Page 17 of Promised in Blood

His brow furrows a little, but not from anger or annoyance for once. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was impressed.

“You remind me so much of someone I used to know, Xavier.” His voice is thick, and his eyes are full of something new. Hurt? Longing?

“My girl definitely needs her waffles now,” Malachi says as he enters the kitchen, and Alexandros drops his gaze from mine.

I swallow down my regret that our moment was interrupted and force a grin. “Yeah, I’m sure she does.”

A second later, Axl walks into the room with Ophelia close behind him. She looks pale, but she has a sweet smile on herface. I pull her onto my lap and bury my face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and letting her presence dispel all the negative thoughts swirling in my head.

Alexandros clears his throat. “Have you reconsidered the idea of lessons, Ophelia?”

“You already know I have.”

“Good.” His tone is stern, and I feel her hurt at his coldness. He can’t bear to be vulnerable with any of us for longer than a moment. Like we would ever use it against him. We would all die for him in a fucking heartbeat, and he knows it.

Malachi passes Ophelia a plate of chopped strawberries and banana. “While you wait for your waffles, sweet girl.”

She thanks him and pops a strawberry into her mouth. “So what do I do now? Stay here but don’t attend classes? Wait for one of these crazy-ass vampires to come find me, and then what?”

Alexandros rests his chin on his hand and swipes his tongue over his bottom lip like he’s deep in thought. Eventually, he sighs, and it’s deep and weary. “Montridge is the safest place for you right now. The boys have…” He pauses. “They have duties that they need to attend to, which they cannot simply abandon or too many questions will be asked. And we have allies here, and whilst I do not intend to burden them with the truth before it is absolutely necessary, the time will come when it will become so. For now, you will continue to attend classes as you wish. There is no reason to draw unnecessary attention by having you disappear from campus life.”

Her face breaks into a wide smile. “Thank you.” Then she purses her lips, and I can picture the millions of questions whizzing through her head. My curious little cupcake. Her eyes dart between Axl, Malachi, and me. “What exactly are your duties?”

“Huh?” Axl grunts.

“What do you guys actually do here? I mean, you obviously don’t attend classes.” She regards us with suspicion. “Well, except from when you accompany me just to annoy me.” Her eyes twinkle with amusement. “So what do you actually do all day?”

Alexandros clears his throat. “They have duties beyond this college, Ophelia. Duties that involve the vampire pledges and ensuring they get the appropriate training to equip them for their chosen careers when they leave this institution.”

Her nose wrinkles, and she shakes her head, confused.

Malachi drops a kiss on her head. “We teach them the rules of their trade. We coordinate their assignments from their future employers.”

The way her face comes alive with fascination… Fuck me, I adore her. I could sit with her and answer her questions all day every day and be completely content. Well, as long as we fucked in between, obviously. “What kind of employers?” she asks.

There’s an uncomfortable pause, and I suspect that, like me, Axl and Malachi have no idea what we’re allowed to tell her. Fortunately, Alexandros finally speaks. “There is no reason Ophelia should not be aware of all our secrets.”

Her mouth drops open, and she glances between us all with undisguised glee. “Secrets?”

“We work with the kind of employers who don’t recruit from regular colleges, princess,” Axl explains. “The Cosa Nostra, the Bratva, the Yakuza, Colombian Cartels. Organized crime groups from every corner of the globe.”

“And occasionally the government,” Malachi adds with a wink.

“Who are the biggest criminals of all.” I snort.

“Wow,” Ophelia says. “I knew that Ruby Dragon had some pretty notorious alumni, but I didn’t realize you actually trained criminals.”

I rest my chin on her shoulder, inhaling the smell of her skin. Even her fruity body wash does little to mask her intoxicating natural scent. I have no idea how she doesn’t have a trail of vampires following her around wherever she goes. The thought alone makes a possessive snarl tumble from my lips, and Ophelia strokes my hair. “I didn’t mean to judge you. I wasn’t. I guess it’s kind of cool.”

I nip her shoulder. “I know you didn’t. I was just distracted, Cupcake. I wasn’t growling at you.”

Alexandros clears his throat. “But your training will take priority now, Ophelia. You will practice every day. Each of us will train you in a different subject.”

She nods, and I don’t miss the thrill of excitement that runs through her. He did make that sound kind of fun.

“Every day, Ophelia. Without fail. Understand?”

She bites on her juicy bottom lip and nods once more. “Every day.”

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