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“Why do you look like that when you say his name?”
Blake stared down at me, his eyes stubborn. But he didn’t deny it.
My heart sped up. “Because you thought he was dead. Didn’t you?”
Blake’s lips tightened.
I was right. I knew I was right.“Why? Why would you think that?”
He held very still.
“Oh gods,” I whispered. I’d been a fool. I’d had days to put this together. Why had it taken me so long? “Viktor did that to you.”
Behind me, Theo made a strangled noise. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Blake. I didn’t want to think about what that meant exactly. He’d been hurt. That was all. Of course, I cared when someone was hurt. Even the highblood bully who’d tormented me, betrayed me time and again, and tried to turn Nyxaris to stone?
I cleared my throat. “Tell me, Blake. What happened?”
Blake forced a smile that didn’t reach his good eye. “Look, we’re going to be late for the assembly. I think we’d better—”
“No. Don’t do that. Don’t you dare. Don’t deflect. Answer me, dammit.”
We stared at each other. His eye. His poor ruined eye. His beautiful, wrecked face. The scars were already forming. It will all heal, I reminded myself. He was a fucking vampire. Of course it would. I tried not to question why my own hands were suddenly shaking. Why it was becoming so hard to keep them pressed to my sides. To resist reaching one hand out so I could run it over Blake’s scars. Why? Why would I long to do something like that? What the hell was wrong with me?
Empathy. Absolutely ordinary empathy, I tried to tell myself. Completely normal.
Blake was hesitating.
“Blake.” I softened my voice. “Tell us.”
He looked at me, then his lips twisted in a bitter smile. “Fine. You’re right. More or less.”
White-hot rage flared through me. An anger that was as pure as it was terrifying. For a moment, I forgot everything. Where I was. Who I was with. My past with Blake. His betrayal. My grief. All of it went out the nearest window. All I could think about was him. Viktor. The smug, sick, arrogant highblood who’d haunted the edges of my nightmares since I’d arrived in this place. The man who’d manipulated me, manipulated Blake, used us both. And now, what he’d done to Blake … The pain he’d caused …
I was moving forward when hands shot out, gripping me by the shoulders. “Let me go.” I struggled against them.
“No, Pendragon. Not until you tell me where you’re going.”
I looked up then, my eyes meeting his one good one. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
If I thought I’d see happiness, I was wrong. Blake looked stricken. “No. You can’t.”
“Why not?” I countered.
“Because you can’t threaten Viktor and expect to walk away from that battle.”
“So what? You think I’m afraid? I’m not afraid of your gods-damned uncle, Blake. This has been coming for a long time.” I could hear myself. I sounded like a cocky, arrogant fool—and deep down, I knew it, too. Who was I, anyhow? It wasn’t as if I still had a dragon. But I didn’t want to know how wrong I was. I wanted to keep this anger burning, feed it fuel. It felt good. And it would feel even better when I hurt the man who had dared to do this to—
“No,” Blake interrupted my thoughts. “I know you’re not afraid. Though, by the Bloodmaiden, I wish you were.” He let go of my shoulders, took a deep breath, but kept his body positioned in front of me, blocking me.
I thought of darting around but knew from experience just how fast he could be when he wanted to.
“You’re not afraid, all right? I’m not saying that.” He sighed. “I’m the one afraid.”
“You?” I stared at him. “Why?”
“I’m afraid for you. Afraid for everyone I care about. Viktor …” His voice roughened. “Viktor has hurt every person he’s ever known I …” He stopped, and my heart slammed against my ribs. Blake’s jaw tightened. “He’ll use you against me. You won’t win. And deep down, you know I’m right.”
The world was tilting. Vaughn had started pulling Theo down the hall. Now they were calling to us. I could hardly hear them.
