CHAPTER 16 - MEDRA

"This was a terrible idea," Florence moaned as she walked behind me across the sand.

We had no idea what students wore to these parties, but I'd made a point of finding some clothes that weren't branded with the school motto. Bad enough that I already wore it day in and day out in class.

I'd pulled the dress I was wearing out of the wardrobe in my room. The dresses and gowns seemed to be the only pieces of clothing that weren't stamped with "Sanguis et Flamma Floreant." The bodice was a tight-fitting corset, made of black leather that laced up the front with crimson thread. The sleeveless design left my arms bare. The skirt hit just above the knee and flowed out from my waist in soft, layered folds of black tulle. It was a little more sultry than I was used to, but it was also dark and broody...which fit my restless mood just fine this evening.

Florence, on the other hand, had chosen a look much more like her day-to-day one. She wore a white button-up shirt embroidered with the Bloodwing crest and a skirt of dark gray. Overtop, she'd pulled a dark blue cloak, even though the night was warm and she didn't need one.

She looked studious and, well, like a librarian. But I didn't tell her that. She was already being bold by coming out with me in the first place. If she was comfortable, that was all that mattered.

Not that either of us were actually comfortable. But as we'd gotten dressed, we'd drunk enough wine to make us temporarily brave.

The night was warm and muggy. The salty scent of the sea drifted on the breeze.

In the distance, we could see a large bonfire flickering, casting an orange glow over the sand as its light reflected off the crashing waves.

High above us, Bloodwing Academy loomed, the castle's towers silhouetted against the starry sky. Even from this distance, I could make out the tips of the stone statues, high above in the Dragon Court.

I tripped in the soft sand and let out a curse.

Bending down, I yanked off the boots I was wearing and dropped them in the sand, making a mental note of where I left them in relation to where we'd just come.

The sand was cool between my toes.

"Much better," I said with satisfaction.

Florence said nothing, just wrapped her cloak more tightly around herself.

"Are you cold?" I asked, feeling guilty. I'd had to convince her to come.

"I'm not sure I should have come," she said nervously. "Theo Drakharrow invited you, not me. I'm an uninvited guest."

"You're my guest," I said loyally. "If they don't want you there, we'll leave. But I don't think it's going to matter. Theo made it sound as if it was a big party every night on the beach." I shrugged. "Maybe they always invite a lot of blightborns."

Florence shook her head. "I don't know, Medra. Highbloods and blightborns don't usually, well, party together. We might work side by side and be close colleagues, but we don't really socialize except on special occasions."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, maybe it's time that changed. Theo obviously thinks so."

"Theo is a bit of an outlier, even among his own group," Florence said, echoing my impression of him. "I just hope..." She trailed off.

"What?" I stopped walking. "You hope he isn't pranking us?"

She nodded, looking uncomfortable.

"Fair enough." I took a deep breath. "Maybe this was a bad idea. We can go back."

The wine we drank had left us nicely buzzed but now the effects were fading.

"No." Florence shook her head stubbornly. "Don't listen to me. I'm being silly. We should go. I should be honored that you thought of inviting me."

I laughed and put my arm through hers. "Now you're truly being silly. You're my friend. Who else would I invite? I would have invited Naveen, too, if he wasn't asleep already. I'm just glad you were brave enough to come along."

"Speaking of bravery..." Florence bent down and reached under her skirt.

"Florence!" I said in delight as she pulled out a metal flask. "You naughty girl."

"I had it strapped to my thigh," she said, giggling. "I read about a girl doing it in a book once."

"Just what kinds of books do you read for fun, Florence?" I opened the flask and took a swig, then sputtered. Rum. Strong stuff, too.

Florence took the flask back and downed some of the rum. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Better. Much better.

"Who knows what will happen tonight?" I said playfully. "Perhaps we'll find you a..." I paused. "Boy? Girl? I'm not sure what your preferences are. I never even thought to ask if you had a sweetheart already."

Even in the starlight, I could tell she was blushing wildly. "I'm not. I mean, I don't. I mean..." She took a breath. "I've never had a boyfriend. Not really. But boys. Men, I mean. I think I prefer men." She looked at me dubiously. "Though they are awfully stupid at times."

We both burst out laughing.

"Absolutely," I agreed. "But there's just something about them..."

We sighed and kept walking across the beach, still arm in arm.

"Maybe we'll find you a nice boy at this party," I suggested. "Someone sweet who loves books and loves to study. Someone whose favorite place is the library."

Florence snorted. "Fat chance we'll find someone like that here."

"Hey, he might have a little wild side. After all, it turns out, so do you." I nudged her playfully. "That wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it?" I tried to wink at her but ended up blinking both my eyelids instead. We burst out laughing.

"Just how strong was that rum?" I managed to finally say, once I'd gotten my laughter under control.

But Florence had halted and was looking ahead of us with a dubious expression.

We'd reached the edge of the party. The bonfire light shimmered over the sand. If we took another step forward, we'd be within the circle of its glow.

"I don't see any other blightborns," Florence whispered.

I followed her gaze.

The party seemed to be in full swing. I could hear music and saw some highblood students dancing near the flames. Others lounged on the sand, sipping from flasks or bottles of wine.

The crowd around the bonfire was almost entirely vampires.

I scanned the group quickly a second time and realized there were in fact a few other mortals besides Florence and I.

But they seemed to be thralls.

They sat in the laps of highbloods or lay beside them in the sand, their necks tilted back, exposing their throats to the waiting mouths of the vampires who held them close.

I watched a dark-haired girl tip her head back as a highblood boy sank his fangs into her neck. The scene was both strangely seductive and deeply disturbing. She didn't resist. In fact, she seemed almost blissful, her eyes half-closed as the highblood boy drank his fill from her veins.

Sickened yet fascinated, I watched as the vampire slowly pulled away from her, his lips stained red with blood. The thrall's head lolled to the side, a faint smile on her lips.

My stomach turned. This is what we were to the highbloods in the end. This is all we were. Food .

I needed to make sure I never forgot that.

Even if Florence and I weren't thralls, we were still mortals in a world dominated by these creatures.

I felt the weight of danger. The sense of being prey .

We'd been wrong to come here.

I suddenly thought of Florence being enraptured and subdued by one of the highbloods and a chill crept up my spine. Would she be flattered to be chosen? Would she be willing ?

How did the thralls even sustain friendships with other blightborns when they were in such parasitic relationships with vampires? Were they looked down upon? Or envied? There were so many questions I hadn't thought to ask, so many things about this world I realized I still didn't know. I knew it was an honor to be a student at Bloodwing. Was it an honor to be a thrall?

Florence seemed frozen by my side. She had seen the thralls, too. "I think some of them are sellbloods," she whispered.

"What's that?"

"They're..."

"Medra!" There was a high-pitched hoot of laughter.

For a second, I thought it was Theo. Hoped it was Theo.

My heart sank as I saw who was coming across the sand towards us.

"Fuck," I muttered.

Regan Pansera moved towards us with the grace of a cat. She wore a slinky dress of some half-sheer red material that hugged her slender form. Her hair was up in a high, sleek ponytail. She lifted one hand gracefully to tuck back a wayward silver strand, never taking her eyes off us.

She was smiling. Like a cat that'd found a mouse.

"I had no idea you'd be here tonight," Regan preened. "Oh, look, you've brought another little blightborn girl with you. Who is your friend?"

"Regan, meet Florence Shen," I said stiffly. "Florence, this is Regan Pansera."

"I know who you are," Florence said softly. "Pleased to meet you, Regan."

I could feel Florence's anxiety, her discomfort, and was racked with guilt for having brought her here. Why had I thought this might be fun? I'd been bored and restless, so I'd thought, why not?

But Regan Pansera was the "why not?"

The only consolation I had was that I hadn't seen Blake anywhere in the crowd.

"Who are you talking to, Regan?"

Three more highblood girls lurched towards us, rather unsteady on their feet. Clearly they'd had a lot to drink already.

One of the girls had blood rimming her mouth. She looked at me drunkenly. "Are these your new thralls, Regan?"

"My thralls?" Regan laughed sharply. "I should think not. You know House Drakharrow keeps its own thralls. The cleanest, most refined blood we can find. I have no need to keep my own."

The implication was that our blood was polluted somehow. Not pure enough for Regan to drink. I gritted my teeth but said nothing. Debating whether my blood would taste good to a highblood was not an argument I had any intention of getting into.

"But a thrall can bring other conveniences," one of the other girls purred. "Other pleasures. It's so easy when you have one bound to you. Waiting for you in your room at the end of each day."

Regan tossed her head. "Yes, well, I have Blake, don't I? I don't need some commoner to keep me warm."

I felt an unexpected wave of distaste at the idea that Blake was the one keeping her warm. Did he wait for her in her room after school, waiting to peel her slinky dress off?

I shifted on my feet, curling my toes into the sand.

One of the girls suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth. "By the Bloodmaiden. That girl's hair is red."

"Yes, her hair is red," Regan said testily. "Don't be such a dimwit, Larissa."

"I'm not," the girl called Larissa protested. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "I just meant that if her hair is red then this must be your co-consort. I've seen her around of course." Larissa continued to address Regan, not me. Apparently I didn't even warrant a direct interaction. She grinned slyly at Regan. "What a blessing it must be to have her by your side. A real dragon rider."

"Oh, yes, it's a blessing all right," Regan agreed, her voice dripping with contempt. "She's everything I could have wanted in a fellow consort."

The other girls were looking me up and down. I felt like a cow at an auction house. But at least they weren't bothering Florence.

"She's pretty, Regan. I didn't realize how pretty she was," said one of the other two girls slowly. There was a glint in her eye. I got the impression none of these highblood girls actually liked Regan, even if they were part of her social circle. "Stunning, really. No wonder Lord Drakharrow paired her with Blake."

The girl reached out a hand as if to touch my hair.

I slapped it away.

She laughed as if this was hilarious. "Oooh, prickly little bitch, isn't she? Well, you'll put her in her place, won't you?"

"She has a lot to learn about her place in the world, that's certainly true." Regan narrowed her eyes at me.

"I can't believe they actually paired you and Blake with a blightborn. I mean, really, what was Lord Drakharrow thinking? To mate his own nephew to..." The girl looked around furtively and dropped her voice. "A fucking barbarian. I mean, is her blood even clean? Have you tasted it?"

"Of course, I haven't fucking tasted her, Gretchen," Regan snapped. "I already told you that. Neither has Blake. She's off-limits. For now."

I felt anger rising inside. There was no way in hell either of them were ever tasting me. Ever. I'd die first.

"Neither of you will be getting a taste," I snapped. "In your dreams. I didn't ask to be made your stupid consort or to be betrothed to your asshole fiance. And if you think things are going to go even one step further, you have another thing coming."

The girls all stared at me.

"By the Blessed Blood, she really is ignorant, isn't she?" one of the girls whispered finally. "Is she... you know?" She tapped a finger against her temple. "All there? No wonder she climbed that dragon on the first day."

They all snickered, even Regan.

"She's practically an imbecile," Regan announced. "You know I adore and honor Lord Drakharrow. He's practically family to me, after all." Regan gave a long-suffering sigh. "But I can't help but feel he made a terrible mistake. Medra's no match for me and she's certainly no match for poor Blake." She looked me up and down. "She's blightborn trash. That's what she is. Refuse Blake saved from a garbage heap. She has no idea what she's doing. I suppose she's just grateful for the free food."

The other girls burst out laughing.

I opened my mouth in a fury, barely struggling against the urge to slap Regan full in the face.

"Medra! There you are!" It was Theo. He pushed his way between the girls, a broad smile on his good-looking face. "I was wondering if you'd ever show up one of these nights."

" You invited her here?" Regan hissed, looking back and forth between Theo and I.

Florence was acting like if she stayed quiet enough everyone might just think she was invisible. I didn't blame her.

"You have a lot of nerve, Theo," said Regan.

"Of course, I do," he said flippantly. "I'm a Drakharrow, aren't I?" He turned to me and slipped his hand in my free arm. "Come along now, Medra. Come along now, Medra's friend. Be welcome, be welcome."

"I'll tell Blake about this," Regan hissed as Theo started to pull us away. "It's an outrage. This is a private party. I started these bonfire nights in the first place. It wasn't your place to invite anyone."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Regan," Theo said, sounding bored. "Who do you think told me to invite her in the first place?"

Even though I knew it must be a lie, I almost laughed as Regan's jaw dropped open.

"You're lying," she whined, her voice rising an octave. "You're such a liar, Theo."

"And you're such a vapid bitch," Theo snapped. "I pity my cousin for having to breed with you someday."

He tugged us away from Regan's furious wailing and towards a large log that had been set up on the other side of the fire where two highbloods were sitting.

Theo made a shooing motion. "Go, go. Find some place else to sit. My friends need this seat. Move along, thank you."

To my amusement, the highbloods did exactly that, hurrying away and finding a new place in the sand, where they looked back at Theo nervously.

Theo pulled Florence and I down onto the log, arranging one of us on either side of him.

"There," he said with satisfaction. "That's much better, isn't it? Beautiful night. Beautiful fire." He let go of our arms and fished inside his shirt. "Beautiful night for..." He pulled out a small glass bottle of a swirling, shimmering liquid. "A bit of ambrosia?" He grinned wickedly.

I had no idea what was in the bottle, but I caught Florence staring wide-eyed at the contents.

"Is that Crimson Ambrosia?" Florence asked.

"What is it?" I leaned forward, curious.

"Don't try it, Medra," Florence said immediately. "It has a completely different effect on mortals than it does on highbloods."

"That's not quite true," Theo countered. "Have you ever tasted it?"

When Florence said nothing, he raised his eyebrows. "Well, I have and I've associated with blightborn who have. It can be very pleasurable for both species."

"I don't have to try it to know that it's highly addictive," Florence said quietly. "It causes euphoria in highbloods," she explained, looking at me. "But in mortals, the euphoria's effects are compounded. It can cause hallucinations and make you even more susceptible to thrallweave."

I shuddered. "No, thank you." I looked around us. "In fact, after that last unpleasant encounter, I think we should go. Right, Florence?"

Florence looked relieved. "Sure. I wouldn't mind going back now. It's getting late."

Theo looked back and forth between us with an incredulous expression. "What are you girls talking about? You just got here. The night is young. You can't leave." His face turned serious. "Look, I understand, okay? Regan got her claws into you before I saw you. She's not the most hospitable."

I laughed hollowly. "You could say that."

"But you can't run from her. That's exactly what she wants you to do."

I bristled. "I'm not running."

"Seeing you leave when you just got here will make Regan very happy," Theo countered. "Besides, she's just jealous of you, Medra."

"Jealous?" I sputtered. "Of what? She clearly hates me."

"Of course, she hates you," Theo said, grinning. "She hates anyone who she thinks is a threat. Actually, she hates most everyone so that's not quite true. But you, she definitely sees as a threat. You should be flattered."

"Her life seems pretty perfect so I don't see how I'm a threat." I shrugged. "She knows I don't want her boyfriend and he certainly wants nothing to do with me."

"Blake wants nothing to do with Regan either so it sounds like you're all in the same boat," Theo said.

I shook my head. "No, that can't be true."

Theo glanced around to see if anyone was nearby. "Look, she and Blake are on the rocks."

I eyed him skeptically. "No way. I saw them in the library the other day. They looked like the perfect happy couple." I glanced across the fire at where Regan still stood. She was surrounded by a different group of highblood students now. She had regained her poise and seemed to be animatedly telling a story. The entire group around her was laughing. "They seem perfect for each other, too."

Perfectly awful.

"I know exactly what you must have seen, but believe me, it's all bullshit," Theo said. "Blake plays along because he has to. His uncle wants him to. But it's just for show." Under his breath, he half-muttered, "He's fucking miserable most of the time."

I was a little shocked but refused to show it. I wasn't going to show a smidgen of pity for Blake Drakharrow. So his betrothal to the most beautiful and popular highblood girl in the school wasn't going so well? As if he couldn't get out of the situation if he actually wanted to.

"Regan can't handle rejection though. She thinks she can actually make Blake want her," Theo went on.

I shrugged. "Maybe it'll work. After all, they seem to have a lot in common. They're both full of themselves, bigoted, and cruel. The perfect match."

"You don't know Blake as well as you think you do, Medra. He's my cousin. I grew up with him," Theo said. He shook his head, a little sadly.

"Next you're going to tell me he's not that bad," I said, my temper flaring. "He's an asshole, Theo. And honestly, you're not that much better in my books. I really don't know why we came."

"You came because I'm so charming," Theo said, shooting a winsome smile at me. "And it's a good thing you did, because who else is going to tell you all of the things you need to know?" He looked around covertly. "Look, you could get killed here, Medra. Believe it or not, I don't want that. I don't think Blake does either."

I felt a prickle of unease. "What things do I need to know?"

"Like what it really means to have Regan as an enemy," Theo said, his voice low. "It changes everything. Consorts are supposed to..."

Florence rose to her feet.

"Florence?" I asked.

She took one step across the sand, then another.

I rose to my feet and looked down at Theo. "I guess we're leaving. We'll have to talk another time."

"Medra..." Theo was watching Florence, a look of alarm on his face.

I glanced back at my friend. Florence was walking at a steady pace. She hadn't spoken or looked back at me since standing up.

And she was walking straight towards the bonfire.