CHAPTER 26 - MEDRA

A few days after the House Leader ceremony, I strolled towards my thrallguard lesson. I was hoping for another shot at the spellbook.

I hadn't seen Blake since that day in the arena. He'd been missing our Advanced Weaponry classes. Not that he really seemed to need them.

He'd killed Coregon in front of the entire school. It was the second time I'd seen him kill.

He was...very good at it.

Part of me still couldn't wrap my head around it. Coregon Phiri was dead. And he'd been the one to hurt Vaughn. Not Blake. I'd run hastily towards what I thought was the most obvious answer. Like a stupid, reckless fool.

Sometimes I tried to justify what I'd done. Just because Coregon had delivered the blows didn't mean Blake wasn't the one who was ultimately responsible. He'd probably told Coregon to go after Vaughn. There was no way it had happened without his full knowledge. I'd learned enough about the way the highblood chain of command worked, even here in the school, to get that.

After the House Leader ceremony that day in the arena, Rodriguez had told me to expect to be summoned to Headmaster Kim's office to talk about what had happened in Professor Sankara's class.

Apparently Sankara had already told him all about it. Rodriguez had looked almost frightened when he told me.

But the summons never came.

I was still here. Still going to my classes, eating in the refectory, sleeping in my room in the First Year dorm. Nothing had changed.

I'd supposedly broken some law by attacking Blake–and yet they hadn't punished me for it. I hadn't even been given detention.

Maybe the headmaster was just biding his time.

I made my way down the now-familiar corridor towards Professor Rodriguez's office. Oddly enough, thrallguard lessons had become the part of the day I most looked forward to. Rodriguez was tough but fair, never pushing me beyond what I could handle. I'd been learning, slowly but surely–how to compartmentalize, how to build mental walls that could withstand coercive power.

And Rodriguez... Well, he was just plain impressive. He knew so much. More than he ever let on. He had secrets to keep and the more I hung around him, the more curious I was to know just what they were.

I knocked once as I reached the door, then pushed it open and stepped inside.

My breath hitched.

Blake was sitting behind Rodriguez's desk, his long legs propped up on the wooden surface as if he owned the place. He was tossing Rodriguez's letter-opener up in the air, a small dagger with a dragon head pommel.

His white-blond hair fell lazily over his forehead. His white button-up shirt was unbuttoned just enough to reveal the top of the black tattoos that curled over his chest.

A smug smile tugged at his lips as I stepped inside the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Rodriguez had to step out today. He asked me to fill in for him." He tilted his head, obviously enjoying himself to no end, his eyes gleaming with mockery.

All of a sudden I understood. Blake was one of Rodriguez's other pupils. One of the highbloods he tutored in thrallguard.

"For fuck's sake," I muttered, already turning around. "No thanks. Tell Rodriguez I'll see him at our next session."

Before I could reach the door, Blake was there, moving with lightning speed to block it with his body.

He shoved the door shut with a bang, then leaned against the wood. "Just where do you think you're going?"

My pulse quickened. But I refused to let him see how much I was rattled. "Get out of my way. You're not a professor. I don't have to listen to you."

"Actually..." Blake folded his arms behind his head. "You do. I may not be a professor, but I'm the next best thing. Your archon. I'm also your future House Leader now. Officially."

I glared at him. I wasn't about to offer my congratulations.

He leaned towards me slightly, his breath warm and minty against my ear. "Besides, we both know there's no way you'll get past me unless I let you."

His voice dropped, sending a shiver down my spine. "And I'm not in a generous mood today, Pendragon. You could even say I'm a little pissed off."

Belatedly, I realized there were fading bruises all along his jaw. I hadn't seen Coregon strike him there. I wondered how he'd gotten them.

Did it matter? Who cared if Blake Drakharrow was hurt? He deserved anything that came to him. Anything bad, that was.

My eyes narrowed. "Move."

He chuckled softly. "Feisty as always. But sorry, no can do, little dragon. We've got a lesson to get through and I mean to teach it."

He reached a hand out, so fast I didn't see it coming, and brushed a strand of my hair off my face. "No can do, little dragon. I'm looking forward to showing you how a real highblood uses thrallweave."

I slapped his hand away, my temper flaring. But I hadn't missed the subtle jibe at Regan. "Don't you dare fucking touch me."

Blake's eyes gleamed. He was having fun, the asshole. "I don't need to touch you to get what I want. And I want us to get to know one another better."

Without warning, he was in my mind.

The pressure hit me like a sledgehammer.

Blake didn't hold back. He wasn't Rodriguez. He battered at my mind with a savage strength, pushing at my defenses with a brute force I wasn't used to–or fully prepared for.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to focus. This was what I had been training for. What was the point of the lessons if I couldn't go up against a real highblood?

I'd built my walls. I'd blocked off my thoughts. I could handle this.

But Blake was strong.

Each mental blow sent cracks shuddering through my defenses. The walls I'd spent weeks building began to fracture. I fought to keep him out, but it was like trying to hold back a storm with a piece of paper.

Blake was everywhere. Overwhelming me with his attacks.

I curled my fingers into fists, sweat beading on my brow as I pushed back with everything I had.

"Get out," I gasped, hoping the strain in my voice wouldn't betray how close I was to breaking.

The air between us felt charged. His proximity was suffocating.

My breath was coming in ragged little gasps. My entire body trembled from the effort it was taking to hold him off.

I hated the look in his eyes. He knew he was going to win.

Another strike. My walls buckled completely.