Page 117 of Bound in Blood

She blinks up at me, sensing my sadness.I spoke to him, you know. He’s going to be okay.He said it was what he wanted.

Lucian. My firstborn son, who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice just as she was. The light who turned back from the dark.

Chapter

Sixty-Two

MALACHI

Alexandros gave Ophelia some of his blood back at the ruins, but all our energy is so depleted, it is taking longer than usual for us to recover. She still bleeds from the deep wound in her side, although it is healing. I step onto the path that leads to the Dragon Society houses with her cradled in my arms, having insisted I carry her at least half the way. We lost some vampires, but the ones who are left form a line on two sides, creating a path to our house, their heads bowed in deference as we pass. Not to me or Xavier or Axl, or even the professor, but in deference to her. My fucking warrior elementai who saved us all.

Her eyes are closed, her head resting on my chest, and I’m sure she’s drifting in and out of sleep, but her heart beats steadily. She’s alive. She has likely lost her powers, but we didn’t lose her, and for that I am eternally grateful. When we realized what she was intending to do, I was filled with so much terror—awe and pride too—but mostly terror. And when we found her cradled in Alexandros’s arms, when we thought she was gone…

I have never experienced pain like that in my life. And although it only lasted for a handful of minutes, that pain hasetched itself into my soul and is a permanent reminder of what I almost lost. Now, my mind swims with the surreal notion that I get to spend the rest of my life at her side. Loving her and cherishing her. Protecting her.

A red-haired woman limps toward us, clutching a bleeding wound on her thigh, and Alexandros inclines his head in her direction. “Nazeel.” It seems even the Grand Healer of the Order will need time to heal her wounds. Two women who look so similar that they can only be her sisters stay back as she approaches.

Nazeel gazes at my girl, a knowing smile on her face, and brushes a lock of hair from Ophelia’s forehead. “I knew she would do it. I knew she was the one from the moment I first looked into her eyes.”

I get it. I knew she was the one from the moment I met her too. My incredible girl who saved the entire goddamn world. Nazeel is looking at her with undisguised awe, and that’s exactly how it should be. Every single being in this realm owes Ophelia a debt.

“She has sacrificed her light, Nazeel. I assume that means her powers too?” Alexandros asks.

Nazeel tilts her head, her vibrant green eyes shining with tears. “She has given up her power, but she is still an elementai, Alexandros. In every other way there is.” She glances over her shoulder at four large men, all of them as bloodied and battle-scarred as we are.

“My guards give me no choice; I must return to Kameen,” she says softly to Alexandros. “I fear this may be the last time we meet for a good while, old friend.”

He nods. “Thank you, Nazeel.”

She cups his cheek with her free hand. “No, thank you, Alexandros Drakos. Protector of man.”

Protector of man, huh? Never in my wildest dreams would I have had our sire pegged as that, but I guess a lot’s happened these past few months that I never could have predicted. His jaw tics, and I can tell the title doesn’t sit comfortably with him, but he doesn’t refute her. Nazeel limps across the lawn with her sisters at her side, followed by the guards of the Order, and we watch them until they disappear from sight.

Axl jogs up the steps and opens the door. “Let’s get Ophelia inside.”

I layOphelia on the bed, and her eyelids flutter open. “Are we home?” she whispers.

I sit beside her and take her hand in mine. “We sure are, sweet girl. You’re safe now.”

Her smile melts me to my fucking core. “We’re all safe.”

I nod. Yeah, we are.

Her mood turns on a dime, and the sudden sadness hurtling through her cuts me off at the knees. “Except for Cadence. And Enora. And how many others?”

Uncontrollable sobs rack her body, and I cradle her head to my chest and whisper soothing words in her ear, telling her that everyone who survived is safe thanks to her. Her pain at the loss of her friends slices into me like a blade, and I wish I could make it better. “You need to take blood from all of us, baby. It will help you heal faster.”

Axl and Xavier voice their agreement. Alexandros stands at the foot of the bed, staring at her like he can’t believe she’s real.

Ophelia sniffs and nods. I slice open a cut on the pad of my thumb and slip it between her lips. Her eyes grow heavy as she suckles, causing warmth and pleasure to flow through my veins.

Am I taking too much?she asks, still able to communicate through our bond.

No, baby. You take as much as you need.

She suckles a little while longer before turning her head and sinking into the pillow. My cut heals over, and I trail my fingertips down her cheek. Alexandros kneels on the bed and starts removing her leather pants.

“Hey.” She gives a short laugh, but it’s listless. “Now? Really?”

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