Page 17 of The Bond That Burns (Bloodwing Academy #2)

By the time I got to Historical Strategy, I’d decided the dragon’s proximity was what must have caused the bizarre appearance of the scales. Definitely once-in-a-lifetime. Definitely nothing permanent.

I was so relieved that it took me longer than it should have to realize Visha had sat down beside me.

“Thought I’d grace you with the honor of my presence since you didn’t seem to be able to get enough at breakfast, House Leader.” Her broad grin told me she hadn’t been put off in the slightest by my attempt at intimidation that morning.

I glared at her and went to scoop my things back into my bag.

She leaned over. “Don’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“If you leave now, it’ll look like you’re scared of me.” She grinned, baring her fangs. “House Leader Blake Drakharrow scared of little old Visha Vaidya.” She clucked her tongue. “Just think of the rumors.”

“I’m not fucking afraid of you,” I said in annoyance.

“Good to hear it,” she snapped. “Then why have you been acting like a fucking pussy? An expression I obviously hate using since my pussy is stronger than your dick any day of the week, but hey, if the expression fits.” She shrugged.

I gaped at her, momentarily at a loss for words.

“Oh, please. Don’t act like I’ve just insulted your mother,” she said dismissively.

My lips twitched. I was trying not to laugh. “What do you want, Visha?”

“I want to know why the hell you’re acting as if you’re losing your mind these days, Blake.” She’d lowered her voice again, thank the Bloodmaid, but I still glanced around to make sure no one sitting nearby us had heard her.

“I’d say you’re the one who’s biting the hand that feeds you,” I said angrily.

She had the nerve to scoff.

“I can’t believe I was actually considering making you my Second,” I complained, crossing my arms. “After the way you’ve been acting.”

“And just how exactly have I been acting?” Her tone was deceptively calm, but I knew her well enough to know she was getting close to blowing her top.

I cleared my throat. “You’ve been behaving disloyally.”

She raised her eyebrows. “By being friends with your consort? The same redhead you were so excited about last year that you cast off Regan? Funny, I’d have figured you’d have wanted us to be friends.”

“I didn’t... That was...” I blew out a breath. “Things have changed. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” she said pleasantly. “Who knows what the hell is really going on between you and Pendragon. It’s not my business. And it sure as hell isn’t Theo’s. But you’ve made it everyone’s. You’ve decided to include your entire house in your personal life. Now here you are, acting like the world has done you wrong.” She leaned in a little closer. “You’re being a big fucking baby, you know that?”

My face flushed. “You’ve got some nerve.”

“I’ve got all the nerve.” She glared back at me. “You know it’s true.”

“You sat at a House Avari table this morning,” I said furiously. “Or have you forgotten?”

“Because you threw a temper tantrum and kicked us all out.” She shook her head slowly. “Tell me this, Blake–just where exactly do you think it’s going to get you?”

“Get me?”

“Yes. Please enlighten me. Do you think Medra’s going to come crawling back to you after you’ve embarrassed and humiliated and bullied her worse than you did last year?”

“She’s the one who has me on her fucking leash,” I hissed. “She’s the one cavorting with the enemy. She turned her back on me first.”

Visha snorted. “Cavorting? I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone to cavort in my life. Next you’ll be telling me she was frolicking with Kage. Let’s be honest here. You’ve both stirred the pot. You fed from her when you know you shouldn’t have. You had alternatives. You could have told her the truth about the situation. You had to have known how she’d react when you went all feral highblood on her. You’re not a damned idiot, Blake, even though you’re certainly acting like one lately. So do me a favor and don’t pretend like you’re some innocent victim in all of this.”

I bristled. “I did what any highblood would have. I took the blood I needed. She’s the one who publicly announced she was through with me. That she’d break our bond if she could.”

“Oh? And that makes it right?” She shook her head in disgust. “Since when do you hold with all that highblood nonsense, anyhow? Since when does doing something just because it's tradition make it a good idea?”

I stared at her. “Excuse me, who am I talking to right now? The Visha I know is proud to be a highblood. Proud to feed. She takes what she needs when she needs it.”

“I’m still proud,” she said, tossing her head. “That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to question the system. And right now I’m questioning whether some of our traditions might be wrong and whether highbloods like you are really trained to all be entitled assholes.”

“Takes one to know one,” I muttered. “Next you’ll be telling me you don’t drink from the house thralls.”

“I’ve switched to sellbloods. You made them sound so great, I couldn’t help myself.”

She batted her eyes at me. I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not.

“In any case,” she went on. “I’d make a fucking fantastic Second and you’d be lucky to have me. That’s if I even agreed to accept the position. Right now, with you constantly losing your shit...” She shrugged expressively.

“What?” I demanded.

“Well, let’s see. You could pick a suck-up like Laurent who keeps following you around or you could pick someone who isn't afraid to tell it to you straight.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but she had a point.

“Like right now. I’m going to tell it to you straight, Blake. Are you ready? Oh, that’s right, I don’t fucking care.” She leaned towards me. “You’re losing her. Everything you do is making it worse, not better.”

“Pendragon?” I tried to laugh. “I don’t care if she hates me.”

“But that’s just it. You clearly do care. I don’t know if you’re falling for her–”

“That’s absurd,” I interrupted. “We’re highbloods.” Visha should know better. We didn’t mate for love. That was the whole point of triads–stability and strength. My parents were the only exception I could think of. And look what had happened to them.

Last year I may have come close to thinking of Pendragon as something more, but I’d been delusional. Just look at us now.

She shrugged. “Whatever you say. So maybe it’s all about staking your claim and you just really, really want to get in her pants. Either way, what you’re doing right now isn’t going to get you there.”

“Oh, no?” I snapped. “And just what would the genius Visha Vaidya do in my shoes?”

“You could start with apologizing for one. Because you and I both know you fucked up. And after that? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe learn how to actually seduce someone instead of just acting like a cave bear and pounding on things hoping she’ll swoon at your feet?” Visha suggested.

Blunt as a brick, that was Visha. “I’ve never had a problem getting a woman,” I bragged.

“Right. You could have any highblood girl you wanted.” She smirked. “Well, most of them. But that’s the problem. You don’t want them. You want her . So maybe you’d better stop doubling down and start trying to fix your shit.”

I slouched in my seat. I knew Visha was right... even though I wasn’t about to come right out and say it.

She glanced at the door. “Here comes Rodriguez. You’re about to be saved. But think about what I said, asshole. And another thing,” she added. “If you’re going to keep treating everyone like pawns in your personal drama, could you at least pick a Second who won’t let you spiral into self-destruction? Laurent would follow you off a cliff, but he wouldn’t stop you from jumping.”

I scowled. “Let me guess—you’d have my back, would you?”

“Without hesitation,” she said. “That’s assuming you managed to pull your head out of your own ass long enough to earn my respect again.”

And with that she turned to her parchment, leaving me to stew in silence.

I leaned back in my seat as Rodriguez’s lecture began, but my mind was far from historical strategy.

“You’re losing her.” The words cut deeper than I wanted to admit. Pendragon shouldn’t have mattered this much in the first place. She’d been assigned to me. I hadn’t chosen her. We were both Viktor’s pawns in a game of power I’d been trapped in my entire life.

But it didn’t feel that simple anymore. Not since she’d walked away, taking something with her, something that had left me with a burning ache in the vicinity of my chest.

Visha was scribbling notes, totally oblivious to the chaos she’d just unleashed in my head.

I hated that I didn’t know how to fix this. I’d started something and now, like a fire burning out of control, I wasn’t sure I could stop it.

Highbloods didn’t apologize. Not to one another. Certainly not to blightborn.

But maybe that was the problem. Pendragon wasn’t like anyone else—not any other consort or any other blightborn or highblood, for that matter. She was like no one I’d ever met. And it terrified me.

I could feel the weight of our bond tugging at me. Always present, faint but persistent.

I’d thought claiming her blood would bring things to a head, give me control over her—but also over myself. Instead, it had only turned me into a tangled mess of emotions.

“What if this bond isn’t even real?” That’s what she’d said to me in the common room the other night. Which meant she believed it wasn’t.

I felt my heart harden. Visha was right. If I didn’t stop spiraling, I’d lose everything. Pendragon, my house, my dignity.

There had to be some middle way through this.

Because if Pendragon thought I was going to come crawling on my knees to beg her forgiveness, she had another thing coming.