Page 5 of Bound in Blood

I shove aside the tsunami of emotion that threatens to overwhelm me. I can’t think about them getting weaker on topof everything else. It will surely crush me until I am nothing but dust and tears.

Giorgios sighs. “Lucian just took the head of the most powerful vampire alive without breaking a sweat. We have no idea what he is truly capable of.”

A sharp pain lances through my chest, and I shake my head, trying to dislodge the images of Alexandros’s death from my mind.

As if searching for an ally, Giorgios looks to Enora now, and she shakes her head sadly. “I believe Giorgios is right, Ophelia. Lucian is capable of horrors that you cannot comprehend. If he finds you before you are ready to face him…” A tear breaks free, and she swats it away.

“I am not leaving Montridge!” I yell.

Giorgios comes close enough that I can see the congealed blood on his dark cloak. I squeeze my eyes closed. Without asking, I know it belongs tohim.

“His final words were spent imploring me to protect you, Ophelia.” His voice is gentle. Pleading. “Please allow me to keep my promise to him. Please do not let his death have been in vain.”

Keeping my eyes closed, I concentrate on my light, allowing it to ground me. When I reopen them, I’m centered and able to speak without crying. “Where do you suggest we go if we leave Montridge?”

“I have a fortress in the Tibetan mountains. It is impenetrable, and it is the safest place for you.” He looks behind me and nods. “All of you.”

“Tibet? You want us to go to Tibet?”

“I have medicines,” he says. “A library that almost rivals Thucydides. If there is a remedy for the death of one’s sire, then we will find it. There is nowhere more equipped for us to stay hidden, educate ourselves, and regroup.”

Giorgios is a scholar, sweet girl, Malachi says.Alexandros told me about him. He understands the ancient texts better than anyone. If there is a cure to be found for us or a way to bring Alexandros back, then he will surely be able to help us discover that information.

What do you think, Axl? Xavier?I ask through our bond.

I don’t trust him, but Alexandros did, Axl replies.

And it got him killed, Xavier adds.

But if Lucian killed him, it’s only a matter of time before he comes for our girl, right? Malachi says.

Enora takes a step forward and beckons Cadence to her. She takes my friend’s hand in hers and locks eyes with me. “I know you do not wish to leave, Ophelia, and I will miss you so, but…” She swallows. “Giorgios is right. He is capable of protecting you in ways that I, or even Osiris, cannot.”

“This is not the end of your time at Montridge, Ophelia,” Giorgios says, forcing a tight smile. “You will see all of your friends again. But Lucian’s return and his callous act of betrayal cannot be ignored. There is a war coming, and every magical being must choose a side. We will all face Lucian when the time is right, but until that time, you must be protected. For you are our greatest weapon.”

“She’s not a weapon,” Xavier snaps. “You don’t get to use her for any side.”

Giorgios tilts his head and regards Xavier with curiosity. “I know my brother well enough to know he has not left his sireds with such little knowledge of the burden they carry being bonded to Ophelia. You must be well aware that there are those who would manipulate her to use her power for their own ends. Therefore, Ophelia must embrace her own power and use it for her true purpose, and only she can decide what that is to be.”

This is all too much. The weight of guilt and all the responsibility threaten to crush me under their combined force.Why can’t I just be me again? No magical powers and nobody’s weapon? What if my only purpose were to love Alexandros and the boys? It feels like enough. I would trade these powers for that life in a single heartbeat.

Xavier edges forward, bringing his face close to Giorgios’s. “Exactly. She decides! She’s not some fucking magical object for you to fight over. If she wants to walk away and leave all this shit behind her, we will do exactly that.”

“I think you will find that the time for walking away has passed, young Xavier. If it were an option, I assure you Alexandros would have done it.”

Xavier doesn’t back down, and I squeeze his hand. “It’s okay,” I assure him. “I know what he means.”

Giorgios offers me a faint smile of appreciation. “So you will come with me? At least until we can determine what our next moves should be?” He holds out his hand. “Please allow me to fulfill my oath to my brother, Ophelia.”

I don’t take his hand, but I nod. This is the best course of action at the moment. “But how will we get to Tibet? Won’t traveling there be dangerous?”

“With my powers of teleportation, along with your magic, and if she will kindly oblige, a spell from Enora, I believe there is a way for us all to get there safely and quickly.”

“Of course,” Enora says. “I will do whatever I can.”

Cadence rushes forward and wraps me in a hug. “I’m gonna miss you so much, Ophelia,” she wails, tears running down her cheeks. They’re enough to break the dam holding back my own, and I cry freely now too. She was my first real friend, and she represents so many of the positive things that have happened for me in the past few months. More than that, she’s a huge part of the person I’ve become. She taught me to believe in myself and was the first person outside of my mates to really see me for whoI am, and that’s without her having any desire for my vamp-nip blood. I don’t want to do any of this without her.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” Malachi says, but his voice cracks.

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