Page 99 of Forged in Blood

I shake my head. “You disobeyed them. You must suffer the consequences.”

Her bottom lip juts out, and once again, all I can think of is delivering those consequences myself. I need to get far away from her—for both our sakes. “Go inside. And if you leave this house again tonight, I will deal with you myself. Understand?”

Sweet hell on earth, her pupils blow wide and she gasps in a raspy breath that lets me know she would enjoy that almost as much as I would.

“Ophelia. Now!”

She nods. “Yes, sir.” She spins on her heel and runs into the house.

I blow out a long breath, hoping it might do something to ease the anguish and white-hot need that fester in every cell of my body.

It does not.

Chapter

Fifty-Three

XAVIER

Axl grins at me, and his fangs glisten in the moonlight. His shirt is soaked with blood, much like mine. The Hunt is over, but the spell blocking our bonds will remain in place until we leave the woods.

“Where is Malachi?”

“Here.” He steps out from a thick crop of trees, shirtless and caked in mud and dried blood. His green eyes sparkle. Ordinarily I would share their post-Hunt high, but Ophelia is still on my mind. “How many of ours made it?”

“Just seven,” Axl replies.

“Malone and Jensen made it, right?” Malachi asks.

Axl shakes his head. “Both dead.”

Damn. They were by far our best candidates this year, and we were all sure they’d make it.

“You okay?” Malachi asks, likely sensing my somber mood. I jerk my head, signaling we should leave, and they follow me out of the woods and away from anyone who might overhear. “I hate to bring the party down, but I need to tell you both what happened during the Hunt.” As I relay the events of the evening, their fear and helpless frustration and agitation perfectly mimic what I felt earlier. And by the time we get back to the house, they are every bit as eager to punish her as I am.

We get close enough to the house to see Alexandros sitting on the porch in the dark, alarmingly still.

“Is she inside? Is she okay?” Malachi asks, an edge of panic in his tone.

Axl must read something in Alexandros’s expression that Kai and I can’t see because he chuckles. “She’s not gonna be for long.”

The professor stares at us, a frown furrowing his brow. “I do not think she intended to disobey you.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “What do you mean?”

He runs his fingertips through his beard. “I think something or someone compelled her to go to the woods tonight.”

“With magic?” I ask. “Who is powerful enough to do that? Does it mean they can get inside her head and make her do stuff?”

“A number of witches can cast such a spell. But no, they cannot get inside her head. I would ordinarily be able to detect such a spell within these grounds, but I was not able to sense it with all the magic in the air this night.”

“So we could all be compelled? In theory?” That would fucking suck.

He shakes his head. “Vampires and demons cannot be compelled, at least not by witches. And the magic draws on the subject’s individual fears and desires. Ophelia was led to believe you were all in danger.”

Malachi sighs and drops his head.

“The tiny pink-haired cupcake was coming to save us?” I shake my head in disbelief. Ophelia is going to be the death of my sanity. She’s the most fearless person I’ve ever met in my long life, and that’s what led me to fall in love with her to begin with, but it also makes me want to tie her to my bed and keep her safe. I’d happily tie her to my bed for other reasons too …

---