Page 10 of Mortal Blood
Chapter Four
Morning was amemory and afternoon had become evening by the time I closed the final book on my pile with a defeated sigh.
Ling glanced up at me from across the table and then closed her book, too.
“Ready to stop hiding in here?” she asked.
“I was not—I haven’t been… Fine. Yes.” I picked at invisible dirt under my fingernails. “And maybe no? What if…”
“What if what?” She arched a brow. “What if he doesn’t want you when he finds out what you are?”
My breath caught in my throat and I could only nod.
“Girl, donotmake me come over there and slap you.”
“Um…okay?”
“I mean it,” she said, and then her voice softened to something supportive, yet fiercely loyal. “There is not a single thing you could do to stop that man from loving you. Have you even looked at his face when he looks at you, like a single time?”
“I know, it’s just…”
“Just what? You think some accident of birth changes that?”
“He’s a shifter, Ling. They’re not exactly known for their tolerant ways.”
She reached over and slapped the back of my head, and I yelped.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Your mate—that’s your truefatedmate, by the way—ishardly the poster child for hating vampires, now, is he?”
“That’s even worse,” I said, rubbing at the back of my head. She narrowed her eyes and I leaned away, just to be safe.
“How, exactly, is having a mate who was on the cusp of a political marriage to a vampire to overthrow the current shitshow worse?”
“Well, firstly, can we not throw the M word around?” I feigned a shudder, and she shook her head in mock despair. At least, I thought it was probably mock. “And second, based on everything Astor said, it seems like my new-found half brethren are not exactly going to be welcoming to the ‘abomination’ in their midst. What if... What if he feels the same way they do?”
She threw her head back and laughed, and I’d have been hurt if I didn’t trust her more than almost anyone else in this academy. Okay, maybe I was a little bit hurt anyway.
“Oh, come on, Cali. You can’t possibly believe that?” She searched my face for a moment, and all trace of laughter slid from her features. “He loves you. He was ready to die for you last year. I don’t care what messed up shit you’ve been through in your life, or what bullshit you’ve been told: that kind of love doesn’t just go away—mate bond or no mate bond. If—if—he felt that way before, the moment he finds out about you, he’s going to realize everything he believed was wrong. And you’re going to feel pretty damn stupid for sitting here worrying about it. Want to know why?”
“Because it’s stupid to worry about it?” I ventured.
“Because it’s stupid to worry about it,” she agreed, nodding her head sagely. “Now get out of here.”
She shoved my arm hard, pushing me from my seat.
“But…”
“But what?”
“Well, he’s got to be back by now, right?” I glanced out of the window, where the academy’s artificial sun was starting to set.
“I assume that is why you’re hidinghere, yes.”
“Right. And he knows I’d be here. So…why didn’t he come looking for me when he got here?” I sagged back against the wall behind me. “Maybe he already knows.”
“Out!” She jerked an arm at the door. “Go and find your mate right now, or so help me, Cali Ellis, I will drag you to him by your glorious damn hair.”
