Page 76 of Forged in Blood

He nods like this does not surprise him.

“She’s bonded with my boys. All three of them.”

“But not you?” He regards me with suspicion. “I felt no shift in your emotions, although you have always been able to mask them so well.”

“No, not with me,” I grit out. “I already told you that will not be happening.”

He presses his lips together and remains silent.

“You do not believe me?”

He places a hand on my arm. “I know that you believe you, and that is enough.”

“Do not treat me like a fucking child, Giorgios!” Memories of our childhood and his cruel taunts echo in my mind. Born only five years apart, we were pitted against each other by our father from the moment I was born. Not until we were centuries old did we realize the futility of our sibling rivalry. It was our father who deserved our animosity, not each other. Still, those wounds run deep, and it is not difficult for them to rip open when one is already feeling decidedly on edge.

He shakes his head and sighs. “I am not. But to pretend that you are not drawn to her, Alexandros—to suggest that it is not fate that has brought the only elementai born in over half a millennium to you, of all people… it is foolhardy.”

“I amnotgoing to bite her,” I insist. “Even discounting the fact that I do not wish to be bonded to an elementai ever again, I would never put her in that kind of danger. If our father found out what she is…”

He squeezes my arm tighter. “I know, brother. I know. You would never be so reckless as to endanger the only elementai in existence.”

The overwhelming instinct to protect Ophelia still takes me by surprise. “I will never allow him to feel her.”

“Your ability to close yourself off to others is unparalleled. Perhaps there is a way?—”

“She is too powerful, Giorgios. Too powerful to contain. He would sense her. I know he would.” But oh, how I wish there was a way. The desire to sink my fangs into her sweet flesh and drink her intoxicating lifeblood consumes almost every waking thought.

“Why do you think this? Even if she is an elementai…”

I swallow the knot of trepidation in my throat. “I have reason to believe she has mastery over three of the elements. Perhaps even all four.”

His mouth falls open and he works to speak, but no sound escapes his lips.

“She started the fire at her school. It rains when she feels sad. When she…” I take a deep breath and will my cock not to ache with the mere thought of what I am about to say. “When she has an orgasm, the ground shakes.”

He raises one eyebrow, and our bond is not necessary for me to be able to hear what he is thinking.

I sigh. “I told you she is bonded to my boys. I feel her through them.”

“And air?” he asks.

“When she found out about the bonding, how she was going to be a part of the boys’ lives for eternity, she lost her mind. She held her breath, and I swear that she stole all the air from the room.”

His chest heaves with the deep breaths he takes. His anxiety is palpable, but so is his excitement and fear. “But you said her powers were bound?”

“Yes, and by who? Who else knows about her? Who sent her to this school? Who put her in my path? She is too dangerous, and she has not a single clue.”

He looks down at the table and traces the wood grain with his index finger. “But without a powerful witch to break the spell, she is safe. I do not know of any who can do such a thing. Do you?”

“Only one.” I lick my lips. “But she would never. She is constrained by greater laws than you and I.”

“Of course.” He looks back up and gives me a knowing nod. “Nazeel Danraath.”

I wince at the mention of her name. Like so many other witches I know, she is tied to my most painful memories, the ones I keep barricaded behind a wall of granite. “But her powers are growing, Giorgios. She can communicate with my boys. Talk to them in their heads as clearly as I can. I feel her. As her emotions grow stronger, so does her magic. What if she breaks the spell all on her own?”

His frown deepens. “You must start teaching her how to control her powers, Alexandros. Prepare her in case that day does come.”

My heart cracks wide open. “I cannot.”

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