Page 151 of Blood Day

“If you want hersternlycorrected, you tell me and I’ll handle it.”

“Would you speak to Silvano in this manner?”

“I would sooner kill Lily than put her in a room with Silvano,” Master Cedric replied, his words making my blood run cold. “Consider this a gift of my patience, Khalid. She’s naked. She’s bowing. Don’t push me.”

Silence followed, the tension thick in the air.

Goose bumps pebbled down my arms in response.Master Cedric?I whispered.

But he didn’t reply. However, his anger burned my mind. His thoughts were chaotic, his need for violence making me dizzy.

“This won’t do, Cedric,” Master Khalid finally stated. “This innate possessiveness is exactly why society frowns upon this union.”

“It was once revered. Sacred, even.” Master Cedric pitched his voice low, but the words were underlined with power.

Another wave of quiet followed. “Are you saying you miss the old ways?”

Master Cedric worked through how to respond, histhoughts open to mine. He wasn’t hiding anything at all. Which was how I discerned the concept of this word game.

This exercise had nothing to do with training.

And everything to do with testing Master Cedric.

Oh, there may be another purpose to it all, but I’m the primary subject for today’s lesson,Master Cedric mused, his mental voice holding a strange sort of lightness to it. Almost as though he found this humorous.

“The old ways,” he repeated as though contemplating the meaning. But his thoughts told me he already knew the purpose. “Some aspects of our lives are meant to be cherished. And finding a mate should be one of those aspects. Yet we’re told it’s a weakness. Maybe it is. But maybe a weakness is what makes life interesting.”

“Interesting,” Master Khalid echoed. “An intriguing word choice. Interesting how?”

Master Cedric moved to stand in front of me, his fingers finding my chin and drawing my gaze up to his. “I feel alive in a way I haven’t experienced in a very long time.”

My heart skipped a beat, his words seeming to be for me more than Master Khalid.

“My Lily has breathed new life into my veins. She’s provided me with an air of excitement. Something I’ve missed since having the chase stolen from us.”

He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, then glanced at Master Khalid, who stood near my side.

“You ask if I miss the old ways? Yes. Because I miss feeling alive. This new world may be easier for us to manage, it may put us in our rightful roles at the top of the food chain, but it’s mundane. It’s too predictable. It’s… it’s too simple.”

He dropped his hand from my face, giving Master Khalid all his focus again.

“She’s mine. As a royal, you can take her from me. But rest assured, I won’t make it easy on you.”

“I could report you.”

Master Cedric smiled, something I noticed because I’d never returned to my requisite bow. “That would require you to admit your presence here. And we both know you won’t report me. If you find my behavior problematic, you’ll handle it yourself.”

“Which is what I’m trying to do, but you’re now allowing me to correct it.”

“Bullshit. You wanted to test my reaction. Now you have it. What’s next?” Master Cedric had dropped all pretense of formality, which fascinated me. He always struck me as in control. But right now, he came off as a bit reckless.

Master Khalid narrowed his turquoise eyes. “Your disrespect is starting to piss me off.”

“As is yours,” Master Cedric returned. “You may be a direct descendant of the Blessed Ones, but I still have status due to my age and abilities. So while I’ll bow to you on most things, theErositabond isn’t one of them. Now stop playing games, Khalid, and tell me what it is you really want.”

My blood went cold at the lethality underlining Master Cedric’s tone.

His words swirled in my thoughts, the precision beneath his statement as sharp as a blade.