Page 87 of Bound in Blood

“Was it? Was that truly a wraith, Ani?” I cannot even form the entirety of his name.

Yes.

“But how?”

His sadness is almost as overwhelming as Ophelia’s and the boys’.It must have slipped through when Elpis and I left the netherworld.

“What does that mean?” Ophelia fists her hand in my shirt. “Why did they take him? Is he still alive?” Her pleas carve out chunks of my heart.

I suck in a deep breath and swallow down the desolation threatening to drown me. The lingering effects of the wraith’s presence continue to cloud my thoughts, but Ophelia and my boys need me, and that is what I must focus on. I clear the sob from my throat. “He was absorbed by the wraith, but that does not mean he is dead. Giorgios clearly needs him for something.” Although I have absolutely no idea why he could need my youngest sired.

“S-so he’s okay? We can get him back?” She blinks at me, tears running down her face.

I did not say he was okay. I have never known anyone to be swallowed up by a wraith and live to tell the tale. But I cannotconsider the possibility that he is gone, and more importantly, neither can they.

My eyes dart between Ophelia, Axl, and Xavier. “We will find Giorgios, and we will get Malachi back.” I do not add that even if we achieve such a feat, the man who returns may never again be the man who left.

I am sure Ophelia hears my thoughts anyway, because she clings to me even more tightly and heavy sobs rack her body. But after only a moment, she rolls back her shoulders and stares up at me, her eyes full of fire. “If Giorgios has Malachi, then let’s go get him back.”

I kiss her forehead. Despite my fear for her safety, I can think of nothing we need to do more.

Chapter

Forty

XAVIER

“We need to leave now. It is likely Giorgios will return to Montridge, and although he has taken Malachi, we must assume Ophelia is still his primary target, so we will all travel together on Anikêtos,” Alexandros says.

I’m still on my knees, my heart shattering into pieces while I stare at the spot on the ground where he stood until he was swallowed up by that… that thing. “What the fuck was that thing?” The words come from me, but they can’t be mine because I’m pretty sure I’ve lost the ability to function.

That thing took Kai. It swallowed him up like he was made of air.

Alexandros pulls me to my feet and places a hand on the back of my neck. “It was a wraith.”

“A wraith?” Axl asks. He and Ophelia are standing beside us now too, looking like they’re holding each other up. “Like a ghost?”

Ophelia’s lip wobbles. “Or a demon?”

“More than a ghost and different from a demon. They are immortal, soulless creatures that are able to drain the life of others and steal their souls with merely a touch. They are one of the few creatures able to kill a dragon.”

I look overhead to where Anikêtos is still looming over the house. “Where the fuck did it come from? I heard of wraiths back when I was human, but I’ve never seen one before. And I’ve never heard you mention them.”

“When a warlock casts a dark spell and it backfires, they are doomed for eternity, thus becoming wraiths. However, I have not seen one in over a thousand years. They were once great in number and wreaked havoc on the world of man during the Dark Ages. But their reign came to an end when a powerful white witch banished them to the netherworld, where Lucifer holds them captive. She gave her life to cast the spell, and her sacrifice has kept them there since, at least as far as I am aware.”

I scrub the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand. “So why is one here now, and how do we kill it?”

Alexandros glances up at Anikêtos. “I believe they may have taken the opportunity to slip through the veil when Anikêtos and Elpis returned.”

Ophelia’s eyes widen. “They? You think there’s more than one?”

Alexandros frowns. “We cannot discount that possibility. And as for what kills them, it can only be done with a sacred or holy relic.”

I need something to hold on to, and this feels like it. A way to kill the shadowy fuck. “Like a crucifix?”

He shakes his head. “Much more than that. It must be the most sacred of artefacts.”

Axl throws his hands in the air. “And what the hell kind of thing would that be? Because I don’t see any spare ark of the covenants lying around.”

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