Grey sniffed when I stopped next to him. “Were you with Cassius again?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, and?”
“Just asking. You know I don’t like it.”
“Too bad for you.”
“I got it sorted for you, by the way,” Grey said.
I turned to him and lifted a brow.
“The way out of the Sanctum.” I’d almost forgotten about that. “At the edge of the island is a boat that comes every two weeks. It delivers supplies. Food, equipment, toiletries. You know, the usual stuff. For a high price, it’ll sneak students out.”
“How high?”
“You’ll owe a ton of money to whoever owns that boat. I don’t think it’s worth it.”
Hannah was. Hannah was worth more to me than any sum of money.
Madam Varkov didn’t teach this class. I hadn’t met this teacher before. He was tall—taller than even Cassius—and dressed in an old-fashioned suit, looking like he belonged to a different era. The instructor ran his hand across his thick brown beard. His pale skin made him seem like a vampire, but I couldn’t be sure. I knew that some teachers in the Sanctum were humans who’d won the favor of the vampires.
He’d entered the amphitheater pulling a huge metal crate. The crate was large enough to fit a human inside and groaned against its own weight. Despite dragging something so large behind him, the instructor didn’t break a sweat. He set the chain that he was holding down, then turned to the students.
Vixie Natash was amongst them. She stopped next to me, an ugly sneer on her face. Someone should tell her to stop scowling so much. She had a small oval face that looked pretty, but she’d be a lot more attractive if she didn’t look like she was in the middle of taking a crap all the time. “You were gone yesterday,” Vixie said. “You went missing for half the day.”
I focused on the metal crate. “And you noticed why?”
“I didn’t see you around.”
“You were looking for me.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Where I am and what I’m doing shouldn’t concern you. Don’t you have more important things to worry about?”
“I need to keep you in place.”
“Ah. Your divine calling?” Her obsession with me bordered on laughable. Vixie needed to be less concerned with the lives of other people and spend more time looking at herself.
The teacher cleared his throat. He unlatched the door of the crate and picked up another chain.
Vixie narrowed her eyes at me. “We’ll continue this later.”
I snorted. “I can’t wait.”
The chains clinked together. They ran toward the crate and were attached to an object inside it. I shifted to get a better view of what was inside.
An all-too-familiar snarl came from the crate. I stiffened, holding my breath as I waited for the creature to step out. A lowblood vampire, collared and led by the chain the teacher was holding, walked out and into the amphitheater. His hair was disheveled, his pupils red and lit with rage. I’d never seen one as rabid as this one. It seemed more animal than man, its fangs completely lengthened.
“Everybody pay attention,” the teacher said in a raspy voice. “This here is a lowblood in its worst state. They are the weakest of vampires. Most of you have heard of them in your other lessons, but have never come across one.”
The lowblood was on all fours. Its gaze locked with mine. As soon as that happened, it snarled and leapt toward me. The teacher tugged at the chain, forcing the lowblood backward. It squealed as it lost balance and fell on its behind. The creature leapt to its feet right after, then bent to the ground again. A threatening growl rumbled from its throat.
Grey stepped closer to me. “It looks pissed.”
“They always look pissed,” I replied. “The thirst drives them mad.”
“We’re not going to end up like that if we pass the Sanctum, will we?”
I shook my head. “They’re not the same as the others.”
“We call them vermin,” the teacher continued. “There are three main categories of vampires: fullbloods, such as Lord Cassius himself, normals, such as I, and then this, a lowblood.” The teacher looked disgusted as he peered at the rabid vampire. “A normal can only be created by a fullblood, which is why Lord Cassius is so important to the vampire race. When normals try to create vampires, well…” The lowblood snapped its jaws. “This is the result. It is against the law for normals to try to turn humans, but some do so anyway. The punishment for that is death. The lowbloods thirst the most. They have no self-control, and the longer they go without blood, the more rabid they become. This specimen here hasn’t had blood in three weeks. He’s very much insane at this point.”
I stilled as I watched the creature. Jonas and I had hunted his kind back in the city. The more I studied it, the more I realized that it was nothing like Cassius. Cassius had self-control. He carried himself with poise and majesty and calm.
The difference between the lowblood and him was like day and night.
“Sometimes, lowbloods form a connection with the normals,” the teacher continued. “It’s rare, but when it does happen, the normal vampire will have full control of the lowblood. There are some normals who decide to go against the law, turning as many humans as they can in hopes of finding their own servants. Needless to say, they don’t last very long. We put them down as soon as they are found out. To deter other vampires from committing the same crime, normals who are caught suffer a painful death.”
The teacher went on to describe the abilities of other vampires. He spoke of vitality. Apparently, what differentiated each class was the amount of vitality their blood had and their ability to walk in the sun. Normals burned, just like lowbloods did, but fullbloods only weakened under UV rays. The only way for a normal to cure their weakness to sunlight was to drink the blood of a fullblood. That was why Cassius’s was so prized.
“Queens,” the teacher said, pausing in front of the lowblood. I couldn’t stop looking at it. Couldn’t stop comparing it to Cassius and being reminded of just how different they were. “I’m sure some of you have heard of them before.”
Cassius needed one to create a compound that could save Annelise and Hannah.
“Queens can control all vampires through compulsion. They are empaths, able to sense and create emotions in all beings. They have the ability to create fullbloods such as Lord Cassius, although that power is limited by their heat cycles.” The teacher tutted. “Unfortunately, the last queen was killed in the Ravaging twenty years ago, and there hasn’t been another fullblood female to take her place.” He paced toward the lowblood and tugged the collar, seemingly for the sole purpose of tormenting the creature. “Queens are usually bonded to just one mate: the fullblood male who mated with them to turn them into a queen. But they were traditionally followed by a team of warriors called knights. That tradition was lost along with the queens.”
The lowblood raised its nose and sniffed, as if searching for prey. Many times, as the teacher went on with his explanation, the creature glanced at me. It was interested in me for some inexplicable reason.
“The search for a queen continues,” the teacher said. He turned to the lowblood and slid a dagger from the sheath strapped to his thigh. The lowblood was still staring when the teacher plunged his weapon through the creature’s chest. It screamed, wriggling uselessly before flopping to the ground in a puddle of blood.
Nonchalantly, the teacher rubbed his dagger with a cloth. He slid it back into its sheath. “Next week, we will be going through in more detail what sunlight can do to different types of vampires. For now, please collect one of these sheets from me.” The teacher opened his satchel and took out a stack of papers. “It’s a short quiz testing what I just went through. It’ll be your first assignment for this module.”
The students began forming a line in front of the teacher. Grey took his place behind me. As soon as the students started queueing, they broke into chatter.
“You didn’t show up yesterday,” he said
, brushing his hand across my shoulder. “I stayed up till noon wondering where you went.”
Staying up till noon. I’d overheard some of the students still complaining about trying to get used to the strange sleep hours. I’d adjusted to it easily enough.
I shrugged. “I was busy.”
“Busy?” Grey snorted. “You mean you were with Cassius.”
I stiffened. “Yeah, and?”
“You like him?”
I recalled how I’d told Cassius I couldn’t love him because of his nature as a vampire. Perhaps I’d wronged him. Seeing that lowblood reminded me of just how unique he was. “I… No, not really.”
Grey spun me around so I faced him. “You’re not telling me the truth. So what you’re saying is, Cassius forcibly kept you with him the entire day. You were held there against your will?”
I gasped. “No, that’s not what—”
“You enjoy his company.”
“Yeah.”
“You wanted to be with him.”
Why was Grey interrogating me like that? It was making me uncomfortable. “Is that so bad?” I asked, pinning Grey with a hard look.
He raised an eyebrow. “No. I just want you to tell me the truth. Do you have feelings for the fullblood, or do you not?”
“How does this concern you?”
“Because I care for you.”
“You’re a good friend, Grey. You’ve helped me a lot over the last—”
“It’s more than just friendship I want.” His expression darkened. “Way more than that.”
I froze.
“Which is why I’m not sure if Cassius might be the best for you.”
“I’m not with him.”
“You’re in love. It’s written all over your face.”
“How so?”
“You have that dazed look I didn’t see when you first got here, and I’m pretty damn sure that you’re not in love with me, because I’d be kissing you right now.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Grey, you’re—”
“I like you, Verity,” Grey said. “I’m sorry if you don’t like hearing that, but I’ve been thinking of you. A lot. And I’m not sure if you should be falling in love with a man—a fullblood—like Cassius because I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Why?” I asked. “Because you think you’re the better option?”
“I’d keep you safe. At the very least, I can promise you I won’t eat you. Cassius always looks like he wants to suck you dry.” I wasn’t sure how Grey would keep his promise when he turned into a vampire. Heck. What if I turned into one, too? Considering that only fullbloods could create normals, it would be Cassius or his father who’d have to sire us.
I shook my head. “I don’t love him.”
Grey rolled his eyes. “There you go with the denial again.”
“I don’t!”
“Don’t what?” someone with a shrill voice said. I looked to my left and saw Vixie, a piece of paper in her hand. She’d collected her assignment. Behind her, students who’d already finished queueing had snapped their attention to us. I might have raised my voice too much when speaking to Grey.
I stifled a groan. I wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with her right now. “Can you bother me another time?”
“Someone saw you being carried into Lord Cassius’s tower,” she said. “Are you enjoying being the principal’s slut?” Vixie looked at my neck. It was smooth and didn’t have a mark on it. Cassius had healed the punctures he’d given me with his saliva. “Do you let him drink from you? Does that feel good, pet?”
“Don’t call me that.” I had more patience than most, but Vixie’s taunting was pushing me too far. After the emotional rollercoasters I’d had to face, I didn’t need any more of the drama she was throwing at me. “If I were you, I’d leave me alone.”
Vixie tossed her head back, laughing. “Is that a threat?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re not in a position to make any threats.” She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. “Know this, pet. Your position in school is rocky now. Everybody’s been talking about how you’ve been sleeping around for better grades. We all hate you. We want to see you dead.”
“That’s nice to know,” I said. Vixie hadn’t seen the things I’d seen. She hadn’t gone through the pain I’d experienced. Her words couldn’t faze me. I was a blade forged from fire.
“Nice to know?” She curled up her upper lip.
“Back off,” Grey said, stepping between us. “Verity doesn’t need to hear any more of—”
But Vixie wouldn’t let herself be stopped by Grey. She pushed past him with more force than he seemed to expect and grabbed my collar. Her words failed to affect me, and that seemed to rile her even more. “You’re nothing but a fucking slut, Verity Snow. Cassius is the devil personified. He cares for no one but himself. They say he’s slain entire families, that he rapes and hurts and kills, and yet you share his bed like a stupid whore—”
Something snapped in me.
I was fine with her insulting me.
She could call me names.
She could push me around.
But when she insulted Cassius, judging and putting false labels on him, I felt an uncontrollable need to stand up for him. Cassius was nothing like what she’d described. He was caring, kind. More than I could ask for.
Why did I have so much faith in him?
I grabbed a fistful of Vixie’s hair, yanked her neck backward, then kicked her in the stomach. She stumbled backward, but before she collapsed onto the ground, I threw a fist at her face. She yelped as she tumbled. Tears fell from her eyes when she looked at me from under her sea of messy hair. A bruise had formed on her cheek.
I wasn’t done with her. I strode forward, my hands clenched into fists.
“Verity,” Grey said, blocking me with his arm. “Stop.”
“You’re in my way,” I replied, giving him a hard look.
I attempted to push past him, but Grey didn’t let me get by. He grabbed both my arms. “Verity,” he said again. “You don’t have to hurt her.”
“Yes, I do.” She’d been a nuisance for long enough.
“Why?”
A group of students had stepped in and crowded around Vixie, blocking her from me. They babied her as they might a princess. Some of them turned to me, accusations on their faces. Was I truly the villain? She’d disrespected me and Cassius, and I was merely standing up for myself.
Standing up for him.
Since when had I cared so much?
“Why?” Grey asked again. “Why do you have to hurt her?”
I bit my inner cheek. “She insulted Cassius.”
“And?”
“I want to protect him.”
“Why?”
I swallowed.
It dawned on me then.
I stiffened my upper lip. “Because…”
Because I loved him.
Twenty-Five
Cassius
Verity’s bedroom, the one she’d grown up in, was the most normal thing I’d come across in years. How simple it was made it strange. Right after Verity left for class, I’d asked Miles to give me more information on Verity’s background. Where did she used to live? Where was her sister? My life was coming to an end, but before it did, I at least wanted to know what I’d decided to give myself up for.
It didn’t seem like much.
Verity didn’t own many items. Her desk was mostly empty, except for a laptop that sat in the middle of it. Her bedsheets were dark blue. Plain and neat. Her walls weren’t adorned with anything and were painted white.
It had been a long time since I’d stepped into somewhere so… human. I’d spent far too long in the abodes of vampires, where the interiors had to be archaic and in a constant shade of gloom.
Absent-mindedly, I ran my fingers across her desk. I made my way to her bed and sat down.
Everything in here smelled like her. Like roses. Floral. Intoxicating, with hint
s of sweetness.
I missed her.
It had only been a few hours since we’d parted, and already I longed to have her in my arms again.
I wondered how she’d acted when away from my presence. I imagined her coming home after a long day at school and walking toward her bed. I was so used to seeing her at the Sanctum that it was almost difficult trying to fathom her living so plainly. So much like an ordinary human.
I heard the front door opening. I’d entered when nobody was home, but now I heard the clinking of keys and clunky footsteps. It’d been a long time since I’d hung around with humans who weren’t blood slaves. Their lack of grace never failed to amuse me.
I sighed and stood, then walked out of Verity’s room and to the living room. Verity lived in a one-story apartment. Her accommodations were like a closet when compared to the Sanctum. I turned to my right, sticking closely to the shadows, where I felt comfortable. I watched Mrs. Snow, Verity’s mother, from a distance before revealing myself. She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a loose shirt. Large hoop earrings hung from her ears. She dropped her handbag onto the dining table, loosed her blond hair from her ponytail, then moved toward the kitchen. I stepped from the shadows, making my presence known.
As soon as Mrs. Snow spotted me, she gasped. She picked up the object closest to her—a lamp—and raised it in front of her chest. I smirked at her reaction. It was almost comical. What was a lamp going to do with someone like me, a fullblood vampire?
“Calm down,” I said. “I’m not here to hurt you.” Mrs. Snow met my gaze. I’d hidden my red pupils with colored contacts. They were uncomfortable, but I had to put up with them, since I didn’t wish for the color of my eyes to cause any trouble.
“Who are you?”
“Cassius Lucian,” I replied, offering a handshake. “I’m a friend of your daughter, Verity.”
“Verity? Have you heard from her?”
I nodded. “She’s safe at a special place. You don’t have to worry about her.”
“Where is she? And what place are you talking about?” She was shaking. “That stupid girl. I haven’t heard from her for weeks. She disappeared on us and didn’t leave a trace. The police can’t find her, and all I got was one phone call. Her father and I are worried sick.” She clutched her lamp even more tightly.
Fullblood Academy: A Vampire Academy Mild Bully Romance (Vampires of the Sanctum Book 1) Page 18
