He knelt on me, pressing into my back and pulling on my arms in a way that would have had anyone else screaming.
“Then you yank,” he continued, his tone conversational. “Sudden and hard to break the spine and dislocate the joints in the arm.”
The pressure on my spine built, tendons in my shoulders straining. If he didn’t stop soon, my arms would pop out of their sockets and my bones would snap.
I couldn’t risk another injury.
There was only one thing to do.
Give him what he wanted.
I screamed, shrill and bloodcurdling.
Gasps of shock and cries of “Stop, you’re hurting her!” filled the air.
Maybe I’d overdone it?
He leaned in, one knee still at my back, pinning me as his breath brushed my ear. “Accidents happen here all the time.” His grip on me tightened, and in that moment, I knew for certain that he didn’t plan to let me walk away from this demonstration unscathed. He was going to dislocate my shoulder.
He wrenched my arms again, but this time, I resisted. Tugging toward the ground to yank him forward, I dropped my head, then whipped it back in time to catch him in the face with a blow that slackened his grip enough for me to jerk free. I rolled out from under him and was about to pull myself up when he landed on top of me.
Stradling me, he slammed me to the ground by the throat. “And if the piper succeeds in slipping free and you get a chance to pin it—go for the throat and crush its windpipe.”
Fuck he was strong. His grip like steel. I twisted and bucked, but he had me trapped.
Panic detonated inside me as he proceeded to squeeze, his attention on the students as he slowly cut off my breath. I clawed at his hand, eyes bugging. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t kill me, the blood oath between his family and mine prevented that, didn’t it?
Accidents happen here all the time…
No. This was no accident. There were witnesses, but Sterling didn’t seem to care. The pressure on my throat increased. I choked, tears blurring my vision, as the other students’ cries of alarm were muffled beneath the beating rush of blood in my ears.
Someone slammed into Sterling, knocking him off me and setting me free. I rolled onto my side, gagging and coughing as air found its way in and out of my lungs once more.
“Oh, Trinity, Ana!” Clary and Dori rushed to my side, helping me up.
It took a moment to regain mastery of my limbs—but the sight that awaited me made the last few minutes worth it.
Drayven straddled Sterling’s back, one hand pressing the dhampir’s head into the gravel, forcing him into submission.
It was a fucking vision. I took a mental picture and filed it away to examine later.
“Get off me,” Sterling bit out.
Drayven pressed Sterling’s head hard enough that the crunch of gravel against the Phage’s alabaster cheek was a delicious melody. “What the fuck are you playing at?” he growled.
“Teaching,” Sterling bit out. “You remember what that’s like, don’t you?”
“That wasnotteaching.”
“If she can’t handle a little pain, then she doesn’t belong here.”
Sterling was a lying piece of shit, but there was no way to prove that he’d planned to kill me. No way to prove that he wouldn’t have stopped. Drayven must have realized it, too. He made a soft sound of disgust and with a final shove, climbed off the Phage.
“The Hamlin isnoton the curriculum for Combat 101.”
Sterling chuckled, the sound harsh and derisive. “You should know.” He pulled himself up and dusted off his clothes. “You’rethe reason it was removed.”
Drayven’s jaw ticked, his fists bunching, and for a moment I thought he would hit Sterling. Iwantedhim to hit the bastard. To break his fucking face. But he didn’t. Instead, he exhaled sharply through his nose and relaxed his stance. “Class is over.” He strode toward me. “You—come with me. The rest of you get out of here.”
