Page 94 of Promised in Blood

“Alexandros.” Enora’s breathless voice comes from behind me. She can teleport only short distances and must have run most of the way here. “What happened?”

I take a few more seconds to appraise Bones. His eyelids look heavy now, shuttering closed. I shake him roughly, and they flicker open once more. “What is your name?” I repeat.

Still nothing.

Enora’s arm brushes mine as she reaches out and plucks a strand of long dark hair from Bones’s T-shirt. She twirls it between her fingers. “Dark magic was used here, filis mous.”

I hum my agreement.

She leans closer to the accused. “Can you read his mind?”

“I can search his memory, but I will only know what he knows, and I suspect it will be little more than we do.”

Osiris stands beside me now too. “Do it.”

Searching another’s memory, even their recent memories, without biting them takes time and focus. Blood never lies. And drinking another’s blood connects me to their mind with precision, allowing me a level of control while we are connected. But to read another’s mind without that connection is not assimple as opening them up and plucking out what you want to see. It is akin to searching an archive of thousands of books with no reference to guide you. But it would leave my own mind vulnerable to invasion if I bit him without having any idea as to who is pulling his strings or what type of powerful magic he may be under the spell of. It makes Ophelia vulnerable, and I will not put her at risk.

Placing my hands on either side of Bones’s head, I close my eyes and concentrate. My mind penetrates his easily. Although it is fogged with confusion and terror, I move without resistance even when I probe deeper, combing through his most intimate memories. I flick through them at lightning speed, the images flashing by so quickly that they make my own head spin. I draw a deep breath and will them to slow. When they do, I concentrate on the events of today, and as easily as if I had bitten this vampire standing before me, the memories that I want to see come to me as though I summoned them through him.

Esme running through the trees. Bloodlust, his heart racing. The overpowering urge to devour her flesh. I search further back, to the events that happened right before. Bones and Dog walking on the edge of the forest, tossing a football back and forth. Then there is fog. Darkness. Bones’s fear. A hooded figure draws closer. Are there two? Maybe three? The memory lacks clarity, swimming with uncertainty and plagued by darkness. Ancient dark magic is whispered in his ear, the voice low and soothing, even as it speaks of spells so dangerous they were forbidden before I was born.

Bones’s inner turmoil makes the memory too difficult to see clearly. Such is the problem with memories—it is only possible to see what the person recalls themselves. There are more cloaked figures. Hundreds swarming around him now. The Skotádi. I know this cannot be real because we would have noticed an army of Skotádi invading the campus grounds.But Bones’s terror is real. I can taste it as clearly as if I had tasted his blood—the dark magic snaking through his veins and permeating every limb and organ, forcing him to submit to a master that he cannot see. Then one hooded figure draws closer. He snarls, tipping his head and revealing the lower portion of his face. Lips curled back. Fangs bared. He drops his hood.

Lucian!

My heart stops beating. I stagger back, dropping my heads from Bones’s head. It cannot be true. If he were here, I would feel him. If he had done this… Why would he do this? I ask the questions despite knowing my son is capable of much worse.

Opening my eyes, I half expect my companions to be pointing accusing fingers my way, somehow knowing what I just saw. But they watch me with concern. Osiris, Enora, Axl, and the two wolves, all eyes fixed on me as they wait for an explanation.

“What did you see?” Osiris’s voice cuts through the chaos that rages inside my brain.

“The Skotádi.” My voice is firm and even, disguising the terror and betrayal that is burning me up from the inside.

Axl’s dark-brown eyes narrow.Is everything okay?

We need to speak with Ophelia and your brothers urgently.

Enora grabs my arm, her grip tight, conveying the tension that vibrates through her body. “Then it is true. They are able to infiltrate the campus grounds.”

My jaw clenched, I offer a brief nod. “We need to call a faculty meeting.”

Osiris growls, his nostrils flaring with unsuppressed rage. “I’ll speak to Ollenshaw.”

Although I have no idea how, I am certain that the death of the wolf girl is somehow linked to Ophelia. Perhaps others sensed her powers awakening. Ollenshaw cannot know of her existence, nor can the rest of the faculty. Her safety is paramount. Osiris and Enora watch me intently, waiting for meto speak. The Skotádi are another field of expertise of mine, even if I wish with all my heart that I did not possess such intimate knowledge of their kind.

I feel the weight of my colleagues’ concern. Their uncertainty. It has been a very long time since I have needed allies, but I am now painfully aware that this thing grows bigger than all of us. And both Osiris and Enora have proven that they can be trusted. Enora may have sworn an oath to Nazeel, but I do not believe that either of them would ever cause Ophelia any harm.

“Before we speak to him and the rest of the faculty, I need to discuss something with you both.”

Osiris frowns. “So speak of it.”

I suck on my lip, tempering my frustration. “I must speak with Ophelia and the boys first.”

Osiris scowls. “If this is something to do with my pack, Alexandros…”

“I suspect this is something much bigger than all of us. I am asking that we delay bringing this to others’ attention for no more than an hour. I implore you to trust me.”

Enora nods and loops her hand through the crook in Osiris’s arm. “It is in all our interests to discover what happened here tonight and why, my friend. If Alexandros thinks he can find some answers, we should let him do what it takes to locate them.”

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