Page 87 of Blood Day: Part One

Master Cedric’s palm returned to my cheek. “Oh, sweet flower.” His forehead met mine. “Don’t wilt.”

I nearly grunted. But that sound required air, and I refused to allow it for that purpose alone.

He’d wanted to destroy me.

And he’d won.

All I could do now was accept the inevitable.

I finally let myself breathe.

And then I screamed.

Ending the game once and for all.

Chapter19

Cedric

Fuck.

The broken quality of Lily’s scream would haunt me for eternity. It was worse than I’d feared, my infatuation with her having pierced a part of me that very few had ever reached.

It’d taken every ounce of my strength not to check up on her over the last eight months. But it was the only way to finish Silvano’s task—which I’d wrapped up last week.

When I’d returned to the university yesterday, I’d been expecting to find my little flower safely sequestered in servant-focused courses.

Alas, no. The stubborn little brat had continued taking fighting sequences and sexual studies, thus driving home her fate.

A fate I’d felt compelled to lay out for her plainly tonight because I was livid.

I’d failed her with purpose—to protect her. And she’d disregarded all of it, walking straight into the moon chase trap.

Even tonight, she’d reacted perfectly for such a fate by standing her ground and trying to fight.

The wolves were going to rip her apart and fuck her in a puddle of her own blood.

Just the notion of it made my blood boil all over again.

So yeah, I’d reacted harshly.

But never in my wildest dreams had I imagined she’d respond in this way—fighting me one minute and screaming in the next.

Her eyes were closed now, but I’d seen the color dull in her gaze before she’d shut me out completely.

Wilting. Drying up. Dying right beneath me.

It was the nightmare I’d feared, the reality I’d known I would one day face. I just hadn’t expected it to be tonight. Not when I’d finally made it back to her.

I released her wrists, both my palms caressing her cheeks.

She didn’t react other than to lie there and continue to scream. The sound was scratchy now, her throat too damaged to function the way she desired.

“Lily,” I breathed, my thumbs tracing the hollows beneath her eyes.

Fuck, I’d missed her more than anyone else I could ever remember missing.

Being away from her had been agony. I’d finished the job as quickly as I could, my need to return to her a driving force behind every decision.