Page 12 of Promised in Blood

She wrinkles her cute little nose. “Like my classes? Yeah, I know.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Not classes. Lessons.”

Her bottom lip juts out, and she plonks herself back on her stool at the island. “What kind of lessons?”

“To learn how to control your power.” A smile lights up her face, but before she can speak, Alexandros goes on. “To control your mind. To shield yourself from other beings who would try to manipulate you. To fight. To?—”

“To fight?” She barks out a laugh.

My shoulders tense at the thought of my girl having to fight anyone. I will tear out the throat of any being who even tries to touch her. And the thought of anyone causing her harm… It steals my next breath.

Alexandros scowls. “Yes, fight. Lessons will start this morning.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t. I have class this morning.”

Axl and Xavier look as anxious as I feel.

“Classes are no longer a priority,” the professor replies dismissively.

She huffs indignantly. So feisty for someone who’s so submissive with her body. “They’re a priority for me. I need my degree. I need to?—”

Alexandros slams his fist onto the counter. “Keeping the entire world from finding out what and who you are is your priority, Ophelia.”

Can’t we let her be a regular person for just a little while longer?I plead with him privately.

At least I thought it was private until Ophelia gives me a sharp nudge in the ribs with her elbow. “Hey, don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

I blink at the professor. “How did she…? I only spoke to you.”

Alexandros frowns, his eyes narrowed on Ophelia. Then he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Ophelia is capable of hearing you in my head. Unless I actively tune her out.”

Xavier laughs darkly, but Axl gasps. “Ophelia is inyourhead? How the fuck?”

Ophelia’s cheeks flush pink. “I didn’t mean to be. I just heard it.”

Alexandros sighs, pressing his palms on the kitchen counter. “Ophelia’s power is already greater than I anticipated. I expect you will not be able to block her out for much longer no matter how hard you try.”

Xavier slides an arm around her waist and presses his teeth against her bare shoulder, leaving the imprint of his bite behind. “Fine by me, Cupcake.”

Alexandros scrubs a hand over his face. “And to answer your question, Malachi, no. There is no time to waste.” He directs all his attention to Ophelia now. “Learning to control your power is the key to keeping you safe. That is your only priority. You have no idea of the importance of what happened last night.”

She sucks in a raspy breath that makes her tits heave against the thin fabric of her tank top. Then she shakes her head, and Alexandros’s eyes darken at her willful display of defiance. “That’s not gonna work for me. I came to college to get my psychology degree. I’m going to be a social worker.” His jaw tics as he glares at her. “So my actual classes will take priority,” she finishes with a triumphant smile.

Axl swallows nervously. Xavier wraps a protective arm around our girl, and I press myself against her back. Alexandros’s eyes remain firmly on her, as dark and dangerous as I have ever seen them.

He rolls his neck, and the vein in his temple throbs. He takes a few seconds before he speaks. “Once the vampire world learns of who you are, it will take more than the four of us to protectyou, Ophelia. This is not a request.” He glances between Axl, Xavier, and me, and I offer him a reluctant nod of agreement because as much as I want him to be wrong, I know that he’s not.

“But I?—”

“Ophelia!” The way he roars her name has the windows shaking. He stalks around the island, his entire body seeming to vibrate with rage. Our girl simply tips her chin up and folds her arms over her chest like she’s not even the slightest bit intimidated by him. Like she has no idea who the fuck he is and the things he’s capable of.

He cups her chin in his hand, turning her head so she’s looking up at his scowling face. “This is much bigger than you can imagine. Bigger than you. Than us. You are not the same person you were yesterday, and that means your life is no longer the one it was. Forget your past dreams, Ophelia, because they are gone.”

I feel her heart breaking, and it makes me want to throw my arms around her and protect her from it all. But she knows he’s right, even if she doesn’t want to admit it yet. There is no arguing with the graveness of his tone or the reality of what he’s told us.

She tries anyway. “But?—”

He squeezes her jaw tighter, cutting off the retort on her lips. “Youare the most powerful being in this room, Ophelia. Quite possibly the entire world.” Her lip quivers. Axl and Xavier glance at me, and I widen my eyes, indicating that I didn’t know that either. “There is no escaping that. And allowing you to think for another moment that you have any chance of even a semblance of a normal life, a life where you’ll become the social worker you dreamed of being, would not only be cruel, it would also be a waste of precious time that we do not have.”

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