Page 62 of Mortal Blood
There was nothing I wanted less than to find myself face to face with him. When I was a kid—when my mom was still well enough to know what was happening more often than not—we’d moved around constantly, never staying in one place for long. And I knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we’d been running. From him. And everything I knew about him, about his illegal creation ofme, said we were right to do so.
But a deal was a deal, and now I had no choice. I had to meet with him, and find out what the hell he wanted.
If I was lucky, it wouldn’t be to wipe out the proof of his crimes: me.
But since when had I been lucky? Still, I had twenty-one littlestars left inside the gem, which meant I had three weeks left to work out what I was going to do. Aodh had point blank refused to tell me what my father wanted…but if I was about to send someone to their death, I probably wouldn’t have admitted to it, either.
I toyed with the gem in my hand, watching the tiny stars twinkle inside it. It would have been beautiful, if not for the whole it-was-probably-going-to-get-me-killed thing. Well, even then, I supposed.
I thrust the gem back into my pocket and hastened my step. When Astor summoned you first thing in the morning, it wasn’t smart to dawdle. Especially when she’d already made it perfectly clear she wouldn’t be shedding any tears if I happened to meet my untimely death in Darkveil’s halls. And that had been before she’d found out I was a dhampir.
I lifted one hand and rapped on the behemoth that passed for a door. The vast oak slab was covered top to bottom in just about every kind of warding rune imaginable, and more, I knew, lay within. This office was Astor’s sanctuary, and the seat of her power. And just about the last place inside these walls I wanted to be.
“Come.”
I slipped inside, and the door closed itself in my wake, leaving me sealed in the stone hewn chamber with the academy’s most deadly vampire.
“Domina Astor,” I said, bowing my head politely.
“Ms. Ellis.”
“Uh, you wanted to see me?”
“Want is rather a strong word,” she said, her eyes glitteringdangerously as she watched me from behind her desk.
I smiled blandly. I had enough problems—I didn’t need to be losing my temper and giving Astor any more reasons to cause trouble for me.
“As you say, Domina.”
She sniffed loudly. “It has been brought to my attention that you have been neglecting a significant portion of your studies.”
I frowned. I might not be top of the class in my lessons—well, okay, Idefinitelywasn’t top of the class in my lessons—but I wasn’t outright failing any, either.
“I’m…not sure I know what you mean, Domina,” I said carefully.
“That does not surprise me in the least. A creature such as yourself clearly lacks the capacity to thrive in this environment—or even maintain the barest of standards.”
“I am—” I snapped my mouth shut around my outburst, but not before I saw the satisfied twist of Astor’s lips. I drew in a slow breath. “If you would inform me where I’m failing, Domina, I would be more than happy to work on my…failings.”
“Your failings are far too many to count, Ms. Ellis,” she said, but this time I had my temper in check. Also, I wasn’t entirely sure she was wrong on that one. When she saw she wasn’t going to get a rise out of me, she continued, “But it is notmyjob to inform you of your deficiencies. See to it that you address them. Fail to do so, and you will not pass this year.”
“Er, right. Thanks.” I tried—and failed—to keep the confusion from my voice. She ignored me for a long moment, then peered at me.
“Is there something else I can help you with, Ms. Ellis?”
I didn’t bother to point out that ‘else’ implied she’d help me with anything at all.
“No, thank you, Domina.”
“Then stop wasting academy time and attend to your lessons. You can hardly hope to drag yourself up to the minimum standard if you don’t bother to attend the lessons my instructors have generously extended to you.”
Right. I pivoted on my heel and marched from the room before I could say anything to land myself in hotter water. But seriously, what the hell had that been about? Iwasn’tfailing any of my lessons. I’d been working my ass off to make sure I was in no danger of being held back—because that would mean Cole being held back with me, and if—no,when, I corrected myself—when he defeated Cain, we couldn’t afford for the pack to have any reason to doubt his ability to lead the pack. And what pack was going to follow an alpha who wasn’t even capable of passing second year?
Maybe Astor was just trying to get under my skin. Wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe she was bored. Whatever. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of dwelling on it. I glanced out of the windows as I ambled along the corridor. Spring was well underway, and if I’d had more time, I would have loved to pass a couple of hours amongst the budding flowers unwinding. You know, if there weren’t a shit ton of bugs out there right now. Eugh. I didn’t have time to make it back to my dorm to see Cole either, but if I hurried I could make it to the feeding den before lessons started, and catch up with the humans there before the vamps arrived. I quickened my pace and when I made it to the den, I was relieved to see Ihadmade it before anyone else—the whole place was deserted. I probably didn’t have all that long,but it wouldn’t take much time to catch up with Sam and the others, and make sure they had everything they needed.
I rapped on the plain wooden door and as it opened, found myself staring at Nikki.
“Hi Cali,” she said warmly, her eyes scanning the room behind me.
