Page 53 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Lily

Thump, thump.

The beat of my heart rang in my ears.

Thump, thump.

A steady rhythm.

Thump, thump.

One I worked hard to control.

They’d given us an evening breakfast sack. Mine had contained a bottle of water, some sort of energy bar, and a banana.

I’d eaten all of it.

Which I now regretted.

Thump, thump.

The air lacked the humidity of the desert but carried with it an intriguing scent. Trees. I couldn’t define the type, just that they were overgrown.

As was the grass framing the path I stood upon now.

My white graduation gown flirted with my bare calves, the fabric more like a gauzy dress than an actual robe. It left nothing to the imagination, which I supposed was the point .

Six wore a similar robe, only his went down to his ankles.

Odd, considering how much taller he was than me, but it seemed most of the males were adorned in similar lengths.

They’d put us in order again.

There were exactly one thousand of us, yet I recognized maybe five percent of those in line.

The male behind me was Prospect Four Hundred and Eight, Year One Hundred Seventeen. But he was from a different university.

He’d blinked at me, confusion evident in his expression for half a second before he controlled his emotions and stepped behind me.

I’d expected new prospects because Cedric had warned me that there were other universities. However, that wasn’t common knowledge.

There was so much we weren’t told.

Like how the majority of our former classmates had already been taken to their fates.

The processional started, the sound of feet marching down the path echoing around us.

Cedric, I whispered, still not sensing him. Where are you?

I couldn’t look up or search the crowd. To do so would risk breaking decorum.

Be silent.

Be obedient.

Do not scream.

Do not react.

Bow.

Avert your gaze.

All of those rules had been beaten into me over the last twenty-one years .

I chanted them to myself as I followed Six down the main aisle, passing rows and rows of empty chairs.

Is Cedric seated among the royals? I wondered. Is he here with Prince Silvano? Or maybe Prince Khalid?

From what I understood, only the most powerful of vampires and lycans attended Blood Day. Sovereigns were included among that status, granting them access to the ceremony.

If Cedric had accepted the position, he could be here.

Is that why you’ve kept me blocked? I asked him. Because you’re playing a role with Silvano?

I wished he would just check in and tell me what was happening. It made me worry that he couldn’t, that perhaps something truly awful had happened.

Wouldn’t I feel that, though? Wouldn’t I feel even more disconnected?

Except, I couldn’t imagine feeling more cut off than I did right now. It was as though a part of me had… had died .

Oh, Goddess…

I nearly stumbled over my feet, but some miracle of fate kept me upright and moving in the right direction. Because one misstep was all it would take to call forth some very negative attention.

Focus, Lily, I coached myself.

If Cedric was dead, then there wasn’t anything I could do now.

Other than accept my fate.

Six turned into a row, following the prospects in front of him. I moved after him, marching down the line of vacant chairs. Several prospects had been stopped in the row before us, all of them standing in front of their chairs and facing forward with their eyes downcast .

That must be in the direction of the stage , I thought, forcing myself not to risk a glance beyond my periphery.

When Six halted, I did as well.

Then we shifted to face forward, placing the chairs behind us. I kept my head down like the prospects in front of me.

And waited.

Hours seemed to pass, the only sounds the shuffling of feet against the path.

Six touched his knuckles to mine, the gesture one that seemed to have become our norm over the last twenty-four hours.

I repeated the gesture back at him.

Cedric, I thought. If you’re here, now would be a good time to tell me.

I wasn’t sure why I bothered. Our connection remained closed, something I could sense all the way to my soul. He’s cut me off for good.

My heart ached while simultaneously picking up speed as an eerie silence fell over the crowd.

No more steps.

Yet I could feel the mystical energy growing, the power roaming along my skin, lifting each hair on my arm in its wake.

The superior beings are here.

The ceremony is beginning.

It’s time to learn my fate.

Electricity hummed through my veins, my sense of awareness seeming to spike at the approaching presence of unadulterated power.

Am I feeling that because of Cedric? I wondered. Does that mean we’re still connected?

Or was I sensing this because of the dark presence these beings carried with them ?

They were the oldest and most powerful supernaturals to walk the earth. And feeling their energy signatures now only confirmed why.

Authority.

Supremacy.

Age.

I could practically taste each attribute on my tongue.

It reminded me of Cedric, only heavier .

I hope this influx of sensation is because of you, I thought at him. I hope this means you’re alive.

Maybe I’d been worrying over nothing.

It’s time to focus, I told myself. Focus on today.

Because this was the day I’d been waiting for. The graduation I’d worked toward all my life.

Except the glamour of it had been erased as a result of Cedric’s truths. I would never become a Vigil. I would never qualify for the Immortal Cup. So where would I go?

“Welcome to this year’s Blood Day,” a feminine voice greeted, one I knew well from my lessons growing up.

The Goddess Lilith.

“This is a glorious day of celebration, one that will brighten the futures of many,” she continued. “Who among you have been selected for this year’s Immortal Cup? There are only twelve coveted spots. Are you one of those hardworking few? Our marvelous Magistrate will tell you.”

“I will,” a deep voice confirmed. “I have the assignments right here in my very hand.”

“Oh, how exciting indeed,” the Goddess cheered. “Then, without further ado, I present to you all our top one thousand prospects from the year one hundred seventeen.”

A few murmurs could be heard in the distance, but nothing more .

No standing ovation.

No excited commentary.

Just a few soft words meant for immortal ears alone.

Is Cedric among them? Whispering to Prince Khalid? Watching me?

The Magistrate cleared his throat, his lycan heritage coming through in that deep sound alone.

“As always, we’ll begin with the statistics,” he announced. “Year one hundred seventeen initially began with twenty-one thousand three hundred and seven prospects. Success rate for the class as a whole was seventy-three percent, which is down two point nine percent from last year.”

My brow furrowed.

Does success rate equate to those of us still alive?

And if it does, then does that mean over five thousand humans from my class have died over the last year? Or was that number taken over time? Meaning twenty-seven percent of my class died over the last twenty-one years of training?

The latter seemed more accurate based on what I’d observed.

Prospects went missing all the time, but not five thousand of them. More like a few hundred at most.

However, they were often replaced with new prospects.

And there were ten universities.

So maybe it was closer to that five thousand— nearly six thousand, my math brain corrected—figure. Goddess… so many lives…

The Magistrate cleared his throat. “That leaves a total of fifteen thousand five hundred and fifty-four prospects for sorting, of which they have been divided evenly between supernatural type and region.”

“Thank you, Magistrate,” the Goddess replied. “We appreciate your hard work and due diligence. ”

The lycan male grunted in response. “Then we can begin with the formal sorting of the remaining one thousand.”

He made another noise, this one reminding me of a growl.

The hostility of it caused the hairs to dance along my arms, something I suspected was the point, as his next words were for us— the prospects.

“Sit up straight. Eyes up. You may now observe today’s proceedings,” he informed us. “Consider it a gift for all your hard work.”

I swallowed. This doesn’t sound like a gift so much as a threat .

But I lifted my gaze regardless, needing to see my fate and to search for Cedric.

The stage before us was massive, with the royals and alphas all seated toward the sides in regal-looking platforms lined with comfortable thrones and velvety colors.

I couldn’t see them well in the dark, but it was clear that I would be able to see them when I walked up onto the massive platform ahead.

There were stairs on both sides, which the Magistrate pointed out now, telling us to enter on the right to meet him at the podium near the center. Once our designations were announced, he wanted us to exit via the other stairs.

“Where a Vigil will be waiting to escort you to your appropriate section,” he concluded, his words sending a chill down my spine. “Now let’s begin. Prospect One, Year One Hundred Seventeen.”

A female with light blonde hair stood from the front row and made her way toward the stairs.

She didn’t look at the royals or the alphas, instead casting her gaze downward in reverence as she moved past them.

The Goddess Lilith sat off to the side, her own throne appearing even more regal than the others. She watched the female prospect with interest, her lips curled into a soft smile.

But I knew better than to believe it.

That female was the epitome of evil.

I’d overheard enough about her through Cedric’s thoughts to understand that she wasn’t a Goddess at all, just an oldish vampire with a penchant for power. She fancied herself a supreme being, but only the humans worshipped her.

Vampires like Cedric merely tolerated her existence.

Although, he’d mentioned that some of his brethren did respect her.

Vampires like Silvano .

Because they enjoyed this new society she’d created.

The one that forced this lone prospect to march across the stage right now.