Page 58 of Mortal Shift
Well, when she said it like that, it did sound like kind of a dumb move. But he’d been so convincing with that whole my enemy’s enemy is my friend crap. Seemed like everyone round here was an accomplished liar. Astor was right. I should have known better.
I ignored the red flush heating my ears, and straightened. “It won’t happen again.”
Either falling for Kallan’s dumb tricks, or stumbling into the vamp’s feeding grounds by accident. On purpose, however, was another matter.
“See that it doesn’t. Still, restitutions must be made for your crimes.”
“…Restitutions?” Now why didn’t I like the sound of that?
“Or did you simply imagine you could waltz into the middle of a sacred space uninvited without there being any repercussions? Because I do not believe you could possibly bethatnaïve.”
Right. Except if I didn’t know what the room was, or that it even existed, how could I possibly have known what a big deal it was to go in there uninvited? But like hell was I going to give Astor the satisfaction of seeing me pout like a kid and yell about unfair, so I pasted a subservient expression onto my lips and dipped my head.
“As you say, Domina.”
I felt her scrutinizing me, looking for some reason to tear me a new one, and I kept my eyes averted.
“Good,” she said eventually. “Then you will have no objections to allowing the head of the vampire faction to feed from you. Publicly.”
“What?” I snapped my head up and stared at her, horror etched into my face. Bad enough that I had to let Thaden torment me every week, but now she wanted me to stand by and allow yet another vamp to leech from me, in front of every bloodsucker in this place?
“Yes,” she said, a satisfied purr behind her icy tones. “I do believe that will suffice. You dishonored a sacred feeding ritual, after all, so it’s only appropriate you pay for your crime in blood.”
“No! I’m not doing it.”
“I assure you, Ms. Ellis, that you very much are. Willing or no.”
“But…you can’t do that!”
“Can’t?” Her expression darkened. “You dare tell me what I can and can’t do inside my own academy? You survive here purely by my grace. What, you think I could not have your pitiful existence snuffed out with a click of my fingers? Understand this, human. My kind is superior to yours in every way, and you are as a bug to me. Continue to amuse me, and you may just survive. Anger me, and I can promise that you will not.”
She spoke with an icy conviction, and I swallowed hard, because there was not a single of her heinous words I doubted for even one moment. Which just sucked, because being yet another vampire’s walking, talking buffet really wasnottop of my agenda. I swallowed again, but this time, it was just my pride.
“Please, Domina, is there some other way I can make amends?”
“Oh, no need for worry, I will instruct them not to drain it all.”
“Er, thanks.” I hadn’t been worried about that, at least, not until she’d said it. “But…”
“But nothing,” she cut across me sharply. “I will speak with the head of the vampire sector here at Darkveil, and either he or his appointed representative will claim your remorse tomorrow. The matter is closed.”
That soon? Wait, that was the last day of the semester. Everyone would be at the party. She couldn’t mean…
“You want him to do it in front of the whole academy?”
She looked at me over the top of a sheet of paper she’d picked up while I’d been having my horrific realization. “That is what I said, is it not?”
“But I didn’t think you meant all of them.”
“I fail to see how your misunderstanding is my concern. You will present yourself at the time and place dictated by the claimant, and you will offer him your throat—willingly, if you have any sense at all in that foolish human skull of yours.”
“Yes, Domina,” I said tightly. I was getting just a little bit sick of the anti-human xenophobia being thrown around this whole damn academy. But I couldn’t prove them all wrong if I was dead. I’d just have to get through this, and hope that humiliation couldn’t be literally fatal, or I was toast. Dying of embarrassment was right up there with drained of all blood like a juice carton on my worst ten ways to die list.
“Now, I suggest you leave. You’re already late for your first lesson and you know how Nyra feels about tardiness.”
Yes, unfortunately I did, and I was pretty sure that she wasn’t going to be interested inwhyI was late, because legitimate reasons didn’t tie in with her sadistic agenda. Which meant I was going to be in a world of trouble, again. Today just kept getting better.
I dipped my head in a curt nod to Astor and scuttled through the door and into the hallway before she could think of any more ways to torment me. Maybe I should just ditch, and haul my ass back to the library, where I’d spent all of yesterday evening hiding, and last night sleeping, and where I clearly shouldn’t have left this morning.
