Page 14 of Forged in Blood

She rolls her shoulders back. “Iamhis best.”

Xavier takes a step closer to her, and she visibly shivers. He curls a lock of her dark hair between his fingers. “Forgive Alastair here. He’s something of a misogynist. Doesn’t think women can be the best at anything. It’s not his fault though, he’s a product of his time.”

Axl growls, training his glare on Xavier—not because he cares about what anyone thinks of him, but because he hates his birth name. Weary, I roll my eyes and step between the two of them. I really don’t have time for any more of their competitive bullshit. There’s a certain pink-haired girl I’d much rather be spending time with right now. “Let’s do what the fuck we came here to do and get out of here, yeah?”

I tip my chin at Jay. “You too.” I head into the house, and the three of them follow close behind.

“Pledges in the den. Now!” I shout as soon as we step into the entryway. There’s a stampede of feet from every direction, and I appraise each pledge as they file past us. Some are here because they know what we are and have been persuaded by their older family members to follow in their footsteps. Others have been recruited by the criminal organizations all over the world that fund this college. Vampires have infiltrated all of them. From the Yakuza to the Cosa Nostra, they all have some of our numbers among their highest-ranking members. An immortal with the strength of ten humans is a much more effective soldier.

Xavier steps into the room first, and the vibrant buzz of chatter stops dead, like someone switched off the sound in the room. A wicked grin spreads across his face as he scans the collection of potential recruits. His reputation as a sadistic fuck who will tear out a pledge’s throat if they so much as look at him funny is well established and entirely founded in historical fact. Although, the last occurrence was almost two decades ago now, when the supply of pledges was more plentiful, thus making them more dispensable.

We have four girls in this group, double the number from last year. They usually opt for one of the less challenging vampire societies, Lapis or Opal. Excitement ripples through the room like a current of warm air, even from the stony-faced pledges who think they’re too tough or too cool to show any emotion.

I lean close to Axl while the recruits find places to sit. “How many did the other houses have?”

“Only seventeen for Lapis and fourteen for Opal.”

Wow, so few. I ignore the seed of worry that wants to take root in my gut. “And Onyx?”

“Thirty-five.” His voice is barely more than a growl.

I squeeze his shoulder, acutely aware of how offended he is by the fact that our biggest rivals have more new pledges than us. “Doesn’t mean they’ll win, okay?”

He turns to me, a snarl twisting his lips. “We barely beat them last year, and we had four more pledges than they did.”

I resist rolling my eyes. The Trials are fun, and I enjoy them, but Axl takes the whole thing way too personally. I get that the honor of House Drakos and Ruby Dragon are at stake, but it’s not like we’ve ever lost before. If he paid as much attention to our world as I do, he’d realize that the real concern is the dwindling number of pledges and turned vampires as a whole, not whether we have enough to win the Trials. “Doesn’t matter how many pledges they have,” Axl says. “They’ll never beat us because we always have the best of the best, right?”

“Right.” Xavier pats Axl on the back. Just like that, their earlier disagreement is nothing more than a memory. Always a united front when they need to be.

Axl cracks his neck, and the sound makes me wince. He fixes our potential recruits with a fierce glare. “The first of this year’s Trials will be held two weeks from Saturday. That gives you just over two weeks to prepare.”

An eager beaver shoots his hand up to ask a question, but Axl ignores him. “There are four trials. The first is Fight Fest. You will each be matched to an opponent of similar stature and strength. No weapons are permitted. This isn’t about not getting knocked down or who hits the hardest, but who can keep getting up again. Fight Fest is designed to test your strength, but also your resilience and your courage. It’s the only trial where you will compete alone, so it’s your chance to demonstrate what you’re capable of. But make no mistake—there is no honor in this fight. Your opponent will play dirty. They will use any means within their power to beat you. Be prepared.”

The eager beaver puts his hand down. Axl indicates for Jay to step forward, and she stands beside him, hands on her hips and a stubborn tilt to her jaw. Axl keeps his eyes fixed on the group in front of us. “Jay here will teach you the basics of what you need to know.”

“We’re supposed to trust a woman with this?” a guy says, standing up in the back of the room. Before he can take another breath, Jay has him hauled up by his throat and pinned to the wall, all two hundred pounds of him.

“You wanna repeat that, dipshit?” she says, offering him a saccharine smile.

I stifle a snicker while the guy being manhandled by the woman half his size tries to shake his head. “N-no.”

“No what?” she asks.

He glares at her. “No, ma’am.”

Tilting her head, she laughs darkly. Then she licks a trail along his jawline and hums. “I’m going to enjoy playing with you.”

She lets him go, and he rubs at his throat before taking his seat again. A soft murmur runs around the room, and Axl holds up his hand, silencing them all once more. “Lesson number one, pissants. Never underestimate your opponent.”

Jay arches an eyebrow and smiles at him. My brothers rarely pass up an opportunity to get laid, so it looks like she’ll be staying over at our place tonight. They try to stay away from our own house vampires when possible, given the potential to piss Alexandros off if they do something stupid. But Jay is a gift horse, and Axl will definitely not be looking at her mouth. I glance at Xavier and roll my eyes, but he grabs his dick and winks at me. Fucking fantastic. Looks like I’ll be listening to them both fuck her.

I give Jay a once-over. She’s pretty enough, but too cocky for my liking. I prefer them sweeter, less aggressive. With pink hair and creamy white thighs…

Xavier’s voice interrupts my thoughts.Stop dreaming about the cupcake and get your head in the game, dickface.

I’m not thinking about her.

He smirks.Even if I couldn’t hear you thinking loudly, I can see it written all over your face, sap.

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