Page 30 of Blood Day

Chapter 7

Cedric

Lily’s ashenfeatures haunted the edge of my peripheral vision. She did her best to remain upright against the wall while everyone executed today’s assignment on the mats. However, I could taste her pain on my tongue.

I’d almost dismissed her to the hallway to join her former partner, but the notion of sending her off with the medics didn’t sit well with me.

The other prospect would live, assuming the medical staff decided her test scores marked her as worthy enough for recovery.

Given how poorly I’d graded Lily in my class, her injuries might be overlooked or left to fester.

It was a risk I refused to take.

So I forced her to stay despite knowing she was suffering horribly inside. It was a testament to her inner strength that she managed to remain standing.

By the time the final prospects stepped up to the mat, my patience had hit an all-time low. So I only allowed them four moves each before I dismissed the class.

I nearly called for Lily to remain behind, but I caught her determined movements from the corner of my eye and decided to see what she had in mind first.

Everyone left quickly, none of them noticing or caring about her slow movements.

That was how this new world worked.

Because the vampires and lycans in charge had devised a mechanism that pitted humans against each other, making them compete for the chance of becoming an immortal, all to the detriment of their former camaraderie.

It hadn’t always been this way.

Mortals used to work together, or at least seek companionship from one another.

But not now.

Now they didn’t even care that Lily was likely going to die from her internal injuries. None of them searched for the other prospect either, her life already forgotten.

What I’d done today was cruel, but that didn’t belittle its importance.

Lily needed to understand that her pursuit of a Vigil existence would never come to fruition. Humans fought against each other now. There was no mercy. And her petite size made her an easy target, one her fellow mortals would use against her without a second thought.

Her partner tonight had beaten the shit out of her without batting an eye.

And the other female’s sparring mate had been even worse.

This wasn’t the existence she truly desired.

Something she now knew, thanks to tonight’s lesson.

I’d expected her to grab her bag and leave with the others, heading back to her room with the hopes of maybe requesting a schedule change.

I wouldn’t have allowed her to get that far.

But that’d been my expectation after her failure tonight.

Instead, she surprised me by staying behind and heading over to her mat.

Where she proceeded to pull off her pants with one hand—something she clearly struggled to do.

And then she began the painstaking process of removing her shirt with a broken arm.

Her hiss of pain was quickly swallowed, her determination momentarily striking me speechless.