Page 51 of Blood of a Huntsman

A Curse

When Cat woke up, she immediately headed to the Institute, walking right to the tower the vampires had claimed for their studies. More often than not, only Levi and Alexius occupied the tower. Today, Fin Varra was there too, lounging on a chaise.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“By all means, please interrupt,” Fin said. “I was listening to a dreadfully dull little story.”

Her eyes went from the vampires to the fae, but she decided their conflict was none of her business. She had enough problems of her own right now.

Cat explained everything Anika had revealed about the queen, and her potential affiliation to the Eirikrsons.

“I could be wrong, but I believe there are two distinct threats. The queen, and the other families,” she concluded.

Levi nodded. “Thank you, Catherine. That was helpful. And it fits in with what I know.”

She had other things to say, but she knew she was dismissed. Levi was visibly concerned, so she left the tower, walking down the hundreds of stairs in a flash.

Then her suffering started.

Cat kept her fists, jaw, and teeth clenched through each lesson, feeling like a bomb about to explode. There was one thing on her mind. Just one. Blood.

Worse yet, she didn't even want the blood of anyone around her. Her classmates, her professors, the men and women in the cafeteria all smelled like the most boring bag of O-positive.

She had other prey in mind.

Bash.

What the hell was wrong with her? A fellow vampire shouldn’t be that fucking tempting.

"Hey," Greer greeted her at the start of her alchemy class.

She assisted Professor Helsing, who’d made it down from the tower faster than her.

"You're good?"

Cat nodded. She wasn't quite lying, but she was also stretching the truth a bit.

"Let's see how much your brewing technique has improved in the last week, shall we?" Alexius challenged at the start of class. "We're going to work on a healing brew. You'll decant essence of solanaceae first, for a painless anesthetic, then prepare a seven-step salve. You'll find the list on your desk. Two hours. This is practice, but it will likely be on your end-of-year testing."

Shit. Of course they were working on one of the most important potions now, when she was distracted.

On a day when everything passed as a vague blur, this lesson was just a little bit clearer, mainly because she could see Alexius glaring at her and Greer shooting her worried looks every now and then.

She should have stayed in her room. Slept it off. She'd need someone's notes anyway.

Cat butchered the healing drought, doubling the nightshade content and adding way too much crushed spider.

"That's not bad," Alexius said.

She looked up, surprised. He was holding the dark blue mixture in the air, observing it in the fading afternoon light.

"Really?"

"I mean, it would kill most creatures the moment it entered their lips, of course. But creating poisons quite that efficient is no small feat."

Cat groaned. She’d definitely have to study this one before summer.

Cat was here for her MBA in charms and spells. She'd picked that subject because magic was her weakness. She wasn't an accomplished elemental mage, so that degree would mean a lot. To her, at least. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that it would matter to her family.

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