Page 6 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Cedric

“I need a dinner bag,” I said as I materialized in the campus kitchens.

The human servant beside me did her best to hide a yelp at my sudden appearance, but I’d heard it with my enhanced hearing. Some of my kind would enjoy punishing her for the reaction. It served as a way to keep ourselves superior and the mortals meek.

However, society had already done the job of degrading humankind to cattle, so I didn’t see the benefit of belaboring the point.

This whole bloody operation felt trivial to me.

What was wrong with hunting and seducing our food? Why did we have to make it so easy and boring?

Alas, it wasn’t for me to make those decisions.

I merely served the system.

Well, not exactly. My expertise was requested to fill a recent opening, and I’d agreed as a way to escape the political pressures of Silvano Region. My maker—Prince Silvano himself—wanted to promote me to a sovereign position. And I just wasn’t interested .

So I’d opted for the Blood University role instead.

Which had afforded me the opportunity to meet my Lily—a temptation I’d never known I craved.

“What kind of dinner bag, Sire?” the human servant asked.

She wasn’t a student but a mortal chosen for this task after what was likely a grueling Blood Day experience. That event was the proverbial graduation ceremony for Blood University students—a day when all mortals were assigned their fates.

To end up here meant this human had been sent to the servant auction first, then purchased specifically to spend the rest of her mortal days in a kitchen.

Then she’d been processed for this kitchen.

I eyed her curiously, noting the graying hairs along her scalp and the subtle wrinkles beneath her eyes.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her age because she’d obviously matured past her prime years—a feat accomplished by essentially living in a safe area not commonly frequented by superior beings.

Lycans needed food, while vampires did not.

And lycans were less prone to the sudden desire to drain a mortal of their life essence.

Interesting, I mused, still scrutinizing her as an idea formed in my mind.

However, the mortal began to shake—another outward reaction that could earn her an immediate death sentence—drawing me from my musings.

“There are different types of dinner bags?” I asked, not at all familiar with how these kitchens operated.

I knew they existed to provide necessary sustenance for the human students.

But there had never been a cause for me to visit—hence this human’s break in her programming.

She likely hadn’t seen a vampire in several years, her position here keeping her secluded and safe .

Which only had me returning to the idea blossoming in my mind.

Maybe my sweet Lily flower could end up here instead of in a grave.

“Y-yes,” the mortal stammered, her nervous behavior enthralling me.

How are you still alive? I marveled. When was the last time you saw a vampire? There weren’t many on campus. Maybe two dozen of us and three dozen lycans. All of the supernatural beings were here to teach the mortals how to perform as suitable cattle.

There were also another two or three dozen lycans in charge of managing the humans in personal areas, such as in the dormitories.

And then the human Vigils guarded the school grounds, hunting and killing their own kind when one was stupid enough to try to escape.

However, that wasn’t common.

The real reason Vigils existed on these grounds was to provide the mortals with a false sense of hope. The Vigils resembled a position the humans could aspire to attain, thus giving them a reason to cooperate and compete against each other.

Manipulative programming.

A dark new age of mortal existence.

And boring as fuck for vampires like me who missed the hunt.

The mortal began listing the dinner bag options by body type, not by contents.

It was a good regimen designed by gender and desired weight.

I suspected sweet Lily was in the lower-weight section, given her petite frame.

But she possessed natural curves that might have increased her food intake level by just a bit.

And if not, then her classification should be reevaluated because her curves were absolutely perfect.

Actually, everything about her was perfect.

Her determination.

Her subtle defiance.

Her alluring fear.

She was probably sitting in my classroom with her heart racing and her skin prickled with goose bumps.

So pretty and small.

And mine .

Clearing my throat, I pushed away that last possessive thought and selected a dinner bag at the top weight class.

She needed some extra food after missing her meal last night.

And it seemed she didn’t qualify for lunch bags, which was another weight management technique used to force the cattle to achieve a desired appearance.

“Thank you,” I said to the human.

Her eyes rounded in response.

Just because vampires were superior didn’t mean we couldn’t be polite.

Of course, Goddess Lilith wouldn’t approve. She’d berate me and remind me of my duty to be dismissive of those beneath us.

“It’s a service, really. We don’t want them to gain hope. That’s just cruel,” she’d say.

I nearly rolled my eyes as I phased back to my building.

All the humans bowed and prayed to Lilith as though she were some supreme being. It was another ploy to force submission among the weaker-minded.

Give the humans a deity to pray to.

Only, Lilith wasn’t a Goddess at all. Just a supreme bitch with a power complex.

Nyx was the true Goddess of our kind, the one worthy of daily worship .

I often wondered how she felt about Lilith taking on her role and pretending to be the divine incarnate.

But that wasn’t my problem to ponder. If Nyx disliked the representation, she’d find a way to let Lilith know.

I rather wished Nyx would do so soon, as I was quite tired of waking up to the humans reciting the Lilith prayer every evening.

All thoughts of Nyx and Lilith disappeared when I entered my classroom to find Lily in the chair I’d left her in. She hadn’t moved an inch, her submissive gaze on my desk as she held her body absolutely still.

Such a good little flower, I thought, moving toward her on silent feet.

The lights were off, leaving her protected by darkness.

No one would think to enter this room without my permission, keeping her temporarily safe from others of my kind. If only I could find a permanent solution.

I wanted to be the one to watch her wilt. No one else.

But that was a problem to solve another day.

Right now, I just needed her to eat.

I set the bag down on my desk and noted the shiver cascading across her bare skin. She didn’t appear to be fazed at all by her nudity, something she’d likely grown accustomed to over the years.

But I was very much affected by her bare state.

All that creamy skin, subtly toned muscle, and her delicate curves made my mouth water.

It’d taken serious restraint not to bite her when I’d pinned her to the floor. I’d wanted to taste her essence, then kiss and nibble my way down her exquisite body to the alluring haven between her thighs.

Alas, it would be too easy to take her.

She’d submit to me because she was trained to submit .

And I found that I craved something more from my Lily— desire .

I wanted her to beg me to fuck her because she wanted me, not because she felt obligated to accept me.

A dream, I supposed.

Humans weren’t able to express their hopes and desires anymore.

Which left me yearning for a fantasy I would never truly experience.

“You did very well, little flower,” I informed her softly as I went through the bag of food.

It included a balanced meal of seasonless grilled meat and vegetables and a small tin of plain rice. There was a banana for dessert.

And two bottles of water.

Not the most appetizing food in the world.

But Lily wouldn’t know that. She and all the humans here were trained to eat and accept bland food.

I took each item out and placed them on my desk, then picked up the fork and speared a cut-up piece of chicken. “Open,” I said, bringing the food to her mouth.

Her eyes darted up to mine in the dark, allowing me to see the surprise in her expression. Maybe she thought the lights being off hid her reactions. Or perhaps she was too stunned to mask her shock.

Either way, I was thankful for the experience. Because those pretty blue-green irises sparkled with emotion, making me wonder what else I could evoke from her.

Pleasure?

Pain?

Excitement?

All of those options held an unmistakable allure.

But I settled on her surprise for now.

And enjoyed watching her comply with my command .

The fork disappeared between her parted lips, her mouth instantly taking the offered food from the prongs.

I picked out a green bean from her vegetable mix to feed her next, purposely slowing my movements with the fork to allow her enough time to chew and swallow.

She parted her lips automatically when I brought the food to her mouth, allowing me to feed her without the requisite command.

We didn’t speak throughout the process, her body reacting to my care on instinct alone.

I opened the water to give her a drink, then continued with more meat and vegetables before serving her some rice.

Her gaze remained on me, perhaps trying to see me in the dark. Moonlight bathed the windows in eerie shadows, likely allowing her to at least observe the outlines of my features. Or maybe she could see me clearly now that her eyes had become accustomed to the dark.

It’d been so long since I was human that I couldn’t remember the extent of my former senses. However, her pupils were dilated so widely now that her irises were thin circles of color around the big black orbs.

If she could see me, she was being rather bold by studying my features.

But I wasn’t going to discipline her for it.