a game my peers look forward to every year.

Because once we catch our desired prey, we can do whatever we want to make it scream.

The whole point is to see how long it takes until the human breaks. ”

A chill skated down my spine, chasing away the warmth his presence had evoked.

A game of chase and capture and torture .

An arena where Masters can catch and torment prospects.

It didn’t surprise me at all that Master Cedric had chosen me for that purpose. He had been taunting me from the beginning, failing me at every turn.

And now would be no different at all.

“Tell me what you’re being trained to do,” he said, his voice holding a lethal edge to it.

“To be chased and caught.” The reply automatically left me as though he controlled my mind, body, and tongue.

“By what?”

“You,” I whispered.

He smiled, but it didn’t appear to be all that kind. “No, darling. Lycans. ”