Page 53 of Promised in Blood

“I plan to tell all the girls that she had to go back to Vermont for personal reasons, which are to neither be discussed nor speculated over.” Enora straightens her spine, her tone brooking no argument. “None of them will question my word.”

“But I’ll know the truth. And every time Cadence wonders where Meg is and if she’s okay, I’ll know. I’ll have to lie, and I don’t want to have to do that.”

Enora tilts her head, regarding Ophelia intently. “The truth can be a burden to even those who are strong enough to carryit. We are doing Cadence a favor by removing such a painful memory. But the truth can also be a gift. Consider yourself privileged to be allowed into this circle.”

My girl lifts her chin. “Cadence is my friend. She can be trusted, Professor. And you know she can.”

Enora purses her lips as though she’s considering Ophelia’s words. She looks to Alexandros and shrugs. “I do believe Cadence has a balanced head on her shoulders. She quietly notified me this morning, whereas someone else likely would have immediately descended into hysteria and alerted the entire house. We could allow her to remember the truth of Meg’s demise and omit my theory about the Skotádi. It is your decision.”

I am fascinated by their exchange. Why is it his decision? And more importantly, is he going to give in to our little pink-haired dictator? “It is safer if she has no recollection of these events,” he says.

“If you bite her, I’ll…” Ophelia presses her lips into a thin line, her little hands balled into fists by her sides, and the entire room becomes hypercharged with tension. Alexandros trains his glare on our girl while everyone holds their breath, awaiting his response. Even Ophelia. She blinks at him, her mouth clamped firmly closed, probably so she doesn’t say anything else to incur his wrath.

After what feels like an eternity, he finally speaks. And while he directs his words elsewhere, he keeps his gaze fixed firmly on Ophelia. “Wake the girl, Enora, and tell her what you think she needs to know. Summon me at once if she refuses to keep quiet. Otherwise, I will be there soon to speak to you about our next move.” The menace in his voice has the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. Ophelia’s pulse races.

Enora voices her agreement and stands, eager to leave the room. The professor’s growing rage is so palpable that it begins to fill the den like a thick cloud of smoke.

“Xavier, please show our guests out,” Alexandros commands.

Xavier arches an eyebrow at me before doing as he was asked. Without pausing to see if Enora and Osiris have left the room, Alexandros grips Ophelia’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “If I bite her, you will dowhat,little one?”

Her throat works as she swallows, drawing my attention to her fluttering pulse. “I don’t want you to bite her,” she says, her voice barely audible.

He doesn’t wait for any further explanation, moving so quickly that I hear her yelp before I see what he’s done. Her feet dangle a few inches from the floor, her blood trickling down her neck as he feeds on her. With a hand now palming the back of her head and his free arm around her waist, he crushes her to him and drinks from her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, holding onto him as he takes what he wants. The sight of him doing that to her, while brutal and animalistic, is also fucking beautiful. Seeing him so feral and desperate… There is a submissiveness in his dominance over her that is spectacular to watch unfold. And despite the savageness with which he feeds on her, her satisfied moans and the way she clings to him for dear life tell me that she needs this as much as he does.

Chapter

Twenty

ALEXANDROS

What will you do if I bite her, Ophelia?I ask again as her sweet, coppery blood slides over my tongue. Her power rages through my veins, and my heart beats so violently that it feels like it is trying to hammer its way through my ribcage.

I d-don’t want you to bite her.

Why?I growl, sinking my fangs ever deeper into her creamy skin.

She continues to fight me. Fighting the truth. But why? I probe inside her mind, but she brings down a wall that shuts me out—a feat that even Axl, Xavier, and Malachi are incapable of. I pull her closer, so close that it feels like my body is absorbing hers. She grinds herself against the hardness of my cock, and the needy whimper that purrs in her throat drives me mad with the desire to claim her.

I have never wanted to devour any other being so much as I do Ophelia Hart. Every single thing about her is addictive and exhilarating and so desperately intoxicating that I can barely stand to be near her and not touch her.

Stop fighting me and tell me.I change my tone, making it less commanding and more soothing as I flick the tip of my tongue over the wound on her neck.Why do you not want me to bite Cadence?

She resists me still—at least she tries. But I force my way into her mind, probing deep inside the darkest recesses even as she tries to close off parts she does not want me to see.Why?I ask once more.

She tips her head back, a loud moan falling from her pretty mouth.Because she doesn’t deserve to have her memory wiped. That belongs to her. She should be allowed to keep the truth.

I stifle a growl.I know you care deeply for your friend, and that is admirable. But there is something more. Something you are hiding from me, little one, and I believe you are also hiding it from yourself.

She whimpers, giving her body entirely to me, though she continues to fight the truth I am determined to seek out in her mind.

There’s nothing more. I just care about my friend…Sobs accompany her insistence, but she is still burying some truth deep within her psyche, and I will not stop until I uncover it.

My fangs sink farther into the tender flesh of her throat. Her blood thunders through me, and I probe deeper, trying to break through the last of her defenses.Tell me, Ophelia!I demand.

Hot tears roll from her cheek and onto my jaw.I told you, sir.

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