Page 115 of Bound in Blood

I will pay your debt. I will serve at your side for eternity!I implore him, but he is unreachable to me, locked away in the deepest recesses of his kingdom in the netherworld once more.

The wraith disappears, vanishing like a breath on the wind. And now she is gone too.

The depth of my pain is so intense it is impossible to feel it—for if I experience even a fraction, I will surely shatter into a million fragments of myself and scatter amongst the four winds. Although perhaps that would be a far less cruel fate than a world without her in it. I crush her to my chest and brush her hair backfrom her forehead, waiting for her loss to eviscerate me. Waiting for the severing of our bond to slice my soul into shards of glass that tear through every fiber of my body. Waiting to become nothing.

The sound of bodies crashing noisily through the woods breaks the silence. A second later, Axl, Xavier, and Malachi burst into the clearing and are on the ground beside us, the magic securing the silver chains gone without Giorgios or the wraith to hold it in place. They silently implore me for an answer I do not have.

“Take me instead!” Axl screams toward the heavens. “Just bring her back.” Then he turns his attention to me, his eyes wild. “Deals can be made with Death, right? I’ve heard you say it. So make him a fucking deal, Alexandros. Bring her back to us.”

I drop my head, knowing I have let them all down.I wish I could, only it was not Death who came for Ophelia, but Lucifer himself.

“Lucifer?” Malachi says on a sob. “You’re telling me the fucking devil has our girl?”

“No, for if he did, I would follow her to the netherworld and take her back from him. The devil does not take pure souls; he sets them free.”

I look up to the dark sky, and the twinkling stars seem to mock me as my heart disintegrates into a billion particles of stardust. Perhaps that is the only way I can truly be with her. I will simply lie here with her in my arms until the end of time itself. Until everything turns to dust.

“Alexandros!” Xavier’s pained cry rings in my ears now. “Do something!”

I rest my forehead against hers. Her skin is still warm. How I long to feel her soft breath on my face. What is the use in being the protector of man if I cannot protect the one human I was born to love? I place my hand over her heart, and it does notbeat, but her blood still flows gently through her veins. My fangs protract. My heart rate spikes, jolting me back to life. What if I could…?

“Do it,” Axl says, not needing to read my mind.

Chapter

Sixty

AXL

Iswear my heart feels like it’s being physically torn from my chest. The moment the chains slipped from our wrists, we ran here faster than we’ve ever moved before in our lives, ignoring the searing pain in our limbs despite knowing it wasn’t caused by the burns from the silver.

Ophelia is gone.

Yet still, we refuse to admit it. This is different from when we thought we lost the professor. More visceral in some ways, yet oddly less somehow.

I stare at her lifeless body cradled in his arms. How have I not turned to dust at her loss? This numbness must be some sort of defense mechanism. My body’s way of protecting me. My brain won’t let me feel all the pain at once because it would spell my destruction.

Malachi and Xavier are on either side of me, their shock bleeding into mine. She can’t be gone. I won’t let her go. I call out for her, and my heart cracks wide open when she doesn’t reply.

“Take me instead!” I scream into the night sky. Surely someone will hear. Someone will take pity on her. She—of all creatures—doesn’t deserve to die. “Just bring her back.” I stareat Alexandros, memories of past conversations sending sparks of hope flickering to life. “Deals can be made with Death, right? I’ve heard you say it. So make him a fucking deal, Alexandros. Bring her back to us.”

He drops his head, his shoulders slumped in defeat.I wish I could, only it was not Death who came for Ophelia, but Lucifer himself.

My blood is pounding so loudly in my ears that I’m sure I didn’t hear him right. Because the devil doesn’t fucking exist. Does he? If he does, he’d better give us our fucking girl back.

“Lucifer?” Malachi cries. “You’re telling me the fucking devil has our girl?”

“No, for if he did, I would follow her to the netherworld and take her back from him. The devil does not take pure souls; he sets them free.” The voice, so strained, doesn’t sound like it belongs to Alexandros. He tilts his face to the sky.

What the fuck is this? Is he giving up? Letting her go?

“Alexandros!” Xavier yells, letting out a mere particle of the pain we’re all feeling. “Do something!”

Alexandros returns from his trance and, gently lifting her, presses his face close to hers. My fangs ache. Maybe there’s a chance. Maybe her soul still lingers close by, waiting to be tethered back to something. Back to us.

Alexandros can bring her back. He can save her if he’d just fucking try.

He places his hand over her heart. I cannot hear it beat, but I urge him anyway. “Do it.”

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