Page 21 of Bound in Blood

Xavier pops out his bottom lip like he’s thinking, but it’s Malachi who answers first. “Maybe our bond isn’t affected by your powers?”

“Maybe.” I rack my brain for an answer I’m sure is there, even if I’m not entirely sure of the question.

Xavier spins to face me, his blue eyes wide. “Or maybe it’s because your ability to read our thoughts and connect with us isn’t part of your elementai powers.”

I’m unable to stop my own exhilaration at the sudden upswing in his mood. “What do you mean?”

“Part of your deal is that you take on our powers, right? Our strength? Our power to speak through thought? That’s vampire power, Cupcake. Not elementai.”

Xavier’s right; none of those powers have been affected at all by being here.

“And you could use Alexandros’s powers too, right?” Malachi asks, his face breaking into a smile. “You were able to speak to the dragons, so that probably means you can speak to all the people he’s ever shared blood with?”

“Or made a blood oath with,” Xavier adds. “So Enora, Osiris, and your friends back at Montridge too.”

“I—I guess so, but I’ve never really tried it.” My burgeoning elation is brought to a halt at the memory of his loss. Like ice water being poured onto a flickering flame. I slump back against the tree. At least twenty times a day, I search for Alexandros. Yet I’ve never found him. “But it probably only worked while he was still here.” I choke back a sob.

“But you don’t know that for sure.” Xavier nudges my arm. “And you won’t know unless you try.”

“Yeah, sweet girl. What the fuck have we got to lose?”

I take a deep breath, my body trembling with anticipation and nervous energy. What if this actually works? I could speak to Cadence and Enora. Osiris.

Xavier takes my hand and squeezes. “Try it, Cupcake. Try Cadence back in Havenwood.”

“But I tried it already.” I swallow down my trepidation. “I tried to connect to Alexandros’s mind and couldn’t.”

Xavier’s face falls. He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Because he’s gone, Ophelia.”

“But what if there’s a chance he’s not?” I can’t bear to admit there’s no hope.

Malachi sniffs, and when I glance at him, he’s wiping away a tear. “We’re not getting any better, sweet girl. We know now we’re not being poisoned, so what other explanation could there be? He’s gone.”

I drop my head and take a moment to feel his loss before I center myself again.

“You can do it, Cupcake.”

I take a deep breath and again focus on my light—the root of all my power, both elementai and vampire—and I search for Cadence. I recall her voice, her sweet laugh. The freckles on her nose. The delicate, almost undetectable southern notes of her accent. Then I call out her name.

Ophelia!Her voice bursts into my head, filling it up with joy and color.Is that really you, girl?

It’s not only her voice that warms me now, but her feelings too. I’m flooded with happiness and relief.Yes, it’s me.

“Did you find her, baby?” Malachi asks, hopeful.

I nod, my smile growing wider when I open my eyes and see the happiness in both his and Xavier’s eyes.

Where the hell have you been?she asks.Why didn’t you call me?

There’s no cell signal here. I have so much to tell you, Cadence.I can barely hold back a sob.I hate it here. We’re trapped. I can barely use my powers. The boys are sick.

Oh, Ophelia.Her concern bleeds into my pores.Tell me where you are. I’m gonna come get you. Sienna will help me for sure. Enora and Osiris?—

It’s pointless. Giorgios won’t let us leave. And he has an army of guards. I don’t know what they’d do if we tried to, but I wouldn’t want to risk your safety.

What? He’s actually keeping you prisoner there?

He says it’s for our own protection. Maybe it is. I don’t know anymore.

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