Page 17 of Blood Day: Part One

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.

Andmine.

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,GoddessLilith 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.