Page 34 of Blood Day: Part One

When he’d lifted me into his arms, I hadn’t known what to expect. Then he’d told me to close my eyes and try not to scream.

Beforeteleportingus out of the classroom and into a car park.

I didn’t even know this part of the university existed, as it was outside the walls.

Walls he’d phased through to reach his car.

A car I was now sitting in.

I’d never ridden in an automobile before. Nor had I ever teleported before. I hadn’t even known the latter was possible. I could still feel the wind on my face and the churning in my stomach from moving impossibly fast.

Or maybe that was the residual ache from being beaten up by Prospect Six Hundred and Forty-Two.

I’d thought the purpose was to demonstrate my weakness.

But Master Cedric had said it was to show me how perfect technique didn’t matter against someone twice my size.

And now we were driving into the night on a sleek black road surrounded by desert.

Where are you taking me?I wanted to ask.

However, I remained silent. I knew better than to question a superior.

Except I was likely going to die soon. If not from my injuries tonight, then from a future class. Because there was no way I could heal properly before my next sparring session. Which meant my time here was limited.

So what would it hurt to voice my inquiry?

Maybe Master Cedric would accelerate my fate.

Given how I felt right now, that might not be a bad thing.

“Where are we going?” I asked before I could change my mind. Not the most intelligent decision on my part, but I felt oddly emboldened by sharing my thoughts. It made me want to do it again.

“To my temporary home,” he replied, surprising me.

“Temporary home?” I repeated, my brow furrowing.

He glanced at me, his lips curling. “Feeling chatty, darling? Perhaps you’re not as wounded as I thought.” His gaze fell to my arm before returning his focus to the road. “Or maybe you hit your head against the mat harder than I realized.”

I frowned. I didn’t remember hitting my head. But that sounded right.

Every part of me ached, from my head down to my shins.

“It’s temporary because I don’t plan to stay long,” he explained, surprising me again with his answer.

It wasn’t my right to ask questions, yet he’d responded as though he didn’t mind at all that I’d requested clarification.

“I only accepted the role here to avoid a political request,” he went on. “All of the other staff here have their own homes in the desert because they don’t really have a choice otherwise. It’s that or remain at the university with the students, which a handful of lower-ranking lycans already do for security reasons.”

Yes, that I knew. Well, not the lower-ranking part. But I had a lycan headmaster in my dormitory. I avoided her when I could, as she often tormented those who crossed her path. She struck me as angry.Veryangry.

“I was given a choice of building a home or accepting royal accommodations,” he continued. “I opted for the latter because, as I said, I don’t intend to remain long-term. And the royals don’t often visit, which keeps the palace quiet.”

Royal accommodations?I’d never heard of that. I also didn’t realize that our Masters left the university grounds. No one had ever explained that part to us, as it wasn’t our business to know.

Yet Master Cedric seemed to be in a sharing mood.

Maybe because he was planning to kill me and didn’t see any harm in revealing these details.