Page 23 of Bound in Blood

Who told you of his death?he asks again.

His brother, Giorgios. He said he saw it happen.

Then he lies to you, child. For Alexandros Drakos remains in the realm of the living.

Why did Giorgios lie? Who is he protecting us from if Lucian didn’t kill Alexandros? Where is Alexandros? So many questions are buzzing around my head, and it’s hard to keep a lid on them all. I feel like they’re about to fly straight out of my ears and go buzzing off to Giorgios to let him know I’m onto him.

I focus on Anikêtos.Can you speak to him? Have you heard from him?

Not for some time now. If I were in the mortal realm, I could reach him through our bond, but I am not capable of reaching his mind through the veil. He must choose to contact me.

The tears I’ve been holding back run freely down my face, but for the first time in three weeks, they are tears of sheer happiness. Alexandros isn’t dead. I knew it couldn’t be true. If he departed this world, then surely the boys and I would too, our earthly shells unable to sustain the horror of his loss. Our bond was severed, and that is cruel enough, but surely bonds can be restored. Alexandros Drakos is alive. I yearn to tell the boys immediately, but I don’t dare while they’re with Giorgios in case he should become suspicious. Hell, I want to scream it through these mountains and let the echoes of my joy shake the snow from the peaks.

But I must not get distracted. I force myself to refocus on the connection.But the boys are sick and getting sicker. If he’s not dead, how can that be happening?

Anikêtos snorts again, and I get the feeling he’s growing tired of me.

I’m sorry, Ani. I know our problems are not your concern, but we feel so alone and scared without him. The boys grow weak, and I don’t know what to do. Please?

Pay him no mind, Ophelia.It’s Elpis’s voice I hear now.He is hungry and you interrupted our mating.

My face heats from sheer mortification.Oh, dear god. I’m so sorry.

It will do him no harm to wait a few more moments.If dragons laugh, I’m sure she just did.If Alexandros’s sireds are weakened, then it is due to something other than the deterioration, for as Anikêtos told you, your fated mate is very much alive. However, there are very few things which can poison a vampire.

I know. I read everything I could get my hands on about vampire toxins. We’ve ruled everything out.We know it isn’t infected blood, crushed dragon bone, or silver nitrate.

Then there must be something else which you have not yet considered. Something you have not yet read about or is not commonly known, she replies.

Elpis!Anikêtos’s voice rumbles so loudly in my head I fear it may shake the mountains around me and alert Giorgios to what I’m doing.

Be safe, Ophelia, she says.

Then they’re both gone, and I’m alone in my mind once more. It races at lightning speed, my thoughts no longer buzzy little bees but a plethora of fireworks, igniting and sparking every millisecond. Why did Giorgios lie, and what the hell is his master plan? What’s making the boys sick? Where is Alexandros, and why can’t I reach him? Is he hurting? Does he call for us the way we call for him?

I jump to my feet and brush the dirt from my jeans. My questions will find answers in time, of that I’m sure. But the most important thing is that he’s not dead. The boys aren’t going to die, because their sire is still alive. Now we need to find a way out of this place as soon as possible. We’re going to find him and bring him home.

And then I’m going to rain down hell on Giorgios and anyone else responsible for taking him from us.

Chapter

Nine

AXL

After getting Xavier’s and Malachi’s approval on the wording, I send the email to Eugene Jackson under the watchful eyes of Giorgios. Apart from the few people who know where we are, the rest of the faculty and students at Montridge believe we’re all taking a sabbatical, Professor Drakos included. While Alexandros’s father, the head of House Drakos, has learned of his youngest son’s fate, the news does not appear to have filtered down to the Ruby Dragons yet. And aside from us not being there, it very much appears to be business as usual.

“All done?” Giorgios asks.

I lean back in the chair, hands locked behind my head. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Under the heat of my furious gaze, he quickly closes the laptop in front of me and unplugs it from the router. It’s an old dial-up kind that I haven’t seen since the nineties and had no idea still existed—no Wi-Fi here in Tibet—but right now, it’s our only link to the outside world.

Xavier winks at me.Relax, we don’t need it.

Why the fuck not? The look on his face tells me I’m going to like the answer, and while I’m confused, I know better than toask why in front of Giorgios. So I simply smile at our host as he bids us farewell and leaves the den with the laptop in his hand.

Xavier stretches and yawns before declaring loudly, “I’m so fucking tired. Let’s get the cupcake and go for an afternoon nap.”

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