Bound in Blood (Broken Bloodlines Book 3)
Bound in Blood: Chapter 13

Giorgios’s dark-blue eyes narrow. “Why are you refusing to eat, Ophelia?”

I tip my chin. “I’m not hungry.”

“Perhaps I would believe that if your stomach were not growling like a mountain lion.”

Annoyed at my body’s betrayal, I press my hand to my belly and glare at him. Meanwhile, Axl, Xavier, and Malachi grow tenser with each passing second. “I’m not feeling well. I don’t feel like eating.”

He blows out a long, slow breath and takes his napkin from his lap before rolling it into a ball and tossing it onto the table. “Another lie,” he says, his tone unusually calm. The tension in the room grows so thick I can taste it.

We’ve got you, Cupcake, Xavier assures me. Whatever happens, we won’t let him touch you.

I glance at them and then quickly back to Giorgios. In their weakened state, I’m not sure the three of them are a match for the eldest son of House Drakos. But I remain forever grateful for their presence, which alone never fails to bring me strength and comfort.

“I don’t want to eat.” I push my chair back. “May I be excused?”

Giorgios brings his fist crashing down onto the table with such force all the silverware and crockery rattle in their place settings.

Xavier growls. Axl snarls. And Malachi rolls back his shoulders like he’s ready for a fight. “Have I not been a good host? Have I not protected you all from Lucian?” His face grows redder with each shouted question. “Have I not treated you all kindly? Yet you sit at my table and disrespect me by lying to my face.”

My pulse increases rapidly, adrenaline spiking through my system. I’m hyperaware of my mates’ heartbeats, all of them racing like mine. This needs to stop. We need to discover exactly what Giorgios’s plan is and get the hell out of here so we can replace Alexandros. Unable to contain the swirling vortex of emotion any longer, I slam my own fist onto the table. “Would a good host poison their guests?” I yell, my voice echoing off the walls.

If he’s surprised by my accusation, he doesn’t show it. “Excuse me?” he says instead, his demeanor so at odds with his angry outburst a few seconds earlier.

“You’ve been poisoning me, us, with blue poppy, Giorgios. Why?”

He runs his tongue over his bottom lip and drags his fingers through his beard. “I am surprised it took you as long as it did to figure it out considering how smart Alexandros told me you all are.”

The mention of his name has anger and despair surging up from my stomach, and I feel the same emotions raging a war inside the boys too. So much pain and rage contained in one room. It feels like we’re sitting in the core of a volcano that’s about ready to explode. If we’re revealing secrets today, let’s reveal them all. “Why did you lie about him being dead?”

Giorgios’s lip twitches at the corner like he’s trying to suppress a smirk. Axl launches himself across the table, but Giorgios stops him with minimal effort. With one meaty hand wrapped around Axl’s throat, he pushes him back down with ease. “Do not make me do something I will regret, children,” he says, sneering. “If you are going to sit at the grown-up table, then please act like one.”

I place a hand on Xavier’s and Malachi’s thighs and squeeze. Please let me handle this. We need answers, and he’s not going to give us any if we’re fighting. As much as I’d love to claw his eyes out, we must stay calm.

They voice their agreement in my head, and I focus all my attention back on Alexandros’s traitorous brother. “Why did you lie about Alexandros’s death, and why are you poisoning us?” I ask again, amazed at the calm command in my voice.

“I did not poison you, Ophelia, for I would never do such a thing. Blue poppy is harmless to humans. In fact, it releases a mild euphoria in the correct dosage.”

“Not harmless to vampires though, is it?” Axl growls.

Giorgios tilts his head and regards Axl with curiosity. “Relatively so. It weakens a vampire somewhat, makes them feel a lot less …” He purses his lips. “Perky,” he finally offers. “It is the opioid, you see. An evolutionary flaw. As the blue poppy only grows here in Tibet and so few of our kind have ever ventured to these mountains, a vampire’s DNA has never adapted to tolerate that particular strain of opiate. But it causes no lasting damage. You will all be as you were as soon as the blue poppy has left your system.”

The way he speaks so coldly about making my boys so weak and sick is astonishing. “And you think that makes it okay?”

“It makes it necessary, sweet Ophelia.” Shaking his head, he releases a heavy sigh. “You all know so little of this world. Of the ancient ways and the things that must be done to ensure the survival of our species. You have so little knowledge about humankind, our only viable food source. As much as we can enjoy these tidbits,” he says, indicating the rare cut of lamb on his plate, “they cannot sustain us the way humans do.”

Conceited, pompous douchebag. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to use our apparent lack of knowledge against us to make us feel inferior. But it stops now. “So enlighten us, dearest Giorgios,” I say, injecting as much snark into my tone as I can muster. “Why was it necessary to poison my mates?”

He drops his gaze for a few beats, appearing contrite. It’s so at odds with all of his usual pomp and arrogance that I simply stare. When he looks up again, his eyes are glistening with tears. “So you would all believe he was dead.”

He’s not dead.

That means my boys are not going to die. I’m not going to lose them. We didn’t lose him.

A current of sheer relief runs through the boys and me, lighting us up from the inside. No matter the evidence we already had to prove he was still alive, Giorgios’s confirmation was what we needed to fully believe—not that we’d ever admit it to him.

A tear rolls down my cheek. “But why? Why did you tell us he was dead? Why did you—” A sob steals the rest of the sentence from my mouth, and the comforting arms of Xavier and Malachi slide around my shoulders.

He screws his eyes closed and inhales deeply through his nose. “I hoped it would not come to this. I hoped you would simply stop pushing and accept he was gone. Nazeel Danraath asked for my help, and I could not refuse her. She saved my life a long time ago, and I was in her debt.”

“In her debt?” I screech at him, the injustice of it all burning a hole in my chest. “What about your brother? What about the man who has done nothing but love you for your whole life?”

He snorts. “You know very little of my brother, Ophelia. Do not sully our history by imbibing it with such human emotions as love.”

I’m momentarily too stunned to speak. Too many thoughts are racing around my head for me to pin down any one of them. Thankfully, Malachi speaks in my stead. “Why did Nazeel Danraath want us to think Alexandros was dead?”

“There are far greater powers at work here than any of you can begin to comprehend. Nazeel believes Ophelia is the key to an ancient prophecy, and she believed his death was the only way to unlock her full potential. The only way to determine who you truly are. And she would have had him killed. I—” He jabs his thumb into his chest. “I saved him and hid him away from the clutches of Lucian and the Order.”

“So this was about me being the key to some prophecy? Me and these stupid goddamn powers? The ones I can’t even use here? You tore us apart to unlock my potential? For a stupid. Fucking. Prophecy?!” Anger fizzes in my veins, and the tips of my fingers crackle with electricity. The ground vibrates, and I see something in Giorgios’s eyes that I haven’t seen there before. Fear.

But he has nothing to be afraid of while my powers remain suppressed. They’re still there, simmering inside me, swirling within the core of white light, but they’re smothered, and try as I might, I cannot free them.

“I could not deny Nazeel’s request, Ophelia. It would have ensured our certain deaths. I did what I could to protect us all. Alexandros too. He understood what had to be done. He undertook the sacrifice willingly.”

No. I refuse to believe that. No way would Alexandros willingly cause us this much pain. “What sacrifice? To be parted from us? To have us all believe he was dead? To tear out our souls? To let us think we were all going to die—because that would surely be my fate if all my mates were dead. I would refuse to live in a world without them, and he knows that.”

Giorgios remains silent, his shoulders rolled back and his eyes full of tears that don’t fall.

In my anger and hurt, I forgot the most important questions, but Axl has enough presence of mind to ask them. “Is he okay? When can we see him?”

“He is alive and he is safe. I cannot tell you where he is for fear Nazeel will discover his whereabouts. She is connected to you, Ophelia. She met with you at Montridge, did she not?”

I blink at him, recalling the enigmatic lady with the emerald eyes and fiery hair, and nod.

His expression softens a little. “She has a connection with you. I am unaware of the power behind that connection, and I cannot risk her replaceing my brother. You must believe I am doing everything I can to keep him alive. Safe from Lucian and the Order.”

I recall my conversation with Lucian a few days ago and how he warned me not to trust his uncle. But of course he would, wouldn’t he? “The Order? Lucian? Are they working together? Do they know we’re here?” Every new revelation makes less sense and only creates more questions.

“They both know of my fortress, yes, but they do not work together. Despite their misguided efforts, Nazeel and the Order do not wish for the world to fall into darkness. Lucian, on the other hand, would prefer the world to fall into an eternal night. I did not wish to alarm you all with that knowledge. It is why I have such an extensive army. For our mutual protection. Lucian will not get past these gates, I assure you. And neither Nazeel nor the Order mean you any harm. Besides, her powers will be as useless here as Ophelia’s are.”

“But the Order only observes,” Malachi says. “They don’t interfere.”

Giorgios nods once. “They have never had cause to. Until now. They believe you are the child of the prophecy, Ophelia.”

I want to scream down the entire house, but I manage to keep my emotions in check. “What prophecy?” I recall Nazeel speaking to me of being “more” and Enora’s caution.

“The Order believes you will be the one to bring balance to the world; however, as you are so young and your powers so new, there are also some who believe you could be swayed just as easily to the dark as to the light.”

My head is swaying, I know that much. This is all insane. “But elementai are inherently good.”

“If we choose to believe you are truly the child of the prophecy, then you are more than an elementai, Ophelia.”

The same words Nazeel spoke to me. I shudder. “Do you believe that?”

“I do not know, and it is of no consequence. There are those who do, and that is what put Alexandros at risk. Nazeel believed your powers must be fully unlocked to prevent you from turning toward the dark.”

“Then bring him back here to us, Giorgios. He can stay safe here in this fortress with us. Bring him back to us, or I will use this power and I will scorch this earth to goddamn ash.”

He frowns. “Ophelia.”

“Please, Giorgios!” I beg, my heart cracking into splinters. I hate this power. I hate being an elementai. I hate that they hurt him because of me.

Before Giorgios can reply, Xavier speaks up. “Nah, I don’t buy it.”

“You do not buy what, Xavier?” Giorgios asks, his tone simmering with annoyance.

“This bullshit about the Order and what had to be done. You chose to lie to us. You made us sick instead of telling us the truth. You could have told us all of this.”

“I had to keep you in the dark to ensure Ophelia’s powers would be unlocked, to ensure you would come here with me⁠—”

“Where you could keep us prisoner?” Xavier growls. “Weaken us all and leave us fucking defenseless?”

“I already told you—I did not consider the impact on Ophelia. I built this fortress one thousand years ago, for the very purpose of preventing witches from being able to use their magic against me. How was I to know I would one day harbor an elementai here? You are here for your own protection. At Alexandros’s request. He may not have killed his father, but if Lucian replaces Ophelia, then he will kill her. Make no mistake about it.”

“Then bring Alexandros back to us. Surely he is the best person to protect me from his own son.”

Sighing, Giorgios closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Or he is the worst. He and Lucian share an unbreakable bond. It can be masked, but not destroyed. He would take you from this place and then he would lead Lucian straight to you, and who knows what choice he would make when faced with such an impossible decision.”

But Lucian already knows where I am. Is he simply biding his time, or is Giorgios lying about him? Is his fortress truly as impenetrable as he claims? I have no idea who to believe about what anymore.

“He would choose Ophelia every single fucking time,” Axl says, snarling.

Giorgios’s right eye twitches. “You are so sure of your sire’s noble heart, yet you know nothing of his true nature.” He focuses his attention on me. “You are so confident he has your best interests at heart, Ophelia. So sure his intentions are honorable. What if he is on the wrong side of history? How many times has he told you he is not a good man? What if he is the dark and you, my sweet Ophelia, are destined for the light?”

Rage and injustice, guilt and anguish—all are fighting a war inside me, and all of them are winning. “I know what kind of man he is. He would never do anything to harm me. Never.”

Giorgios’s nostrils flare. “And I am sure Elena and Alyria and Imogen believed the same to be true when he allowed his son to tear out their hearts. When he was too weak to prevent such a despicable act and too weak to take revenge.” He stands, planting his hands on the table. “So tell me, little Ophelia, are you still so sure that he would choose you when faced with such a choice? Because nobody else believes him capable of it, and that is why he has been removed from the equation. He is my brother, and I love him. But he cannot be trusted.”

My lip trembles, but my voice is clear. “I trust him.”

“Then you are a fool.”

We glare at each other, and the moment seems to stretch into eternity before Xavier speaks again. “What about the bond?”

Giorgios scowls at him. “The bond?”

“You offered to bond with Ophelia to save us? But we didn’t need saving from the blue poppy, did we? So why the fuck did you offer to bond with our girl?”

Giorgios scoffs like he considers the question beneath him, but he holds Xavier’s stare when he answers. “Because, Xavier, I am a benevolent man. I knew Ophelia would not agree to bond with me, which is why I did not push her on the matter. But I also know there is one thing sure to crush a spirit more than anything else, and that is the absence of hope. So I told you there was a cure knowing you would never need to use it. Because I could not bear to let you believe there was no hope. Perhaps I was mistaken.” With that, he shoves his chair back so hard it crashes to the floor, then stalks out of the room, leaving us staring after him.

There are so many questions, so much emotion, I feel dizzy with it all. But there’s one prevailing thought that rises above the noise. One focus for us all, and it’s Axl who voices it. “If he won’t tell us where Alexandros is, we need to replace him ourselves.”