Page 83 of On Wings of Blood

“Neither of you will be getting a taste,” I snapped. “In your dreams. I didn’t ask to be made your stupid consort or to be betrothed to your asshole fiance. And if you think things are going to go even one step further, you have another thing coming.”

The girls all stared at me.

“By the Blessed Blood, she really is ignorant, isn’t she?” one of the girls whispered finally. “Is she... you know?” She tapped a finger against her temple. “All there? No wonder she climbed that dragon on the first day.”

They all snickered, even Regan.

“She’s practically an imbecile,” Regan announced. “You know I adore and honor Lord Drakharrow. He’s practically family to me, after all.” Regan gave a long-suffering sigh. “But I can’t help but feel he made a terrible mistake. Medra’s no match for me and she’s certainly no match for poor Blake.” She looked me up and down. “She’s blightborn trash. That’s what she is. Refuse Blake saved from a garbage heap. She has no idea what she’s doing. I suppose she’s just grateful for the free food.”

The other girls burst out laughing.

I opened my mouth in a fury, barely struggling against the urge to slap Regan full in the face.

“Medra! There you are!” It was Theo. He pushed his way between the girls, a broad smile on his good-looking face. “I was wondering if you’d ever show up one of these nights.”

“Youinvited her here?” Regan hissed, looking back and forth between Theo and I.

Florence was acting like if she stayed quiet enough everyone might just think she was invisible. I didn’t blame her.

“You have a lot of nerve, Theo,” said Regan.

“Of course, I do,” he said flippantly. “I’m a Drakharrow, aren’t I?” He turned to me and slipped his hand in my free arm. “Come along now, Medra. Come along now, Medra’s friend. Be welcome, be welcome.”

“I’ll tell Blake about this,” Regan hissed as Theo started to pull us away. “It’s an outrage. This is a private party. I started these bonfire nights in the first place. It wasn’t your place to invite anyone.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Regan,” Theo said, sounding bored. “Who do you think told me to invite her in the first place?”

Even though I knew it must be a lie, I almost laughed as Regan’s jaw dropped open.

“You’re lying,” she whined, her voice rising an octave. “You’re such a liar, Theo.”

“And you’re such a vapid bitch,” Theo snapped. “I pity my cousin for having to breed with you someday.”

He tugged us away from Regan’s furious wailing and towards a large log that had been set up on the other side of the fire where two highbloods were sitting.

Theo made a shooing motion. “Go, go. Find some place else to sit. My friends need this seat. Move along, thank you.”

To my amusement, the highbloods did exactly that, hurrying away and finding a new place in the sand, where they looked back at Theo nervously.

Theo pulled Florence and I down onto the log, arranging one of us on either side of him.

“There,” he said with satisfaction. “That’s much better, isn’t it? Beautiful night. Beautiful fire.” He let go of our arms and fished inside his shirt. “Beautiful night for...” He pulled out a small glass bottle of a swirling, shimmering liquid. “A bit of ambrosia?” He grinned wickedly.

I had no idea what was in the bottle, but I caught Florence staring wide-eyed at the contents.

“Is that Crimson Ambrosia?” Florence asked.

“What is it?” I leaned forward, curious.

“Don’t try it, Medra,” Florence said immediately. “It has a completely different effect on mortals than it does on highbloods.”

“That’s not quite true,” Theo countered. “Have you ever tasted it?”

When Florence said nothing, he raised his eyebrows. “Well, I have and I’ve associated with blightborn who have. It can be very pleasurable for both species.”

“I don’t have to try it to know that it’s highly addictive,” Florence said quietly. “It causes euphoria in highbloods,” she explained, looking at me. “But in mortals, the euphoria’s effectsare compounded. It can cause hallucinations and make you even more susceptible to thrallweave.”

I shuddered. “No, thank you.” I looked around us. “In fact, after that last unpleasant encounter, I think we should go. Right, Florence?”

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