Page 71 of Blood Day: Part Two

However, Silvano had noticed a slight difference, and he’d commented on it shortly after arriving.

I’d been about to admit taking home a prospect when Khalid had said, “Ah, you must smell Emine. Yes, Cedric and I had some fun with my pet. You would have liked her. Alas, she’s dead now.”

And that had been the end of that discussion.

The scent still existed, but Silvano didn’t seem to care. Time operated uniquely for immortals. He saw a few days as merely seconds, which meant the mortal fragrance could linger for weeks before he’d begin to question it again.

Although, if he caught my scent on Lily, he would almost immediately know the truth.

Which made her walking away from the stage a good thing. Just as it was a positive twist that he’d been too busy eye-fucking candidates on his tablet to care about the parade of graduates before him.

He still had the redhead up on the screen. “Well?” he prompted me.

I wasn’t sure why he cared about my opinion. He could take whatever human he wanted to break. But clearly, he wanted an answer.

“She’s pretty,” I replied, my tone bored. I had no interest in helping him pick out a new toy. Not with Lily being led to the area of moon chase candidates at the side of the field. They would be escorted to their respective buses and eventual planes right after the ceremony.

Fuck. What am I going to do? How am I going to solve this?

Lily’s blonde hair glittered in the moonlight as the Vigil gestured for her to join the moon chase section of candidates.

She kept her head down, preventing me from seeing her expression.

Don’t hate me, little flower,I thought at her.I would open this link if I could. But I promise I haven’t abandoned you.

My chest ached.

I just have no idea how I’m going to save you.

And I hated admitting that part. I hated this whole goddamn situation.

Silvano flipped to another candidate, asking me what I thought of her tits. I provided another noncommittal reply.Pull up Lily’s profile and I’ll give you an honest answer.

I’d witnessed a few Blood Days, as they were often televised, and I’d had access to the ceremony as a result of being a Master at the university.

But I’d never sat with Silvano during one.

He typically attended alone. While sovereigns were technically allowed to come, they generally only took part in the events when asked by a royal.

Some royals invited all their sovereigns as a formal token of appreciation.

Others selected sovereigns they wished to honor—which Silvano appeared to be doing now, as I was about to become his newest member.

And then there were those—like Khalid, and usually Silvano—who chose to attend alone.

The whole political parade was a game of power.

Attending solo suggested a certain level of confidence in one’s ability to defend himself or herself.

However, attending with sovereigns conveyed a level of loyalty and respect that essentially said, “Attack me, and I have powerful minions who will work together to destroy you.”

It was all a superiority contest that I had no interest in joining.

Yet it thrived around me throughout the ceremony, the vampires and alphas making soft comments about candidates and intentions while evaluating the responses of others.

Entertainment, I thought, thankful when the tenth Immortal Cup candidate was announced. It was a blond male with a steady demeanor, one I recognized as being on the list of untouchables, meaning he could not be selected for a harem. He was an immortal hopeful. But seeing him now indicated that we were almost done.

Because the eleventh Immortal Cup candidate was selected right after him.