Page 226 of On Wings of Blood

I wished I could figure out the right thing to say. I wanted to tell her how every second of watching the Games had torn me up inside. It’d been the worst feeling in the world.

And then, seeing her have to fight her friend. My heart had ached for her.

But the words wouldn’t come. I wasn’t sure she’d even want to hear them. Not from me.

Or maybe I was worried I’d sound weak. Expose too much of this feeling crawling around inside of my chest.

So I stole glances. The distance between us feeling too close and too far all at the same time.

Then she shocked me by breaking the silence.

“I wanted to thank you.”

I blinked in surprise. “What?”

“I owe you a debt. What you did, making me drink your blood–it probably saved my life.” She stopped, turned to look up at me. “If you hadn’t given it to me...”

Regan and the others would have killed her. She wouldn’t be standing here by my side now.

I’d almost lost her.

I felt my breath catch. The whole time I’d been watching her, I’d wondered if she hated me for making her drink it. Yet now here she was, thanking me for making her do something she still didn’t fully understand the consequences of. Something inside me twisted and stabbed. Claws of shame. Claws of guilt.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said stiffly. “I’m just glad you survived.”

Her green eyes searched mine. “Is that why we’re in trouble? Because of your blood?”

She didn’t know the half of it.

I ran a hand through my hair. “No. At least, I don’t think so. There’s more to it than that. Though I did break the rules by giving it to you.”

I wanted to shield her from the confrontation that was coming up. I wished I could ask her what she wanted me to do if things went in a certain direction.

My thoughts kept circling back to Regan and each time they did, my fury threatened to overflow. She’d defied me. Gone after Pendragon when they were supposed to work together. I’d known it was coming, but even so, when those three girls had cornered her, it could have turned into a bloodbath.

I wondered if Regan had known how close she’d come to dying that day.

Or how close she still was.

Pendragon had only survived the games because of the precautions I’d taken. Giving her my blood. Asking Visha to watch her back.

That, and her own strength and presence of mind. She hadn’t panicked. Once the drugs had cleared from her system, she’d pulled herself together and done everything she’d had to do to survive. Even when it meant killing one of her best friends. She’d passed every test they’d thrown at her and I was proud of her. So fucking proud.

I thought of Coregon. Pendragon and I had that in common now. We’d both killed a friend.

I doubted it would be something we’d fondly reminisce about together.

Visha. Panic struck me. I wondered if she’d told Pendragon the truth about that first day in the training yard. Visha had taken things further than she was supposed to, so I’d had toget Sankara to intervene. Even so, I’d initiated the set-up. If Pendragon ever found out, she’d be furious.

The fact that she was walking here so calmly beside me now, thanking me, must have meant Visha had kept quiet.

I stayed close to her as we approached the headmaster’s office.

We stepped inside, and the atmosphere hit me like a wall of ice.

Kim sat behind his desk, his dark robes draped around him. His sharp eyes flicked upwards as we entered and it was as if the weight of all Bloodwing’s expectations bore down on me. There was and never had been anything comforting about Headmaster Kim. He was the cold, uncompromising face of highblood authority at Bloodwing.

On the far right stood my uncle. Viktor Drakharrow, the living embodiment of highblood privilege and familial intimidation. He was the oldest highblood in the room. He glanced my way, his eyes glowing deep and unsettling red. His eyes moved to Pendragon and I felt my skin crawl. I wanted to grab his chin and force his head in the other direction. Nothing about that dirty, disgusting old man should be near her.

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