Page 43 of Bound in Blood

My eyes are drawn back to the silver cage. To Alexandros’s limp body hanging from chains. “Did you do this to him?”

His lip curls up, showing his fangs. “You thinkIdid this?”

“Why are you here? How did you find him? I thought you didn’t know where he was.”

“I didn’t. I have been searching for over three weeks, and I found him here only yesterday. I am no threat to him.” He indicates the space behind the cage, and I vaguely make out the shadowy figures of what appear to be four bodies with severed heads by the light of the Dragonfyre in my hand. “In fact, I relieved him of his guards.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. What if there are more here? What if this is a trap? Lucian and Giorgios could be working together. “But you are a threat to me.” I hold up my hand, and the green Dragonfyre glows brighter.

Lucian takes a wary step back. “You have no idea do you,Chosen One?” There’s no mistaking the disdain in his tone, and it causes a fresh wave of anger to engulf me.

I step forward, emboldened by the power I feel running through my veins. As though it ignited at the precise moment I needed it to. “I’m tired of this Chosen One bullshit already. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn you to ash right now?”

His lips twitch, but he maintains his composure. So much like his father… Confused, I shake my head.

“Because then neither you, nor he, shall ever know the truth.”

“What truth?” I spit out the words like an accusation, glancing around nervously as I anticipate his next move. Does he have an army of sireds ready to pounce? Will I be bound in a cage too?

His laugh is dark and bitter. “So quick to assume you know me, little girl.”

Goosebumps break out over my skin. Alexandros groans in pain, and it slices a welt across my heart. I have to get him out of here. “I know enough.” I raise my hand once more.

“I have been here protecting him,” Lucian shouts, making me freeze.

I don’t know if I believe him. I no longer have any idea who to trust, who is an enemy and who is an ally. “What?”

“As sure as I was that you would find him eventually, I didn’t know who or what might come for him in the interim. He has many enemies. And I do not know the full extent of my uncle’s plan.”

My hackles rise at the mention of his uncle.

“Oh, believe me, I hate Giorgios even more than you do, Ophelia.” The amount of rage dripping from his words tells me he means it. But that doesn’t mean he’s to be trusted in any way. It doesn’t discount what he did to his own mother and sisters.

“If you’re here protecting him, why didn’t you free him?” I demand, my hand still raised and ready to douse him in Dragonfyre if he so much as breathes in a way I don’t like.

He snorts and shakes his head. “I thought you were smart.”

And I thought you were a murderous psychopath who cared about nobody by yourself! I rein in that remark and fire off another instead. “I have no time for your games, Lucian.”

“Ifhe, the most powerful vampire alive, is not strong enough to break those silver chains and bars, what makes you think I am? Even at the height of my powers, I could not have withstood the burning of the silver from these sacred mines.”

I swallow the retort I planned—he has a point. I glance at the cage again. It has no door. No apparent entrance. It appears to have been forged with no way in or out. The silver isn’t harmful to me, but I can’t see a way to get to him through the thick bars.

“Your powers are not affected by silver, Ophelia. They will work just fine down here.”

“What do you know of my powers?” I growl accusingly.

He takes a step toward the cage, his head tilted as he stares at his father. “I know Nazeel awakened them fully.”

Anger snakes through my veins at the mention of her name. Lucian knew what she had planned? Is she in league with him?

“The only limit to your power exists in here, Ophelia.” He taps his temple once, his eyes glowing in the firelight, making him look like a monster. “You possess the inherent power to break this cage and his chains without breaking a sweat.”

I swallow nervously. “I wish I shared your confidence.”

He snorts and folds his arms across his chest. “Such power is wasted on one who has no idea how to use it.”

Of course he would think that. Arrogant, conceited, megalomaniacal douchebag that he is. I glare at him, my muscles clenched tight, ready to strike if he takes one step toward me. “Or perhaps that is exactly who should have it. But Idon’t see how fire or air or any of the elements can help in this situation.”

---