Page 145 of On Wings of Blood

But then, she’d been raised from birth to idolize people like Blake, I reminded myself. To see them as purer than she was, better than she was. Of course, she wanted him.

Still, I hoped he’d reject her.

I needn’t have worried. With a frown, he brushed her hands away.

“Maybe the next time you come to call, I won’t be here,” she said petulantly. “Or maybe I’ll be with someone else. Some other highblood man. It would serve you right. What would you do then?”

“I'd pay the next girl,” Blake said coolly, picking up his jacket from the chair and shrugging it back on.

I choked back a laugh. He was one cold bastard. I should have pitied the girl. But I didn’t. There was something about the possessiveness she was showing towards Blake that I didn’t like.

I watched the jacket slide over his shoulders. He was leaving. I felt a flicker of smugness rise inside me.

Smug, that is, until a cold hand clapped firmly over my mouth.

I was yanked out of the wardrobe. A man’s hand wrapped around my waist.

“Well, well,” a low voice growled in my ear. “What have we here? Does someone like to watch?”

My heart raced, breath ragged against the highblood’s palm.

“A new girl,” the man muttered. “I’ve drunk my fill tonight, but I always like a new girl.”

I felt my hood being pulled down. The ribbon was wrenched from my hair. My curls cascaded down around my shoulders.

There was a sudden silence as the man took in my appearance.

Then I felt fingers move through my hair. I tried to yank my head away but he held tight.

“What have we here?” the man murmured. “Such pretty hair.” He sniffed at it. “You even smell different. Unique. I’ve never tasted one like you before.”

Panic flared inside me at the thought of this man putting his teeth into me. I twisted, jerking free of his grip, and leaned down, pulling Coregon’s dagger from my boot.

I spun around, my hand moving fast, and drove the blade deep into the closest part of him I could get to–his thigh.

The man howled in pain and staggered backward, knocking over a wooden chair.

I looked him over quickly. I’d half-expected to see the man I’d run into back in the corridor. But this was a different highblood. He wore a black domino mask over his eyes and a crimson cloak. There was blood all around his lips–blood he hadn’t bothered wiping away, as if he liked looking like that.

I glanced at his hands. They were covered in blood, too. My heart sped up. This man had done more than simplyfeedtonight.

And he wasn’t done with me yet. Rallying with more speed than any mortal, his face contorted in fury and in a flash, he was on me again, seizing my wrist and pulling my arm back with a painful twist.

I cried out in agony, but didn’t drop the dagger. My eyes darted around the room in desperation.

There. On the floor. The fluffin was lying motionless. The highblood must have kicked him earlier. The sight filled me with a sudden, blinding rage.

Stab him again,my mother demanded.Use the knife. Hurry. He’s not going to let you out of this room, no matter what he might claim.

But I couldn’t fight him off, no matter how I twisted. He was too strong.

I remembered something I had learned in my History of Sangratha class. That highbloods grew stronger with age. Before now, I’d only fought against highbloods my age–Visha, Blake. I might have been close to a match for them...but I wasn’t one for this man.

“I should bring you to the Sanctum,” he muttered as he fought me. “Turn you in. You’ve been hiding from them, haven’t you? Naughty, naughty. You’re special. That hair. But you smell so good. I think I’ll keep you for myself. Will you scream like my other girls? I don’t like my girls damaged. Not until I’m ready to do it myself. Drop the knife, little girl. Don’t make me break your fucking wrist now, girly.”

He was close to it. I could feel my bones coming close to the snapping point. My eyes were burning with pain.

The door to the room slammed open with a splintering crash.

---