Page 57 of On Wings of Blood

I pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped inside. I’d entered an antechamber. The room was sparsely furnished and meticulously neat.

A pretty blightborn woman sat behind a mahogany desk. Her skin was dark brown and flawless, her lips painted a deep crimson. She was young, maybe only a few years older than me. Her eyes were calm, almost vacant, as if detached from her surroundings.

A pinprick of red on the side of her neck caught my eye. Then two tiny holes. Barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. Fang marks.

The realization hit me: the headmaster had fed from her. She wasn’t just a school secretary. She was his thrall.

The young woman gestured to the door behind her. “He’s expecting you. Go right in.”

I nodded.

As I stepped forward, my gaze snagged on the far wall. It was lined with six painted portraits. Written above in gold letters was a sign that read “Bloodwing Board of Directors.”

I scanned the names on the placards beneath the paintings quickly. Only one was familiar.

Natsumi Avari. Could this be Kage Tanaka’s mother? Natsumi’s long, white-blonde hair framed her face. She had dark, angular eyes–beautiful but stern. Her expression radiated a cold elegance, as though she saw every detail but was unimpressed by it all.

I turned away and opened the door to the headmaster’s inner office.

Headmaster Kim sat behind a carved wooden desk. The four pedestals holding the desk up depicted, rather grotesquely in my opinion, four naked women, their faces frozen in ecstasy as they licked blood from their lips. The wood was dark and polished to a gleam.

“Miss Pendragon. Please, sit,” Headmaster Kim commanded, his voice frosty. I felt the weight of his eyes on me as I complied, taking a seat in one of the two plain wooden chairs that had been arranged before the desk.

The headmaster, draped in dark robes trimmed with crimson, looked me over. I tried to appear nonchalant. But in truth, I was unsettled. The secretary. The carvings. These were some of the first blatant signs of vampirism I had seen within the school, and in the headmaster’s office no less. I would have been lying if I didn’t admit they frightened me. After all, yesterday this man had been in my head. Sure, he’d been trying to stop Regan and prevent me from making an utter fool of myself. That didn’t change the fact he had invaded me as easily as she had.

The headmaster steepled his hands over the desk. “I understand you had quite an interesting first day at Bloodwing.”

“You might say that,” I replied. “I certainly made a fool of myself in more ways than one.”

He surprised me by smiling slightly. “Would you like to tell me who was responsible for the mishaps?”

I remained silent.

“Surely you have some idea of who sabotaged your schedule,” he encouraged. “Or at least who used thrallweave on you during the commencement address.”

I met his eyes. “No. None at all.” I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. “Besides, does it matter?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised you don’t want retribution.”

“Oh, I didn’t say that.” I smiled coolly. “But isn’t that the point of Bloodwing? To be ruthless? I paid attention to your speech. The way I see it is, whoever sabotaged me yesterday was doing exactly what you taught them to do.”

“That’s certainly one way of looking at it. What an interesting specimen you are, Miss Pendragon. Few blightborn see vampires so clearly upon their arrival here. Most have rather idealistic notions of what highblood life is like.”

“I’m sure they do. But I didn’t grow up idolizing vampires. So hopefully I can see you all for exactly what you really are,” I said.

Headmaster Kim leaned forward. “And just what is that?”

We looked at one another.

“Powerful,” I said at last.

Headmaster Kim opened his mouth but I never did find out just what he would have said, for at that same moment, the doorbehind me opened and Professor Sankara strode in, a vibrant purple silk robe swirling around him.

“Sorry I’m late, Headmaster.” The tall dark man scratched his chin ruefully. “Not a naturally early riser, as you know.” He looked over at me and smiled. “Miss Pendragon. Good to see you again.”

I couldn’t help smiling back. Sebastian Sankara was a vampire just like Headmaster Kim, yes. And yet, there was something that set them apart from each other.

Even though the combat teacher had watched Visha pummel me into the dirt just to see how far things would go, I found myself already on the verge of forgiving him. After all, Odessa had been a tough teacher, too. Not quite that brutal, but I had a feeling she’d have mostly approved of Sankara’s methods.

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