Page 111 of Forged in Blood

She nods sadly. “Hunted down and killed. Every single one of them tortured to death. From the oldest and most powerful elementai who had been alive for several millennia to the youngest babes.” She shivers. “It was such a dark time in our history that nobody speaks of it.”

“But why? And who hunted them down? Humans?”

She shakes her head. “Humans aren’t powerful enough to overcome one elementai, and definitely not their entire species.”

“Then who?”

“The vampires, of course. They hate the elementai. I guess they couldn’t handle the fact that their species was so much more powerful, so they slaughtered them all. Misogyny at its finest, huh?”

My pulse spikes and my stomach rolls. I’m sure I must have misheard everything she just said. I swallow the thick knot of anxiety balling in my throat and force out my next words. “Vampires? Misogyny?”

“Elementai are female, and all bloodborne vampires are male. Some of them even turned on their own families. Their sisters, wives, daughters…” She shakes her head and swats a tear from her eye.

That can’t be true. My racing heart goes into overdrive. “Vampires killed them?” I whisper.

“Yeah. I know they’re super-hot and brooding and all—I enjoy some vampire company myself occasionally.” She leans in and puts her hand on my arm. “But, girl, they can’t be trusted.”

My heart splinters into a million pieces, fracturing like tiny shards of glass that tear their way through my chest. Have I been fooled again? I allowed myself to be taken in by Axl, Xavier, and Malachi just because they make my body feel good. How could they not have told me? And the professor… After everything he said in the library about the power of the elementai and how special they were. Was he lying too? Anguish threatens to sweep me away.

I shake my head. No. No. No. I repeat the word over and over in my head. Cadence must have it wrong. It can’t be true that vampires hate elementai. That they slaughtered thousands of innocents just because of their power. Because if that’s true…

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

ALEXANDROS

Thunder rolls and lightning cracks the sky in two before the rain begins hammering on the glass with such force that the old frame rattles. Dark clouds roll in fast, obscuring the vibrant blue of the sky.

Something is happening to Ophelia.

I tune into Malachi and Xavier to figure out what is going on, and as soon as I do, her pain sears my chest as strongly as if it were my own, making me stumble back a step. Her bond with my boys grows stronger every day, and I can feel her more keenly through that than I have felt anyone else before, even those I actually bit.

Baby, what’s happened?Malachi calls out to her.Are you okay?

She sobs her reply, and my own sorrow clouds my thoughts, obscuring the words. But I hear the wordselementaianddid you know, and my chest grows tight. She knows what happened to her kind. But how?

Come home, baby, Malachi says.You’re not supposed to be talking about that with anyone.

I’m not. Not about me. I’m in the library with Cadence, and I asked if she knew about the elementai. She told me what happened, Malachi. How the vampires wiped them out. Did you know? Did any of you know?

Indescribable rage burns beneath my skin.

Xavier joins the conversation.I’m coming to get you, Cupcake.

No!I order him, aware that she will not be able to hear me.I will get her.

Don’t be mad at her. She only wants to know where she came from.Malachi’s plea echoes through my head. Mad is not a word I would use to describe the intense fury that boils inside me. I warned her not to speak about what she is. But his fear does not warrant a response. My focus is on getting to the library and putting a stop to the lies she is being subjected to. Damn witches.

It takes me less than a minute to get to the library, and her face is a mask of shock when she sees me approach.

“You are leaving.”

She flinches but folds her arms across her chest and glares at me. “I am not.”

My muscles vibrate with tension. At this moment, I possess neither the time nor the patience for her overt display of defiance. I grab Ophelia’s arm, and her friend gapes at me, horror etched on her pale features. “Yes, you are.” Without giving her another chance to argue, I drag her out of the library and down the short path to Zeus Hall. She finally stops resisting once we enter the building, but I maintain my grip as I lead her to the safety of my office. She keeps her lips pressed tightly together the entire time, her rage boiling inside her like a miniature inferno. Little does she know, her fury has nothing on mine.

I close my office door behind us and keep a tight grip on her arm. My fangs protract with a painful, burning hunger. “I warned you not to discuss what I told you.”

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