Page 13 of Blood Day: Part One

He didn’t bite me.

He merely pressed his lips to my throat and held me beneath him with ease.

My eyes fell shut, resignation falling over me as I submitted to him the way a human should.

Which earned me a tsk from his lips. “A single error in execution would end in your death every time, sweet flower,” he whispered, his mouth traveling up to my ear. “You’re too delicate, tooweak, for combat. Whether against me, or against your own. It’s not the right path for you.”

He gathered my wrists beneath one hand, holding my arms over my head as he lowered his opposite hand to my throat.

I shivered as he moved back to stare down at me with those cold, dark orbs. “You wouldn’t survive a single day in the Immortal Cup, Prospect. Even with perfect execution, you would die. That’s why you’ll always fail.” His focus fell to my mouth as I bit my lower lip to keep from reacting.

Except that was a reaction in itself.

A telling one, too.

Because his words pierced a part of me that didn’t want to hear his assessment. His cruelty. His promise for failure.

I was smaller than the others—a petite female of only five feet, four inches. And the compound kept me thin by regulating my daily intake of calories.

But I wanted to be strong.

To fight.

To be a human of worth, not a sexual servant or a blood slave.

How could I change my fate when vampires like Master Cedric refused to teach me? How could I improve my strength without more energy?

I’d witnessed so many others in my position give up and succumb to their fates.

I refused.

I wanted to prove my worth, to be the human I knew I could be with proper training.

It was why I’d enrolled myself in his course.

“I can do this,” I told him. “I can perfect my skills and perform flawless executions of your techniques.” I wasn’t sure where my boldness had come from, or what had provoked my words of confidence, but I didn’t apologize for speaking so bluntly.

Because there was nothing else for me to lose.

He’d threatened to fail me, had proved his point by easily taking me down to the floor.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t try again, that I couldn’tlearnto be better.

His gaze narrowed, a dark emotion I couldn’t define lurking in his inky irises. He didn’t move or speak, just continued to study me as though testing my resolve. Perhaps like he’d done when I’d gone to my knees.

I wasn’t a quitter.

I was a fighter.

And I would continue fighting until my dying breath.

“We’ll see,” he finally said after a beat. “Same time tomorrow. Same position. Don’t disappoint me, Prospect.”

He released me in a fluid motion, rolling off of me and up to his feet in a blink.

Vampire, I thought, swallowing at the graceful movement. He’d moved faster than my mind could comprehend, his strength and agility far superior to my own.

And yet he’d been almost gentle with me on the floor.