Page 118 of Plug and Drain

Susie held her breath.

A sudden gust of air burst out of nowhere. It whipped at their faces and tousled Arken’s brown hair, making the silver in it glint before his locks fell forward.

At first, Susie thought it was the wind, but it was a pleasant, still summer morning. She realised it hadn’t been the wind at all. Instead, a pulse had emanated from the steel pike, radiating a violent gust of wind.

“Creepy,” Harry muttered, crossing his arms.

Arken began his address, his gaze roving over the crowd.

“Everyone, let me be clear,” he began, his ominous tone sending chills up Susie’s spine. Arken normally led with a warm introduction. This was far from it. “Rape at Volmasque Academy is frowned upon.” He paused as if to let the words sink in. “Touching a pet who has been claimed by a vampire is unacceptable.”

Arken must have gestured imperceptibly, because one of the vampire security guards made Oscar stand and led him to kneel before the pike.

Oscar knelt, leaning back so his head was as far away from the pike as possible.

Arken surveyed all the students, and if his eyes had been dark earlier, they were now bottomless pits. “This is my final warning to all of you.”

Arken leant close to Oscar and whispered something in his ear. Whatever he said, it caused Oscar to blanch, and his body trembled as he began to beg.

“No…no, please…no, no, no—”

Arken moved so fast he was almost a blur.

A sickening crunch sounded, punctuated by crackles and pops as a sheet of blood sliced up into the air before splashing down.

Susie’s heart crashed against her chest as her mind tried to process the horrifying sight of Arken standing over Oscar. Arken’s arm was raised high, and his strong fist was closed over a long, S-curved…

Nausea exploded, and her stomach heaved as she realised what the object was. Screams sounded around her.

Arken was holding Oscar’s spine, his expression hard-set as specks of flying blood fell in slow motion. Some of it spattered across his face, the rest rained down on the front row of first-years.

Time stood still as students clutched at each other and stared upwards in shock. Some fled, but most, like Susie, were rooted to the spot, unable to believe what they’d just witnessed.

Slowly, the bloody mess that was Oscar’s body sagged before slumping on the steps.

More screams, and this time, there was wailing. Even the staff looked alarmed. Amidst the chaos, Susie’s focus snapped to Arken’s. His gaze locked onto hers and did not let go.

She stared, transfixed, trying to tear her eyes away from him and the bloody bones dangling from his hand. The blackness of Arken’s eyes had finally given away to a hint of colour. But it was not the golden caramel that had lightened the darkness in her heart.

It was bright crimson, the colour shimmering as he tilted his head at her across the distance.

She couldn’t hear anything over the tumult, but she could read the movement of his lips, and she was almost certain of the words that he mouthed to her.

“For you, my dear.”

Chapter 30

No One Important

Susie

The smell of death filled Susie’s nostrils as she stared in shock at Headmaster Arken.

The omegas cowered a few steps below. Dark blood was trickling from Oscar’s slumped carcass down the stone steps past them.

Cries of alarm filled the air. Some students had fled, but most were still present, faces pale with shock. No one could have predicted what Arken would do, especially with so little warning. Public executions were not uncommon in Henrikk’s court, and occasionally in the market square of the Capital, but here, at the school…

Susie glanced at Harry, but he’d left her side and gone to stand with Sarah who was bent over a hedgerow, retching. He rubbed slow circles on her back and was trying to reassure her.