“I think you already know.” Florence's voice was small. “He said you’d already guessed.”

“Oh, Florence.” I sighed. “He told you how he felt about you?”

I felt her nod. “He told me he loved me. I didn’t know what to say. I told him... I told him I needed time to think.”

Her voice cracked and I tightened my hold on her.

I felt her start to sob. “But I'll never be able to talk to him again now. I asked for time but he had no time left. I didn’t know.”

My throat constricted. I wanted to comfort my friend, wanted to say the right words.

But every moment we sat here together it was all I could do to keep the torrent of guilt from slipping out of my throat.

It was my fault, I silently chanted. I’m sorry. It was my fault. I did this. Forgive me.

I’d saved Florence. I’d doomed Naveen.

How could I ever tell Florence any of that? How could I tell her I’d somehow made a choice that had cost our friend his life?

I swallowed hard. Even so, my voice trembled when I spoke. “Florence...” I shouldn’t ask. I didn’t really want to know. “Were you in love with him, too?” The words tumbled out.

There was a long silence. I hated myself for asking.

“Never mind, you don’t have to answer that,” I said. “I’m so sorry for asking, Florence...”

“I... I don’t even know,” Florence whispered, interrupting. “I didn’t have a chance to figure it out. I thought there would be time. I thought maybe we could try...”

She broke off, turning her head and burrowing it against my shoulder.

I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood.

Naveen was gone. Florence had lost her chance. What if this was it for them? True love. What if they’d been meant to be together and now they’d both lost their chance at happiness?

If it hadn’t been for the crown, Naveen might still be alive. There were other kids like him, students who hadn’t passed the year at Bloodwing, who were being kicked out in disgrace but hadn’t been killed. I’d heard most were being sent to highblood households to work as servants. Indentured labor. It was horrible, but at last they were still alive. They hadn’t all been sent to be slaughtered in that domed arena, as sick tests for us to pass or fail.

There was a soft knock at the door.

We both tensed. Florence quickly wiped at her eyes with one of the many handkerchiefs littering the bed. But it was no use. Her face was flushed and blotchy. I was sure mine was no better.

I stood up stiffly, my limbs heavy from sitting for so long.

I ran my hands through my hair. I hadn’t brushed it in days. Taking care of myself had somehow seemed wrong. As if I didn’t deserve it. Living should have been enough, shouldn’t it?

I opened the door and there stood Blake.

For a second, I forgot to breathe. I’d forgotten how beautiful he could be.

Even now, looking disheveled and awkward and out of place.

He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. There were dark circles under his eyes. His usual cool, composed confidence was nowhere to be seen. He wore a white shirt. The top buttons were undone, revealing a pale triangle of skin with curling gold hairs and a glimpse of the black dragon. His sleeves were rolled up, baring his well-muscled forearms. His hands were shoved into his pockets.

His gray eyes moved from me to Florence, then back to me.

He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

He looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than where he was. Yet when my eyes met his, I saw something soften there.

“What is it?” I said, keeping my voice low.

Blake hesitated, glancing at Florence. Then his jaw clenched. “You need to come with me. Headmaster Kim has summoned us. We’re being called into a disciplinary hearing.”

Florence slid off the bed. “A hearing?”

She pushed past me, going straight for Blake. I’d never seen her like this. “What for? What's going to happen to Medra? Is she in trouble?”

Blake looked down at her, his gray eyes surprisingly kind. “I'm not sure,” he said patiently. “But if she is, I’ll be right there with her. I won’t leave her to face it alone. I promise you that, Miss Shen.”

Florence said nothing, just stared back at him. “All right,” she said finally. “Don't you dare leave her with him.”

She meant Headmaster Kim. I knew she blamed him the most for Naveen.

Still, I was shocked at how she’d spoken to Blake. She seemed to be getting over her diffidence towards highbloods. Or maybe it was just him.

Blake’s eyes were still soft as he watched Florence climb back up onto the bed. “We have to go. Try not to worry. I’ll have her back soon. I promise.”

I crossed over to Florence and put my arms around her. She gripped my wrist.

“Go,” she whispered. “I’ll be fine. I might go back to my room and sleep.”

I nodded. I hoped she’d be able to rest. She needed it.

I didn’t want to leave her, but it looked as if I had no choice.

I followed Blake out the door.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 56 - BLAKE

Pendragon suddenly seemed so small as she walked alongside me.

Her long red curls hung around her face, frizzy and tangled. She wore a long black dress over the same pair of lace-up leather boots she’d worn in the Games. The dress hung on her frame. Even in just two days she seemed as if she’d lost weight.

I hated seeing her like this. I knew she was grieving. Her pale freckled skin was red and blotchy. I could tell she’d been crying.

Any other girl would have looked like a wreck. But not her.

It unnerved me how beautiful she still was. I’d missed the sight of her face.

I jammed my hands deeper in my pockets, resisting the urge to say that very thing out loud.

She looked frail. But I knew she wasn’t. No matter what she might believe about herself right now, I knew she was strong.

I wished I could figure out the right thing to say. I wanted to tell her how every second of watching the Games had torn me up inside. It’d been the worst feeling in the world.

And then, seeing her have to fight her friend. My heart had ached for her.

But the words wouldn’t come. I wasn’t sure she’d even want to hear them. Not from me.

Or maybe I was worried I’d sound weak. Expose too much of this feeling crawling around inside of my chest.

So I stole glances. The distance between us feeling too close and too far all at the same time.

Then she shocked me by breaking the silence.

“I wanted to thank you.”

I blinked in surprise. “What?”

“I owe you a debt. What you did, making me drink your blood–it probably saved my life.” She stopped, turned to look up at me. “If you hadn’t given it to me...”

Regan and the others would have killed her. She wouldn’t be standing here by my side now.

I’d almost lost her.

I felt my breath catch. The whole time I’d been watching her, I’d wondered if she hated me for making her drink it. Yet now here she was, thanking me for making her do something she still didn’t fully understand the consequences of. Something inside me twisted and stabbed. Claws of shame. Claws of guilt.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said stiffly. “I’m just glad you survived.”

Her green eyes searched mine. “Is that why we’re in trouble? Because of your blood?”

She didn’t know the half of it.

I ran a hand through my hair. “No. At least, I don’t think so. There’s more to it than that. Though I did break the rules by giving it to you.”

I wanted to shield her from the confrontation that was coming up. I wished I could ask her what she wanted me to do if things went in a certain direction.

My thoughts kept circling back to Regan and each time they did, my fury threatened to overflow. She’d defied me. Gone after Pendragon when they were supposed to work together. I’d known it was coming, but even so, when those three girls had cornered her, it could have turned into a bloodbath.