Page 106 of Forged in Blood

I head for the far corner of the library and gesture for her to follow. “Not secret. Although it is the faculty library. Few students are aware of its existence.”

“Is it just for—” She presses her lips together, her eyes darting around nervously. “You know,specialpeople?”

I suppress my annoyance. “If by special, you mean nonhuman, then yes. All of our faculty and staff are nonhuman, Ophelia.”

This time her gasp is followed by a sharp laugh. “No freaking way! Like… all of them?”

Without answering, I indicate for her to sit in one of the armchairs in the most secluded corner of the library—the theology section. The faculty and staff of Montridge University have little interest in and no use for human religion.

She perches on the edge of the leather cushion and tugs at the hem of her tiny plaid skirt. It fails to cover enough of her skin, and the scent of her arousal is a stark reminder of the pleasures lurking only a few feet away. And now the memory of her being brought to orgasm in my class a short time ago is sharper than a needle point. The way she moaned their names, how my boys were practically driven feral with the need to taste her… Sweet demons of the netherworld. She made my cock harder than stone.

“Can I take a look at some of these books? Could I?—”

“Ophelia!”

She swallows, her huge blue eyes staring up at me, full of trust and innocence. Two attributes that are likely to get her killed one day.

“You are so much more than a witch, Ophelia.” I drop into the chair directly opposite her, my eyes raking over her curves before they settle on her face once more. How can someone with so much power be so naive? It is almost like fate played a cruel trick on her.

She blinks, and I am blinded by a vision of her on her knees for me. My limbs burn with the force of holding myself back from taking her right here.

I clear my throat and glance around the room once more, ensuring there is nobody within earshot. “You know how it rains when you are sad? And how there are literal earthquakes when you come?”

Her cheeks turn bright pink, but she nods.

“That is because you are an elementai, Ophelia.”

She leans forward in her chair. “A what?”

I can barely believe these words are about to leave my mouth. My knowledge of the elementai is greater than most. And it is entirely useless in the modern world. At least it was. “An elementai. They are infinitely more powerful than witches. A witch needs a spell to cast. They draw on the elements for magic. A witch who can channel water magic cannot do so if there is no water. But an elementai can create magic from nothing. They are some of the most powerful beings ever to have lived.”

“That’s… that’s impossible.” She shakes her head. “I don’t have any magic. You know I don’t.”

I pinch the spot between my brows and take a deep breath. “The fire at your school. You never wondered how you created a fire from nothing?”

She shakes her head again, more vigorously this time. Tears stream down her cheeks. “I didn’t start that fire.”

“You did, Ophelia.”

A sob catches in her throat, and her eyes implore me to tell her that I am making it all up. “You were not at fault. An elementai’s power is finely tuned to their emotions. You had no idea you even had such abilities.”

She balls her tiny hands into fists. “I don’t have abilities,” she insists.

I lean forward, my gaze fixed on hers. Staring into her eyes is akin to staring into a black hole. If I allow myself to be sucked in there with her, there will be no escaping the hold she will have over me. I suck in a breath and look away, breaking the connection before I speak again. “You do. That is why it rains when you are sad. Why the earth shakes when you are happy. And that is why your blood affected Axl the way it did. The destinies of both vampire and elementai are deeply intertwined.” As for why… That is a conversation for another day.

She wipes the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. “I am not one of those creatures. I am weak and?—”

That she even thinks that is an abomination. I grind my teeth and force myself not to roar my frustration. My calm, measured tone is a testament to the two millennia I spent learning such control. “No. You are not weak. Even without your powers.” I stand and cup her chin, tilting her head so she is looking up into my face. Her vivid blue eyes, so innocent and trusting, pull at something deep inside me that I thought I had long since buried. “You are fearless in the face of certain danger. You are unwaveringly kind, in spite of how poorly you have been treated by the world. You, my little one, rank amongst the strongest creatures I have ever known.”

Another fat tear rolls down her cheek. “I don’t feel strong, sir.”

Sweet demons of hell. That term on her lips makes my cock ache.

“If I have all these powers, why can’t I use them?”

How do I tell her everything she is without baring my soul? I cannot answer her questions because I lack the answers she needs. The answers that I need. But the plea in her eyes pulls at something long forgotten, like a song that has gone centuries unheard but is so deeply embedded in the psyche that even a single note will bring the full composition rushing back. “I think somebody bound them when you were a child. Before you were old enough to remember.”

“B-bound them? Like made me not be able to use them? But why?”

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