Page 186 of Blood Day
Is that why you’ve kept me blocked?I asked him.Because you’re playing a role with Silvano?
I wished he would just check in and tell me what was happening. It made me worry that he couldn’t, that perhaps something truly awful had happened.
Wouldn’t I feel that, though? Wouldn’t I feel even more disconnected?
Except, I couldn’t imagine feeling more cut off than I did right now. It was as though a part of me had… haddied.
Oh, Goddess…
I nearly stumbled over my feet, but some miracle of fate kept me upright and moving in the right direction. Because one misstep was all it would take to call forth some very negative attention.
Focus, Lily,I coached myself.
If Cedric was dead, then there wasn’t anything I could do now.
Other than accept my fate.
Six turned into a row, following the prospects in front of him. I moved after him, marching down the line of vacant chairs. Several prospects had been stopped in the row before us, all of them standing in front of their chairs and facing forward with their eyes downcast.
That must be in the direction of the stage, I thought, forcing myself not to risk a glance beyond my periphery.
When Six halted, I did as well.
Then we shifted to face forward, placing the chairs behind us. I kept my head down like the prospects in front of me.
And waited.
Hours seemed to pass, the only sounds the shuffling of feet against the path.
Six touched his knuckles to mine, the gesture one that seemed to have become our norm over the last twenty-four hours.
I repeated the gesture back at him.
Cedric,I thought.If you’re here, now would be a good time to tell me.
I wasn’t sure why I bothered. Our connection remained closed, something I could sense all the way to my soul.He’s cut me off for good.
My heart ached while simultaneously picking up speed as an eerie silence fell over the crowd.
No more steps.
Yet I could feel the mystical energy growing, the power roaming along my skin, lifting each hair on my arm in its wake.
The superior beings are here.
The ceremony is beginning.
It’s time to learn my fate.
Electricity hummed through my veins, my sense of awareness seeming to spike at the approaching presence of unadulterated power.
Am I feeling that because of Cedric?I wondered.Does that mean we’re still connected?
Or was I sensing this because of the dark presence these beings carried with them?
They were the oldest and most powerful supernaturals to walk the earth. And feeling their energy signatures now only confirmed why.
Authority.
