Page 68 of Bound in Blood

She chants the words in her head so that I am forced to hear.

But if the Chosen One can slay the three-headed dragon?—

if the untamable beast does kneel at its new master’s feet,

and the light is tempted back from the darkness,

then they shall awaken the protector of man.

And the sun must swallow the shadows

to bring a balance that reigns through the ages.

“They are the ramblings of a madwoman, Nazeel. They mean nothing.”

“No, Alexandros, they meaneverything.” There is something in her voice—conviction, perhaps—that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Her thoughts race at such speed that it is hard to focus on any one of them, but the dominant emotion is fear—and hope.

I place my hands on her upper arms, hoping to find some calm in her eyes that will help me make sense of the chaos unfolding in her brain.

“I must go, Alexandros,” she pleads. “Kameen will?—”

“I do not care, Nazeel.” I growl my frustration.

“Yes you do.” Tears fill her eyes. “You have always cared far too much, and that is why it had to be you. You are the one who will rise by her side.”

Me? I almost bark out a laugh at the absurdity of such a notion. Nazeel must be delirious. First Ophelia, and now me? “Stop speaking in riddles.”

“I am not!” she insists. “You, of all people, know the innate power of a name, Alexandros.”

“Let her go.” The deep, snarling voice comes from behind me, and I need not turn around to know who it belongs to.

I growl a warning. “Stay out of this, Kameen.”

He moves around me to stand beside her. “I am not your enemy, Alexandros Drakos, but if you harm a hair on her head, I will remove yours from your body.”

I roll back my shoulders. “You can try, Kameen, but you will be unsuccessful.”

His eyes narrow, but the corner of his lip seems to twitch as he looks me up and down. “You would dare challenge me?”

“I do notdareto do anything. As powerful as you are, Kameen Nassari, I am older, wiser, and stronger. And even your disobedient witch will confirm the truth of that.”

“Boys, there is no need for such hostility,” Nazeel says softly, her hand placed on her mate’s forearm.

The ground shakes underneath our feet, and the heat from Anikêtos’s breath washes over us all before his vast shadow blocks out the sun. He nudges my shoulder with the tip of his nose, the most significant gesture of affection a dragon would show any creature not of their own kind.

Both Kameen and Nazeel bow their heads slightly, showing deference to the powerful being now in their presence. “Anikêtos,” Kameen says, his tone carrying the appropriate amount of gravitas.

Anikêtos snorts softly in response. Both Kameen and Nazeel are well-versed in dragon communication, although they have not had cause to engage in such for far too long.Do I need to scorch anyone to ash, Dragon Whisperer?

“Not quite yet, Anikêtos,” I reply aloud. Not that either of the beings standing in front of me needs the reminder of my ability to communicate with dragons, but it cannot hurt.

Kameen rolls his neck, his gaze traveling back to me. “Nazeel is done interfering in matters that do not concern her.” Nazeel flashes him a warning glare, but he does not give her any opportunity to argue with him. “We are leaving.”

Leaving? Just like that? It is far past the point of Nazeel being done interfering. She already interfered, and she put my family in danger. “There is a great battle surely coming, and you must choose a side. Is it with me or with my brother?”

“It has always been with you, Alexandros, even if we did not know it,” Nazeel answers before he can.

Kameen bares his teeth, anger radiating from him, his glare darting between his mate and me. “We do not choose sides. We do not interfere.”

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