Page 104 of Mortal Blood
Alina bared her teeth at him. “I’d like to see you be calm when we’re about to be thrown into a deadly test!”
“Arguing won’t help either,” Cole cut in, his voice rocksteady…but I could see the worry hidden in his eyes.
Alina’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I just...I wish they’d call us already. The anticipation is killing me.”
“Soon,” Cole said grimly. “And we’ll handle whatever they throw at us.”
I reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Not all of us are cowering like pups,” Kallan said. “Some of us are going to enjoy showing the rest of the academy what we can do. There’s nothing out there I’m afraid of.”
Behind him, Eva looked pale and I couldn’t be completely sure Harvey wasn’t about to throw up.
“Being too stupid to recognize danger isn’t a virtue, Kallan,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Nor’s murdering family, but that didn’t stop your mate.”
A hush descended over the whispered conversations that had broken out around the academy, and even muscle in Jax’s torso visibly tensed as he turned to defend his new alpha.
But Cole just shrugged.
“Leave it, Jax. I did what I had to do. I won’t let a tyrant threaten the peace.” He stared pointedly at Kallan. “Ever.”
“We’ll see about that, Bryant,” Kallan sneered. “Don’t forget this assessment is a sanctioned trial.”
Meaning all rules—like the one about not killing other students—were suspended.
Cole held Kallan’s gaze, his expression cold. “Make whatever threats you want. But if you challenge me again, you’ll regret it.”
A tense, dangerous silence fell over the room. Cole might nothave a whole hell of a lot of friends in the room right now, but I was willing to bet he had more than Kallan. Cole’s status as an alpha was untested, and no-one wanted to be the one to test it. Except Kallan, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to get his wish.
Which would be a really,reallybad idea because this assessment was going to be hard enough without Cole picking up any new injuries before it even started. Because I didn’t doubt he could beat Kallan in a fair fight, but Kallan didn’t fight fair, and Cole was still recovering from his alpha challenge. He wouldn’t walk away unscathed.
Kallan took a step forward—because of course he was too dumb to think this through. Or maybe he thought he actually had a shot. I squeezed Cole’s hand again and he released me as I rose smoothly to my feet, my movements still filled with borrowed grace, fueled by Celeste’s blood. Every eye in the room immediately snapped to me, Kallan’s included. I stepped in front of him.
“If you’re tired of breathing, Cole can help you with that,” I told him. “Out there, or in here. But if you hope to survive the trial, then I really wouldn’t recommend it.”
Kallan curled his lip in a sneer. “Like I’d ever be afraid of a so-called alpha who hides behind his filthy dhampir mate.”
But I saw his eyes tighten a fraction, no doubt remembering what I’d done to him last time he’d crossed me right after I’d fed. I smiled coldly.
“My mate fights his own battles, but you should remember who stands behind him. How much do you trust the people who stand behindyou?”
His shoulder twitched, like he wanted to twist round to lookfor Eva and Harvey, both of whom were hanging back warily. At leasttheyhad some sense.
The door banged open and we all snapped our heads round to look at Zane as he strode inside. His eyes fell on me and Kallan.
“Save it for the trial,” he snapped. “I don’t have long, and I sure as hell won’t be wasting my time separating fights between idiots who can’t control their temper.”
I stepped quickly back to Cole’s side while Kallan skulked away to rejoin Eva and Harvey, and Zane gave us a curt nod.
“Good. If you’ve finished with your idiocy, then perhaps I can explain your final assessment?”
He turned his scowl on the room, and no-one said a word. We’d all been here before, right before our final assessments last year, and none of us were about to risk crossing him now. For one thing, I didn’t much fancy attempting my final assessment with any missing body parts.
“When I leave this room,” he said, “you will have three minutes to exit the building. I’m sure you remember this from last year, but just in case you’re too stupid to recall the rules, I’ll spell them out for you again. You will not touch anything on the way. You will not take anything but the clothes you are already wearing. You will not talk to anyone. You will not attempt to remain inside. Breaking the rules means failing the year. Trying to re-enter the academy before the end of the trial means failing the year. And so does getting your pathetic asses killed, so don’t—it looks bad on me.”
I drew in a slow breath. Last year had been bad—but we’d managed to get through it. We could do it again.
