Page 27 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

CREED

M y eyes narrow at all the returning students swarming in through the academy’s gates like ants. Or sheep.

Blind and stupid cattle makes more sense for the entitled pricks in this school. Seeing whatever they want, believing only what benefits them and theirs more. I hate all this bullshit.

But I have at least another two years to go. Or at least until we have everything set up outside.

I drag a hand through my hair, leaning against the windowsill as I watch them gather in small groups and have the weaker ones carry their bags and luggage like house servants.

The strong always dominate the weak, even in this shithole.

Ezra’s voice catches my ears as he leaves our dorm room to get some final bits for Micai in town.

A heavy sigh seeps out as I watch him leave, his gaze still narrowed and pissed at me. And I can’t blame him.

Micai . . .

He had every right to be pissed after hearing what had happened yesterday. She had been attacked returning to the academy the night I forced her to leave the party ... maybe even her high fever had been brought on by it all.

I had put her in danger on top of treating her like shit.

I shake my head, my stomach twisting in knots every time I think of it.

If it had been Morgan, and someone had done that to her ... they would already be dead and buried. Putting my family in danger wasn’t something I would forgive easily ... and I did that to my brothers’ Mate .

I don’t usually regret the decisions I make or lose sleep over hurting someone who was in my way ... but I know I’ve fucked up on this one.

Micai was more like my brothers and I than I could have ever anticipated.

Or maybe I just didn’t want to see it?

That day in the gym ... she moved more skillfully and had more strength than even some of my brothers. She was able to hold her own with me, without me having to pull my punches. And she certainly didn’t pull any either.

I rub the phantom pain in my side, a small grin stretching my lips with the memory.

She moved with ease and even managed to break free while being pinned underneath me. Her small and curved frame slid back and forth as her hips ... I shake my head and the thought away before it continues to where it shouldn’t.

I drag a hand down my face. I think I saw a fraction of what my brothers do in her that day, and of what she brings out in them subconsciously. Something long forgotten and buried.

I rub a hand down my neck as I glance out the window again, listening to the sheeps’ chatter and laughter moving in and out of the dorms.

A light blonde colour catches my eyes as it passes by, and my brows scrunch together. Her demented half-sister and her pathetic group of partners make their way into the courtyard, all smiles and happy faces.

My hands clench tightly into fists, my anger rising as black mist seeps from me, edging nearer to the window.

It would be so easy just to let it free, let my darkness rain down on them all and obliterate them painfully with my power.

My gaze narrows as the blonde enters the girls’ dorm, the pathetic assholes following after her.

I grit my teeth and pull my power back, letting it sink back into the depths of me until I need to call it again.

It’s not like I needed it to kill someone. I could do that easily myself. Especially that blonde snake. My hands alone could snap that weak neck of hers easily.

She was connected to the group who attacked my home and family in some way. And we needed to know how and why. That was the only reason I hadn’t set Annex loose on her just yet.

The dead don’t tell tales, and we needed this bitch to talk.

I clench my fists again, holding myself back. Even if every part of me screams to rip her to shreds for what she’s done.

I thought the rumours and lies she spread about Micai before were just some pathetic sibling grudge or family dispute for power. But that bracelet ...

Cracks form in the window’s edge, one I didn’t even realise I was gripping.

I pull my hand back, brushing off the small splinters that cling to my hands.

I guess that is another thing Micai and I have in common: a treacherous family member who would kill even their own blood for more power. And the rest of them who couldn’t care less.

Morgan and I had suffered at the hands of our uncle, Alias. He took over the reign of our clan the moment our parents died, my father having been his brother and the previous heir.

He played the grieving sibling well, at least to the eyes of two naive young children. He performed the act to perfection, having us believe every lie and tear as if it were only natural.

We never saw the evil truth behind it, the dark gleam in his gaze that grew more depraved by the day.

We believed everything he said as if it was a fact. I believed everything to an almost obsessive degree. I thought I could trust him.

How stupid that young boy was.

It wasn’t until years later that the cracks began to show ... that Morgan showed me the truth. She had suffered much more than me.

A cold shiver runs up my spine as memories and dark emotions try to resurface. But I push them back down, not willing to open that buried box that should just wither away in darkness.

I roll my shoulders out and shake the thoughts away, staying in the present.

I glance out the window and watch on as the blonde appears again, heading toward the main building, surrounded by her little cronies.

Now she’ll have the full force of my attention. Something nobody wants.

My eyes, and all the eyes of my people, will be watching her every move from now on. And once we wring the answers we need from her, she’s fair game.

Micai is now one of ours, and I promise to make this bitch pay soon.

And I always keep my promises.