Page 72 of On Wings of Blood

I rolled my eyes. “Right. Because you’d have actually cared if Visha had stabbed me to death right in front of you. Or if Regan had killed me when I jumped off that stone dragon.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re exaggerating. You were fine. Besides, Professor Sankara showed up in time. As for Regan, the headmaster stopped her. She knew that would happen. It’s not as if she...” He trailed off awkwardly.

I smiled. “Exactly. Don’t bother denying that she would have loved to see me die yesterday.”

He grabbed the book closest to me before I could stop him.

“Serpents of the Sky: A History of Dragons,” he read aloud, before I could grab the book back. He sniggered. “What is this? Homework?”

“Professor Rodriguez gave it to me,” I said coolly. “Now give it back.”

He dropped the book onto the desk with a thud and stood up. “The only thing left of the dragons are those stone statues. So what’s the point? They’re ancient history.”

“Then why am I here?” I said, meeting his gaze.

And in that moment, I realized I really did want an answer.

“Why am I here?” I repeated. “Why was I brought here?”

“To Bloodwing Academy?” He frowned, looking confused.

“To this world,” I hissed. “To you.” I shook my head. “Never mind. Never fucking mind. You know nothing. Just like everyone else.”

He took a step away from the table, then paused. “You should be glad the dragons are gone,” he said quietly. “You think we’re bad? The highbloods? They were even more brutal.”

I met his eyes steadily. “Maybe that’s exactly what this place needed. Balance. Something to keep you in check.”

He said nothing. Simply turned and walked away.

I went back to my book,Serpents of the Sky, this time more eagerly than before.

Brutal were they?

Suddenly I wanted to learn everything I could about the creatures Blake Drakharrow deemed worse than vampires.

BOOK 2

CHAPTER 14 - BLAKE

A few days earlier...

I slammed the double doors open, hearing them crash against the walls with a satisfying bang.

“What did you just do?” I roared as I stalked towards the long table where my uncle and brother were already seated.

My brother rose to his feet, nervously glancing across the table at my uncle.

“Back the fuck off, Blake,” Marcus said. “There’s no need to act like a barbarian.”

“A barbarian?” I seethed. “A barbarian? Yet you had no qualms about betrothing me to one today, Uncle. We know nothing about this girl or where she really comes from. For all we know, one of the other houses planted her there themselves.”

I glared down at the ancient vampire who sat staring up at me calmly from eyes as red as blood.

Viktor Drakharrow led our house. Even before that, he had been a force to be reckoned with as my father’s strongest and most brutal general.

“There is no way one of the other houses would have sat on a secret like that for so long. Or that they would have parted with that girl so easily. You always knew you’d be assigned a second consort,” Viktor replied quietly. “You have a little...” He gestured to his face.

I wiped at my face, my cheeks flushing. There at the corner of my lips. A few spots of blood. I brushed them away.

---