Page 76 of This Blood That Breaks Us

“Let’s go.” I followed Ezra back to a table of men at the pub in town. I’d spend the next hour pretending to like them and feigning my care for their business affairs. All they cared about was my ability to fill their pockets with money. Bending myself into the person they needed was the easy part, and more importantly, the person Ezra needed. He liked the mask. The person Icouldbe.

I grabbed my whiskey from the table and took a swig.

There was only one thing I didn’t understand. How was it that after all this time all I wanted was to go home?

Twenty-One

Zach

“Again,” I called to Henderson, and he circled me in the grass inside the front gate of the castle grounds.

The fucker was improving. Because I made him better.

“Can’t we stop?” Henderson’s chest was covered in blood. All his.

“Don’t you want to be better? The best?”

They were an ungrateful lot. I’d even let them have outside fight time on the one day it wasn’t raining. I continued to train with Sirius but less. I’d been promoted to teacher, and fuck, was it fun.

He groaned and came at me again. I’d taken the position of his partner since Sirius had taken two of Connell’s fingers that day in the tunnels, not that he couldn’t fight, but I’d convinced Ezra his talents were better used elsewhere and not as a punching bag.

He was in charge of the tour service that ran to the island. A service that brought in money and more importantly, bodies and blood. The blood from the blood bank mostly went to those of us learning to fight. I trained so much I never needed to drink from humans anymore, but I didn’t miss hunting. A quick blood bag every two weeks was way easier.

Everyone there was old enough to wipe memories except Connell, but he loved it from what I could tell. He was personable enough for the job, and it kept him away from Luke, which was a win for me. I’d ordered Connell to stay away from Luke because every time Luke would see him in the hall, he’d spiral.

When Luke spiraled, it put us both on our ass for days. Sometimes, we couldn’t leave our room because the pain was so intense. He hurt, so I hurt. Therefore, we both kept hurting and crashing into each other.

Henderson came at me again, and I shoved his face into the dirt. “You have to be faster.”

“I can’t! I’ve lost too much blood.”

“You think that will stop your enemy? Get up.”

I placed a heel on his back, barely weighing him down.

“I-I can’t.”

“Are you even trying?”

“Yes!”

“I guess that means they win. And do you know what happens when someone else wins?”

“No.”

“Do I see tears?”

“No, stop it—”

He tried to get up, but I didn’t move my shoe. Someone had to teach him this lesson, and it might as well be me.

“When someone overpowers you, that means they get to do whatever they want with you.” With one foot firmly on his back, I moved the tip of my shoe to his face. “Kiss my shoe.”

“What?”

“Move me. Or kiss my shoe. Your choice.”

“Sir—”