Page 56 of Forged in Blood

I shake my head. It is easy to forget that my boys know so little of the old magic, having never experienced it. Perhaps I have been remiss in not schooling them in the ancient ways. “Not a spell. But magic, nonetheless.”

Malachi gapes at me, wide-eyed. “So she is a witch? Has she cursed him?”

Axl snaps his teeth, and I release my grasp on his jaw, letting him fall back to the bed. Despite his rabid state, he is as weak as a kitten. “Not a curse. Well, not exactly.”

Xavier’s eyes meet mine in a silent plea before he speaks. “So, what the hell is it? Stop talking in riddles and tell us what’s wrong with him. Please.”

I run my tongue over my teeth. “It is an ancient magic. The blood of the elementai is toxic to vampires on the first bite.”

Malachi’s emerald-green eyes narrow. “Elementai? She’s a fucking elementai? I thought they were a myth. Like dragons.”

Malachi has always been the most curious of my boys regarding our species’ past, but now is not the time for a history lesson. “Not a myth. Neither elementai nor dragons.”

Xavier stops pacing and scowls at me. “What the fuck is an elementai?”

“A powerful creature. More powerful than vampires, demons, witches, and wolves.”

He blinks at me. “And she’s one of them? Ophelia? The girl with pink hair, who has no friends and blushes when anyone so much looks at her…Sheis more powerful than us?”

I glance at Axl again, and the answer to that question literally stares me in the face. “I believe so.”

Malachi’s mouth is still hanging open, but he finally speaks. “Dragons are real too?”

Xavier nudges him in the ribs. “Not the time, dickface.”

Seeming to shake himself out of a stupor, Malachi casts a worried look at Axl. “But her blood is toxic? Like a poison?”

“If poison gave you an insatiable thirst for more, then yes. But it is merely an evolutionary tactic to ensure the survival of the species. Once the elementai’s blood has been tasted by a vampire, a bond forms. Only the second bite, or in this case, taste, can cure the sickness, which ensures the vampire will return and cement the bond.”

“So if he bites her, he won’t be like this, right? She won’t be toxic to him anymore?” Xavier asks, his eyes turbulent with concern.

“Yes and no. He will not suffer from this kind of thirst, but…” I shake my head. Anger surges through my veins. I told them to stay away from her. I warned them not to taste her.

Xavier paces the room, grumbling to himself.

“But?” Malachi says.

“They will be forever bonded. His thirst for her will be controllable, but her blood will be no less desirable to him. Vampires can learn to live without their bonded elementai. It is agonizing, but it can be done.”

Xavier stops pacing and shakes his head. “So he’s stuck with this chick forever?We’restuck with her forever?”

Axl curls into a ball, shivering and gnashing his teeth.

“I can teach him how to resist the bond.”

Xavier scowls. “But what if she wants the bond? These elementai things need vampires to survive, right?”

I shake my head.So ignorant, and I have only myself to blame. “Not at all.”

“But you said it was an evolutionary thing,” he says, confusion marring his features. “To ensure the survival of the species.”

“Not their species, Xavier. Ours.”

Chapter

Thirty-Four

MALACHI

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