Page 11 of Promised in Blood

Painful is an understatement. Even the memory of it makes my knees wobble. “Like being burned up from the inside out and then torn apart before being stitched back together piece by piece.”

She shudders. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. Not everyone survives it. That’s why we have the Trials, to identify the strongest.”

“Would you do it again? Knowing what you do now?”

I have asked myself that same question a million times in the past hundred years, and the answer has changed depending on my mood. But right here with her, there is only one right answer, and I feel it in every fiber of my being. “Yes. Without a doubt.”

She smiles again, her blue eyes sparkling.

“You need to stop looking at me like that if you want to eat your breakfast before I eat mine, sweet girl.”

She giggles and rolls her eyes, and I go back to mixing the batter. She watches me in silence for a few moments before she speaks again, her voice quiet and unsure. “The power was intoxicating, Malachi.” She worries her bottom lip. “And Ifeltso much. Like it was about to overwhelm me, and the more I felt, the harder it was to control.”

“That makes sense. An elementai’s powers are rooted in their emotions.”

She nods, and a tear runs down her cheek. “I think it was feeling his pain that unlocked it. It was like this overwhelmingrush. Then…” Her slender throat works as she swallows. “I felt like I was…” Her eyes widen. “Invincible. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I felt some of the professor’s power, and that was exhilarating, and then…” She sucks in a deep breath. “It was like a fire lighting me up from the inside, but in a good way, you know? It was raw, untamed power. Like it could eat me alive if I let it.” Her shiver is laced with fear. And I understand because I feel it too. This changes everything for all of us. And given what the professor told us about elementai, our girl is a target for every bloodborne vampire walking this earth. Andthatscares the living shit out of me.

But I have faith in her strength. Because regardless of her power, she is strong. This tiny pink-haired girl might be the most kindhearted soul I’ve ever met in my life, but she has a fierceness about her that cannot be denied. “How did you control it?”

“Alexandros told me to focus on my light, and I dunno.” She shrugs. “I just instinctively knew what he meant. And so I closed my eyes, and there was this light inside me. I looked into the heart of it and…” She wrinkles her nose. “Do I sound crazy?”

How could she possibly think that? “I’m a vampire, baby. Standing here in my boxers with a raging boner while I make my elementai girlfriend waffles. Nothing you say could sound crazy to me.”

She giggles. “Well, channeling my focus into the light somehow enabled me to isolate my emotions and control the power.”

I wink at her. “Sounds like you did good.”

She chews on her lip again, worry furrowing her brow.

I round the counter and wrap my arms around her, and she leans into my chest, nuzzling her cheek against my bare skin. I rest my lips on the top of her head. “It will all be okay.”

“I set the professor’s office on fire,” she whispers.

A laugh bubbles out of me. “You did?”

She laughs too. “Yeah.”

I brush her hair back behind her ears. “Was he mad?”

“No. Not even a little.”

“You’re kind of impossible to get mad at, sweet girl.” I kiss her forehead, and the thought of what they were probably doing when that happened has my cock aching again. I glance at the kitchen counter and lick my lips. Yeah, I gotta eat right now. Before I can lift her onto the worktop and enjoy my girl, the door opens.

“You left without waking me,” Alexandros says gruffly, running a hand through his thick hair.

She flutters her eyelashes at him. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

He grunts and switches on the coffee machine. “Your lessons will start today.”

She blinks. “Lessons?”

He’s prevented from answering by Axl and Xavier bursting into the room. They make a beeline for our girl, and I let her go so they can hug her. The tension visibly lifts from both of them as soon as they touch her. No matter what happened between her and the professor last night, what we have with her hasn’t changed. She needs us as much as we need her, and I know his bond with her wouldn’t allow him to deny her that, no matter how badly he might want to.

Xavier grabs her jaw and tilts her head before giving her a long, deep kiss. Then Axl pushes him out of the way and does the same. And now I just want to take her to bed and run my tongue over every single inch of her.

Alexandros clears his throat. “Lessons, Ophelia.” His voice is a low command that ensures everyone’s attention is now firmly on him.

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