Page 78 of Bound in Blood

I don’t want to think about Alexandros being hurt any longer, and I’m curious about something else about Lucian, which nobody has asked yet. “Does he look like him?”

She nods. “A lot. Same eyes. Same jawline.” She chews on her lip again. “Same broody exterior. He looks exactly like I imagine Alexandros would have looked when he was younger.”

I arch an eyebrow, wanting to do anything to lighten the mood. “So he’s hot, then?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Stop that.”

Axl grunts. “I don’t like that he was here, and I don’t like that he could just rock back up here at any given moment.”

“Me neither,” Malachi agrees.

I don’t either, but I trust Ophelia’s judgment. Alexandros’s too, but his is clouded by the fact that Lucian is his son, and as coldhearted as he tries to make the world think he is, we know he feels all too deeply. His loyalty to the people he loves is unparalleled. It’s hard to believe that only a week ago, I wouldn’t have considered myself part of that elite group of people.

“Fuck,” Axl mutters, still stuck in his bad mood.

I grab the remote and switch on the TV before wrapping my arm around his shoulder. “I think there’s a game on.” Uncharacteristically, he leans into me and rests his head on my shoulder, and I flick through the channels while Ophelia stretches her legs over ours.

I find the basketball game, and we watch it in silence, all of us touching one another in some way. As long as the five of us are together, we can face whatever comes next.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

ALEXANDROS

Ophelia’s fingertips skate over my ribs, and she stares down at me, her chin resting on her hand as she holds herself up on her elbow. “I know he said he hates you, Alexandros, but it isn’t true.”

“Are you reading my mind, little one?” She came in here shortly after I did to check on me. The weight of all their concern emanated from the next room, and it is both touching and mildly claustrophobic.

“No. I don’t have to. I can feel your sadness and guilt eating away at you.” She presses a kiss to my chest. “And I would feel that even without our bond.”

I roll onto my side and stare at her, brushing my knuckles over her cheek. Her heart is so pure, she cannot comprehend a son hating his father. “How can you be so sure of what he feels, agápi mou?”

“Because he was there in the cave, Alexandros. Watching over you. He said you had many enemies and that he knew I’d come, but he was protecting you until I got there. Why would he do that if he hated you?”

I cup her face in my hand. “I know you see the best in everyone, Ophelia, and it is one of the many things I love about you. But it is more probable he was lying to mask his true intentions.”

“But why? Why say that at all? What was his intention if he left as soon as I freed you from the cage? He had a chance to attack when my guard was down and you were weak, and he didn’t take it.” Her cheeks darken with the strength of her indignation.

“Might I remind you that you were carrying Dragonfyre at the time, agápi mou. He would have been burned alive had he even tried.”

“So why bother waiting around to help me free you? He saw I had the Dragonfyre. Why not let me flail around trying to figure it out for myself? And why help us in Giorgios’s fortress?” She goes on, her skin growing more flushed with each second. “This may all be new to me, Alexandros, but I am not an idiot.” Anger creeps into her tone now.

Where the hell has this come from? My eyes narrow on her face, and my palm twitches, eager to address her defiance. “I have never once given any indication that I think you anything but intelligent, Ophelia. Do not use my justified concern to make such ludicrous accusations.”

“Then why do you not trust my judgment the way I trust yours? You are always telling me that an elementai’s power is rooted in emotion, so why is it you think I can’t detect emotions in others? Lucian may be confused and angry and a whole host of other things, but he does not hate you.”

Her pout is adorable and frustrating. Hauling her over my knee and spanking her for her insolence does not seem even mildly appropriate when we are faced with such imminent danger. But one day… I groan as my cock stiffens.

“Really? Right now?” She shakes her head, still annoyed with me but already softening.

“Always when you are near me, little one. Especially when I provoke such passion in you. Do not pretend that me wanting to fuck you when you are so full of fire surprises you.”

Her lips twitch, but she manages to keep a smile from spreading across her face. “Lucian?” she says, bringing us back to the conversation she initiated.

I let out a sigh of frustration. “I believe it is complicated, and whilst I am convinced he was not lying when he told me he despises me?—”

“He does not?—”

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