Bound in Blood (Broken Bloodlines Book 3)
Bound in Blood: Chapter 39

“So, we’re on Elpis, yeah?” Malachi asks as he eyes the spectacular green dragon preening herself in front of us.

I nod.

“Seems unfair you get the bigger, faster dragon and Ophelia,” Xavier grumbles. He stumbles back when Elpis scorches the patch of grass at his feet.

I clap him on the shoulder. “She says to tell you that you are welcome to walk if you would replace it more tolerable.” I suppress a smirk at the contrite look on his usually cocky-to-the-point-of-annoying face.

He holds up his hands as he gazes up at her. “I meant no disrespect. You’re an epic fucking dragon, and you’re way prettier than the other guy.” Then he places one hand over his heart. “I am actually only pissed I don’t get to ride with my girl and that they’ll get there before us.” Elpis blows a plume of smoke at him, making him sputter.

“She and Ani will fly together, Xavier. I want to ensure we all stay together and arrive at the same time.”

He coughs, waving his hand in front of his face. “Good to know.”

I turn to face the house as the others lock up, and I sense him before I see him. He appears on the stone path between the house and where Xavier and I stand waiting for Ophelia, Axl, and Malachi.

“Giorgios.” I spit his name from my mouth like the poison it is.

Two warlocks shrouded in dark hooded cloaks appear immediately at his side, and the force field they conjure around my brother glows with a faint orange hue.

I run toward him, rage fueling every step I take.

Ophelia calls my name in warning, but I pay her no mind, too mired in my determination to tear my brother’s head from his body. But when I reach him, I am met with an immovable wall. Enraged, I slam my fists against it. The warlock to Giorgios’s right simply taps the barrier with his finger, and I am thrown back with the force of energy he releases.

Ophelia surges forward with Axl and Malachi on her heels. She conjures a ball of Dragonfyre and throws it in their direction, but it simply bounces off. The grass instantly ignites where it lands, and she douses the flame. I race over to her and pull her to my side. Fear for her safety is the only thing preventing me from running at him again.

“I will kill you, Giorgios.” I snarl. “Your magic will not hold for long.”

He flashes me a sympathetic look. Arrogant, deceitful fuck. I will kill him, and then I shall travel to the netherworld and kill him again. Xavier is by our side now, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

As Elpis stalks toward us, she flattens the white picket fence surrounding the house.

Giorgios looks up at her. “Delightful to see you again, Elpis.”

She aims a plume of fire in his direction, but like Ophelia’s Dragonfyre, it bounces off.

Giorgios’s lip curls in a sneer, and I am picturing the moment I tear his entire face to shreds until no features remain. “Should you not be asking me why I am here, brother? How I found you?”

“You found me because magic such as what we have here”—I glance up at the shadow passing overhead to replace Anikêtos looming over the house—“cannot be masked forever. I believed we may have a week, but it appears I have underestimated your abilities.”

He tilts his head to one side, eyeing me like one would eye an exhibit in a zoo. As though he has never seen me before. “You have always underestimated me, brother, and that will be your downfall.”

“No.” I shake my head, my teeth gnashing together whilst I keep a firm grip on Ophelia. “I have always trusted you, brother, and that may be my weakness, but it will not be my downfall.”

Ophelia closes her eyes, and a gust of wind ruffles the leaves on the trees. She is channeling her powers. The force field shimmers but remains intact.

“You may be powerful, little girl, but these warlocks have been practicing magic for centuries. It will take more than your pathetic little attempts to break their spell.” For his mockery alone, I want to tear out his heart and feed it to him whilst it is still beating.

My incredible elementai pays him no heed, but she opens her eyes and remains focused on the orange orb in front of us.

Giorgios inspects his nails like he has somewhere more important to be, and my rage boils hot in my veins. But the longer we can keep him here, the higher chance Ophelia has of breaking down his force field. And then I will have my revenge.

“You did not answer my other question, brother.”

I scowl at him and his two cloaked mercenaries, whose faces remain hidden. “The question of why you are here? That is obvious. You are here for Ophelia.” I flex my hand on her hip, keeping her close.

Giorgios smirks, and for the first time, the mask slips and I glimpse the evil lurking beneath the veneer of respectability he has cultivated so well these past two thousand years.

“Once again, brother. You underestimate me.”

The warm air turns frigid, and darkness falls over the garden as though it is suddenly night.

“No!” Malachi’s anguished cry pierces the air. A cold finger of fear slithers down my spine, but it is what I see when I turn my attention from Giorgios that freezes the blood in my veins to ice. The shadowy figure looms over Malachi, and his abject terror hits me straight in the chest. Anxiety and despair and so much anguish grip my throat, making it impossible to breathe. If I were not feeling such things, I would swear the apparition was a lie. A trick. A hallucination.

Ophelia shrieks, and Axl and Xavier call out to their brother, but it is all too late. Their movements appear to happen in slow motion as they run to him, but they have barely taken a single step when the twisted shadows curl around him and absorb Malachi into the darkness. Just like that, the light returns.

But he is gone.

My sweet, sensitive boy.

“Wh-where is he?” Xavier gapes at the spot where his brother just stood.

Ophelia trembles, leaning against me for support as she whispers his name.

“What the fuck was that?” Axl shouts. “Where is he? Professor?”

I am too focused on Giorgios to answer. I can only utter one word. “How?”

“I told you, brother.” He winks. “You underestimate me.”

I am going to gouge that eye out as soon as I have the chance. He and his warlocks disappear, and I am left with a gaping hole in my chest and soul-crushing anguish—not only mine, but theirs too. Xavier drops to his knees and sobs, and Ophelia buries her head against my chest as Axl stares blankly at the void where Malachi was. We are all overcome with shock and the lingering despair left behind by creatures such as the one that took Malachi.

Alexandros. It is Anikêtos’s growling voice that overcomes me now.

“Was it? Was that truly a wraith, Ani?” I cannot even form the entirety of his name.

Yes.

“But how?”

His sadness is almost as overwhelming as Ophelia’s and the boys’. It must have slipped through when Elpis and I left the netherworld.

“What does that mean?” Ophelia fists her hand in my shirt. “Why did they take him? Is he still alive?” Her pleas carve out chunks of my heart.

I suck in a deep breath and swallow down the desolation threatening to drown me. The lingering effects of the wraith’s presence continue to cloud my thoughts, but Ophelia and my boys need me, and that is what I must focus on. I clear the sob from my throat. “He was absorbed by the wraith, but that does not mean he is dead. Giorgios clearly needs him for something.” Although I have absolutely no idea why he could need my youngest sired.

“S-so he’s okay? We can get him back?” She blinks at me, tears running down her face.

I did not say he was okay. I have never known anyone to be swallowed up by a wraith and live to tell the tale. But I cannot consider the possibility that he is gone, and more importantly, neither can they.

My eyes dart between Ophelia, Axl, and Xavier. “We will replace Giorgios, and we will get Malachi back.” I do not add that even if we achieve such a feat, the man who returns may never again be the man who left.

I am sure Ophelia hears my thoughts anyway, because she clings to me even more tightly and heavy sobs rack her body. But after only a moment, she rolls back her shoulders and stares up at me, her eyes full of fire. “If Giorgios has Malachi, then let’s go get him back.”

I kiss her forehead. Despite my fear for her safety, I can think of nothing we need to do more.