Page 60 of Bone Year

I rest my head back down, and Jace starts to run his fingers across my lower back now where my skin peeks through below my shirt.

“They’re an old bloodline. His ancestors may even be the original bloodline. Draven was born a vampire, and born vampires are far more powerful than turned ones.”

I think about him in the alleyway earlier. The things he said to me about how I don’t belong here. The red bleeding into his amber eyes. His giant black wings when he first dropped down in front of me.

“The point is, he’s powerful and comes from an old powerful bloodline with many connections.” Jace’s hand stills on my back. “You don’t want to get on his bad side. You don’t want him to take an interest in you. Stay away from him, okay?”

I should tell him the truth that staying away from Draven feels impossible. That he keeps finding me in the dark corners of this school. That some twisted curious part of me doesn’t want to stay away at all.

“I will,” I say.

Jace presses a kiss to the top of my head and pulls me closer. His breathing evens out within minutes as he fades into sleep.

But I don’t fall asleep for a long time.

I lie there in the dark, thinking about amber eyes bleeding red and a voice in the mirror that knew my blood, a headmaster who smiled while I was trapped inside.

And there’s a boy made of shadows and secrets who told me I would never survive this place.

Maybe he’s right, but I’m going to prove him wrong anyway.

Chapter Fifteen

“Your blood lead will teach you more than any book. Listen to them. They have already made the mistakes you have not yet had the chance to make.”

— Patient Ward Orientation Handbook

It’s been four weeks since the mirror ceremony, and I think I’m finally falling into a routine here.

Jace and I have gotten comfortable spending at least a couple nights a week together, sometimes at my place and sometimes at his. We haven’t done more than kiss and sleep in the same bed, but it’s nice. The way things have always been between us but with the added bonus of falling asleep in his arms.

I can’t imagine my life without Poppy now. We’ve become so close I feel incomplete when she’s tucked away. The only downside is her and Flick don’t get along, which is odd since they’re basically an extension of us. Poppy is constantly trying to catch him. Jace swears she even tried to take a bite out of him once, but I don’t believe my sweet Pops would do that.

As for Draven, he’s kept his distance, other than challenging me every chance he gets in class, which is incredibly annoying but only makes me more determined to excel. Every time he tries to make me look weak, I push harder. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of breaking me.

I’ve gotten comfortable with the curriculum and haven’t had to cut anything yet, so my hands have been okay. The scalpels stay in the drawer for now, except for the one I’ve started carrying for protection.

But today is the first day of clinical hours in the patient wards. After four weeks, we are apparently deemed fit enough to practice on actual patients with a blood lead or Veilguard watching our every move, surely.

I try not to think about what happens if I freeze again. If my hands shake. If I prove everyone right about the human who doesn’t belong here.

“I hope we get assigned the same group,” Lux says as we head up to the second floor of the patient wards building to check in.

“Me too.” I glance over at her. We all signed up at the same time, hoping that would make the odds of us getting clinical hours together higher.

“Do you know how this works?” Ellavee asks from ahead of us.

“Sort of. My dad explained it briefly.” Lux pulls her pink hair back into a ponytail as we ascend the steps. “We get assigned a blood lead who’s responsible for us during our shifts. They decide what we do, what we watch, what we’re allowed to touch. Basically, we’re their shadows until they decide we’re competent enough to be trusted.”

“So we’re at their mercy,” Jace says from behind me as we reach the second floor.

“Completely.” She grins, but there’s a nervousness underneath it, and I think we’re all a little anxious about the unknown.

We gather in the waiting area, basically an empty room with chairs and a couple of desks. Draven shows up, and I take a step closer to Jace without even looking in his direction. He probably planned this on purpose, signing up when we did to be a dick during clinic too.

Killian and Zuri are already here, sitting in the corner talking quietly amongst themselves.

The double doors into the patient wards swing open, and out comes a woman dressed in all black with a wide medical belt around her waist stuffed with supplies. The red heart and serpent symbol marks her clothes. Blood year.