Page 65 of Blood Day: Part Two

The air lacked the humidity of the desert but carried with it an intriguing scent.Trees.I couldn’t define the type, just that they were overgrown.

As was the grass framing the path I stood upon now.

My white graduation gown flirted with my bare calves, the fabric more like a gauzy dress than an actual robe. It left nothing to the imagination, which I supposed was the point.

Six wore a similar robe, only his went down to his ankles.

Odd, considering how much taller he was than me, but it seemed most of the males were adorned in similar lengths.

They’d put us in order again.

There were exactly one thousand of us, yet I recognized maybe five percent of those in line.

The male behind me was Prospect Four Hundred and Eight, Year One Hundred Seventeen. But he was from a different university.

He’d blinked at me, confusion evident in his expression for half a second before he controlled his emotions and stepped behind me.

I’d expected new prospects because Cedric had warned me that there were other universities. However, that wasn’t common knowledge.

There was so much we weren’t told.

Like how the majority of our former classmates had already been taken to their fates.

The processional started, the sound of feet marching down the path echoing around us.

Cedric,I whispered, still not sensing him.Where are you?

I couldn’t look up or search the crowd. To do so would risk breaking decorum.

Be silent.

Be obedient.

Do not scream.

Do not react.

Bow.

Avert your gaze.

All of those rules had been beaten into me over the last twenty-one years.

I chanted them to myself as I followed Six down the main aisle, passing rows and rows of empty chairs.

Is Cedric seated among the royals?I wondered.Is he here with Prince Silvano? Or maybe Prince Khalid?

From what I understood, only the most powerful of vampires and lycans attended Blood Day. Sovereigns were included among that status, granting them access to the ceremony.

If Cedric had accepted the position, he could be here.

Is that why you’ve kept me blocked?I asked him.Because you’re playing a role with Silvano?

I wished he would just check in and tell me what was happening. It made me worry that he couldn’t, that perhaps something truly awful had happened.

Wouldn’t I feel that, though? Wouldn’t I feel even more disconnected?

Except, I couldn’t imagine feeling more cut off than I did right now. It was as though a part of me had… haddied.