Page 109 of Bound in Blood

OPHELIA

26 MINUTES BEFORE THE LIGHT GOES OUT

Nazeel grips my forearm while clutching her wounded thigh. She glances at the carnage surrounding us. “Ophelia. I was wrong.”

I blink a drop of sweat from my eye and focus on the plea in her eyes. The chaos goes on unfolding around us. A battle cry from one of the undead pierces my ears, and I sense him drawing near, but between us, Nazeel and I form a protective force field around ourselves, and his shadowy sword strikes against it. “Wrong about what?”

“If we cannot send the wraith back to the netherworld and close the portal, then he must be killed.”

“So how do we kill him? And what were you wrong about?”

Her vibrant green eyes shimmer with unshed tears, and she places a bloodied hand on my cheek. “I thought your destiny was to reign, Chosen One. I thought Lucian was the light who would swallow up the dark.”

Realization hits me in a rolling wave, slowly settling into every cell of my being. I think I always knew this is how it wouldend. The kind of power I wield is unnatural. It is far too great for any one person to hold. “My destiny is to die, isn’t it? I am the light that will swallow the darkness.”

She doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t have to. Her eyes say everything.

“But how do I kill the wraith without a holy relic?”

A single tear cuts a path through the ash caked on her face. “My sweet, sweet Ophelia. Youarethe holy relic.”

No. I can’t be.

Except I know she’s right. And somehow, I process a lifetime in a single moment.

Getting my degree. Traveling. Children. Grandchildren. All the things I won’t have.

And all the things I already have: Love. Joy. My mates. Our bond. Losing them hurts the most, and if I allow it, the grief will overwhelm me. “What happens if we don’t kill the wraith?”

“The veil will continue to splinter until the earth is overrun with darkness. When it falls, the light will be lost forever. And you will never be free. Never be safe. And neither will they.”

“How do I kill him?”

“You must speak his name.”

I frown, confused. “But nobody knows his name.”

“You will learn his name at the end. Only at the end. Before the wraith takes your soul, Lucifer himself will give it to you.”

No, that’s way too easy. If that were true, anyone could kill him. “But how do I actually kill him?” With both of us depleted from the battle, our force field is cracking under the might of the hordes of vampires and warlocks who swarm us.

Nazeel glances over my head right as the force field splinters open and we are swarmed. “Trust your light, Ophelia” is the last thing I hear her say before she is swallowed up by at least six enemies.

Channeling my power, I throw off the undead that cling to me. They are torn apart by the energy that rips through them, but they quickly reform, rolling into shadow and darkness before they return to the shape of men.

I glance back to where Nazeel was, ready to help, but she is fighting them off with spells as she runs for the safety provided by Anikêtos’s Dragonfyre.

“Find the wraith, Ophelia,” she calls. “He is at the ancient ruins where the darkness is strongest.”

She must mean the ruins near the mouth of the river. Beside me, Ruby Dragon vampires battle a horde of the undead, beating them back again and again, tearing them limb from limb only for them to reform and return. They are exhausted. Everyone is exhausted.

I call out for Alexandros and my boys, but only he answers.They are alive, little one. Stay with Anikêtos and Elpis within the ring of Dragonfyre. They will keep it alight as long as they need to. You must wait there for us. We will not be long.

I love you.

Ophelia! Do as I say. This is not a request, agápi mou.

I know.I scrub the tears from my cheeks and wonder if my mind is strong enough to lie to him.I heard you.

---