Page 77 of Bound in Blood

XAVIER

My eyes are always drawn to my little cupcake any time we’re in the same room, but now, as she sits on Malachi’s lap and lights the wood stacked in the hearth with a flick of her wrist, making flames lick and dance along the thick logs, she is truly mesmerizing.

“I can’t believe he was here.” Axl’s deep growl snaps me from my daze and drags my attention from Ophelia to him—and to the conversation we’ve all avoided having since we got back here half an hour ago.

The atmosphere in the house was decidedly gloomy when we returned from hunting. All of us were in such high spirits today after feeding on Ophelia together last night that it was easy to forget the middle of the shitstorm we’re currently in. Lucian Drakos paying a visit to the house was a stark reminder of that.

The professor was clearly distressed, and the sight of him undone in Ophelia’s arms when we got back was enough to turn my blood to ice. I didn’t have it in me to make any kind of snarky comment on the prodigal son’s return. Even Axl, who seems to hate Lucian more than Malachi and I do—probably because he’s the true firstborn—sat down and kept his mouth shut.

Until now.

Malachi looks to where the professor has been sitting for the past twenty minutes, staring out the window in silence. “Is it still safe here?”

Alexandros sucks on his top lip, his focus remaining on the ocean view. “I believe it is. Lucian has made no attempt to harm us. Nor has Giorgios discovered where we are. I do not believe the two of them are colluding.”

I guess that’s something worth being thankful for. “So why was he here?”

Alexandros shakes his head and finally directs his gaze toward me, and I wince at the pain still lingering in his dark eyes. “I do not know. I…” He grinds his jaw until the thick vein in his neck bulges.

“We didn’t get the chance to ask,” Ophelia says.

Malachi tucks her hair behind her ear. “So he wasn’t here very long, then?”

She screws up her nose. “Yes, but…”

“I asked him what he wanted, but he did not answer.” Alexandros fills the silence she leaves. “And then we got embroiled in old hurts and the past, and he became angry and left.”

Did I hear him right? I bark out a laugh. “Hegot angry? What the fuck does he have to be angry about?”

I’m almost sorry I asked that question when a shadow of intense anguish passes over his face again. “I unintentionally accessed his thoughts.”

Axl scrubs a hand over his jaw, visibly bristling. “Why unintentionally? Isn’t accessing his thoughts the best way to find out what the hell he’s playing at?”

“Unintentional because I did not know I was capable of accessing his thoughts given that he has hidden himself from me for so long. I have not been able to before today.”

“And you didn’t get any worthwhile information from him when you were inside his head?” Malachi’s soothing voice eases the tension and douses the simmering anger.

Alexandros shakes his head. “Nothing.”

His pain is so intense I can taste it, but I don’t know how to comfort him. Our relationship is in a state of flux right now, and I’m still navigating these waters, so I focus on the practical instead. “How do we stop him from coming back here?”

His brow furrows, and after a few seconds, he sighs. “We do not.”

“We don’t, or we can’t?” Axl asks, his tone dripping with frustration.

Alexandros stands. “He is no threat to any of you, Axl.” Without another word, he walks out of the den, and I feel like shit that we can’t do anything to make this easier for him. He has always been there for us, and I hate to see him so fucking broken and not be able to do anything to make him feel better.

Your concern is enough, Xavier. I simply need a little time with my thoughts, he says through the bond.Take care of Ophelia. She was shaken by his visit as much as I.

It brings me some comfort to know he at least knows I want to help. I go to sit next to Ophelia, and Axl sits beside me, making me wonder if he received a similar instruction.

I lace my fingers through hers. “How are you doing, Cupcake?”

She smiles, and her blue eyes sparkle. “I’m okay.”

Malachi nuzzles her neck. “What was it like seeing him again?”

“I mean, he scared the hell out of me—out of both of us at first, but then…” She chews on her juicy bottom lip, her nose wrinkled in concentration, and it makes her look even more edible than usual. “I don’t know. He seems so full of pain, you know. Especially when he spoke about his mom and sisters. Hedidn’t deny that he killed them, but he was really cut up about it. Maybe he’s had five hundred years to regret what he did, and he wishes he could change it? He’s not scary, though, you know? But he was scared. When Alexandros read his thoughts, he seemed terrified. And angry. So angry. He accused him of not being there when he needed him…” She sighs. “The whole encounter was just really sad for both of them.”

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